Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!
02 March 2022
Post No. 237
The Week’s Contents
• Climate Action Month with ‘Smooth the Way to Energy Transition’ as Theme
• Climate Protection and Stake for African Children (Phase 3.2)
• Climate-induced Poverty and Food Poverty Caused by Natural Events in Africa
… And much more!
Key Messages
• Climate Action Month: Smooth the Way to Energy Transition
For those who are familiar with CENFACS’ development calendar, they can remember that March is the Climate Action Month within CENFACS. This year’s Climate Action Month will be about steering forward our community members and sister communities to continue to take actions on matters relating to the outcomes of the COP (Conference of the Parties) 26 United Nations Climate Change Conference held at Glasgow Summit (1) in November 2021 and to our users.
One of the outcomes of the Glasgow gathering was to phase down unabated coal power and inefficient subsidies for fossil fuels. Since many poor households, for example in Africa, depend on coal for electricity, cooking and other domestic usages; we will be working on practical and gradual actions that can be taken in order to support those coal-dependant households to smoothly move to the road of reduction of coal as a source energy for them.
These actions will be undertaken under the theme of ‘Smooth the Way for the Poor’s Energy Transition’ (in short: Smooth the Way to Energy Transition). In other words, instead of accelerating efforts towards the phase-down of coal used by the poor and phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies as recommended by some opinions; we are advocating for smoothing down energy transition.
So, the first key message for this post is about actions that one can take in order to Smooth the Way to Energy Transition. Amongst these actions is the action of planning to reduce the use of coal as coal is responsible for almost 40% the world’s annual CO2 emissions and the highest emitting fossil fuel as far as greenhouse gases are concerned. It is also an action plan in terms of phasing down coal as as source of energy.
In this drive to take action to reduce the use of coal, CENFACS is against any action to reduce coal that is brutal or without any compensation or alternative solution for the coal-dependant poor. In other words, action to reduce coal has to taken in orderly fashion without hurting the energy poor’s lives, wellbeing and livelihoods.
For those who would like to get more informed about this first key message, please read under the Main Development section of this post.
• Climate Protection and Stake for African Children (Phase 3.2)
Following the Glasgow Declaration at COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference in November 2021, our CENFACS’ Climate Talks Follow-up Project has moved to Phase 3.2, which is ‘Taking Climate Protection and Stake for African Children at the Implementation with Installation Sub-phase.
• • Taking Climate Protection and Stake for African Children at the Implementation with Installation Sub-phase (Phase 3.2)
At this sub-phase of putting conditions in place, we are working on the following:
∝ Advocating about the infrastructures needed to protect and give a stake to children in terms of adapting and mitigating adverse climate change effects
∝ Establishing the communication protocols for climate protection and stake for children
∝ Developing data systems, evaluation and monitoring in the implementation process
∝ Continuing to make the case for our demand to give and implement Climate Protection and Stake for African Children (CPSAC) – the African Children being a sample of our working climate advocacy model – to be met
Etc.
Most of the actions that we shall take this month in relation to this demand will help to echo the key advocacy points contained in CENFACS’ Compendia of CENFACS’ Climate Advocacy. The later is a summary of what CENFACS and its beneficiaries would like the climate community (like the one gathering on annual basis to talk about climate change, the COP) to achieve for children, particularly but not exclusively African children, in terms of outcomes. The advocacy points contained in CENFACS’ Compendia will be used for the 2022 Climate Talks Follow-up.
• • 2022 Climate Talks Follow-up
We will be following up the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 27) to the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), which will take place in Sharm El-Sheikh (Egypt) from Monday 07 November to Friday 18 November 2022.
This month, we will start the planning process of this follow-up. The slogan for this 2022 follow-up will be: Sharm El-Sheikh Makes Children’s Dreams Come True.
More details about this follow-up will be unveiled as we move towards the COP27 starting day. For those who have any queries about this 2022 Climate Talks Follow-up, they are free to get in touch with CENFACS.
To support and or enquire about CENFACS’ CPSAC and its sub-phase 3.2, please contact CENFACS.
To find out more about CENFACS’ Compendia of CENFACS’ Climate Advocacy, please also communicate with CENFACS.
• Climate-induced Poverty and Food Poverty Caused by Natural Events in Africa
Climate action is also about taking steps to deal with the consequences of adverse climate change on other people’s lives. One of these consequences could be the creation of climate poor because of treacherous weather events such as drought, torrential rains, floods, earthquakes, rise in sea levels, etc. These situations or events can create situational/transitory poverty.
Since situational/transitory poverty is one the seven goals of CENFACS’ 2020s Development Agenda and Poverty Reduction Programme, we are carrying on the work on this type of poverty. This time, the focus on situational/transitory poverty will be on the one that is caused by climate change events. Depending on the intensity and power of these events, they can seriously or less harm people.
These events can also lead to acute food insecurity and eventually push people to food poverty line.
Acute food insecurity is “any manifestation of food deprivation that threatens lives or livelihoods regardless of the causes, context or duration”, according to the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (2).
As to food poverty line, it is defined by ‘devinit.org’ (3) as
“the cost of a basket of food with minimum recommended nutritional intake. This metrics can be used to quantify consumption poverty”.
So, the need to take action against worsening food insecurity conditions in Africa is at the same time an action against climate-induced poverty and food poverty caused by climate events.
For those who may be interested in this action and would like to work with us to support food poor and climate-induced poor, they can contact CENFACS.
Extra Messages
• Activity/Task 3 of the Knowledge (K) Project: Knowing Climate Actions that Mitigate both Adverse Impacts of Climate Change and Poverty
As part of Activity/Task 3 of the “K” Project, we will be learning and working on projects that simultaneously reduce the adverse impacts of climate change and help poor people to navigate their way out of poverty.
Indeed, in the process of knowing the needs of poor people, it does help to be aware of what remedies to their problems could or could not work for them. In the context of climate action, it matters to know what action could or could not work for them. This is despite the fact that climate action is first and foremost about efforts to mitigate effects of negative climate change rather than to reduce poverty.
Because not every actionable initiative that could contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions can lead to poverty reduction or have poverty reduction content, the activity/task for this month will be to identify those actions that can do both: cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce poverty. In this way, the dual effect of the action will be to respond to the common goods and to the needs of poor people/poverty reduction.
So, throughout this month we shall work with the community on the climate actions falling within the scope of the United Nations (4) Sustainable Development Goal 13 of combating climate change and its impacts, as well as helping to reduce poverty.
For those members of our community who will be interested in these types of actions with dual response/effect, they are free to work with CENFACS. To work with us on climate actions that reduce both adverse climate change and poverty, please contact CENFACS.
• Build Forward Better Programme (Year 2)
We are now in the second year of our Build Forward Better Programme. In the first year of this programme, the focus was to build back better with the community and Africa-based Sister Organisations (ASOs). Although the first part of building better programme is not yet completed, we are moving to the second part. This is because building better is backward and forward process.
As happened for Build Forward Better Programme (Year 1), in the second year of this programme we will be moving forward better together greener and cleaner with the community and ASOs. In practical terms, it means that we will have two sets of initiatives and activities. The first set will aim at the community while the second one will target ASOs.
These two sets of initiatives and activities will be featured in our future communications. However, for those who would like to find out more about them, they are free to contact CENFACS.
• Coronavirus-affected Children of Sub-Saharan Africa Desperately Need Your Help Right NOW
Our Season of Light through the Gifts of Light has not yet finished. We still have almost 3 weeks to go until the end of the season.
We are making another plea to those who have not yet managed to support to keep in their mind the Coronavirus-affected Children of Sub-Saharan Africa who Desperately Need Your Help Right NOW.
Although the deadline for this appeal is 20 March 2022, we will still accept any donations made after this deadline as the needs of the Coronavirus-affected Children of Sub-Saharan Africa are still pressing and urgent.
Please do not wait for the expiration of the deadline as the needs have not disappeared.
You can halve poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa.
You can halve health poverty for and with children at risk of loosing their life because of COVID-19.
For further details about this appeal/Gift of Light and or to support, go to http://cenfacs.org.uk/supporting-us/
We look forward to your support. Thank you!
Plan de travail pour l’action climatique de mars 2022
Comme annoncé ci-dessus en anglais, le thème de l’action climatique de mars 2022 est Faciliter la transition énergétique.
À partir de tous les mercredis de ce mois, les actions climatiques suivantes ont été planifiées :
∝ Action 1 : Planifier la réduction de la consommation de charbon ou élaborer un plan d’élimination progressive du charbon (02 au 08/03/2022)
∝ Action 2: Baisser ou réduire progressivement les subventions qui abaissent artificiellement le prix du charbon, du pétrole et du gaz naturel (09 au 15/03/2022)
∝ Action 3: Couper les émissions de méthane (16 au 22/03/2022)
∝ Action 4: Supporter les énergies renouvelables (23 au 29/03/2022)
Il y aura un suivi le 30/03/2022 et une évaluation le 31/03/2022 pour mettre fin à l’action pour le climat de mars 2022.
Pour les membres de notre communauté qui sont intéressés par la réduction de l’utilisation du charbon et ou qui souhaitent prendre des mesures climatiques avec nous, ils sont invités à contacter le CENFACS.
Main Development
• Climate Action Month
Theme: Smooth the Way to Energy Transition
The following items are the ones making the content of our Climate Action Month and its theme:
a) Meaning of the climate action
b) Direct and indirect climate actions
c) Work plan for Climate Action March 2022
d) Action 1: Plan to Reduce Coal Usage or to Phase down Coal.
Action 1, which will be held from 02 to 08/03/2022, is comprised of:
1) Coal as source of energy
2) Actions to reduce the use of coal
3) Relationship between the reduction of the use of coal and reduction of coal-dependency poverty
4) Ways in which CENFACS could work with the community and ASOs to help reduce the use of coal.
Let us look at the contents of our Climate Action Month.
• • Contents of 2022 Climate Action Month
Before kicking off our action, let us precise the working definition to be used for climate action.
• • • Meaning of the climate action
Climate action is an activity of engaging and putting ideas into practice to deal with any natural or induced change in the long term average weather conditions of a place, especially when this change adversely affects people’s and communities’ lives and livelihoods. In other words, it is any effort to mitigate the adverse effects of this change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions while strengthening capacities and resilience to climate-induced impacts.
Climate action is also the 13th Goal of the United Nations’ (op. cit.) 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 2030 Agenda.
In the context of CENFACS’ Climate Action Month for this year, climate action is about any undertaking efforts to work with energy poor so that they can reduce any greenhouse gas emissions they can emit via the type of energy they may use and move towards the use of affordable clean and sustainable energy.
Because of their difficult economic conditions and circumstances, this effort or move needs to be done smoothly without exacerbating poverty or leading to a new type of poverty for them. Put it simply, to be meaningful this effort should lead to poverty reduce as well.
These climate actions or efforts could be direct or indirect.
• • • Direct and Indirect Climate Actions
Direct climate actions can directly lead to outcomes such as reductions of CO2 emissions, poor quality air, pollution, etc. They could also include the lowering of the number of energy poor who rely on unhealthy and expensive fuels. One example of such climate actions is the prevention of deforestation.
As to indirect climate actions, they can help to keep the advocacy and campaign about measures and activities to be carried out to reduce the adverse impacts of climate change going. Examples of such indirect climate actions will include the prevention of the next pandemic to happen.
Without breaking climate actions into direct and indirect ones, the coming periods and sub-themes of climate action will guide our readers and audiences about the kind of climate actions CENFACS is conducting this month. These will help those who may be interested to join in.
• • • Work Plan for Climate Action March 2022
As above announced, the theme for Climate Action March 2022 is Smooth the Way to Energy Transition.
From every Wednesdays of this month, the following Climate Actions have been planned:
∝ Action 1: Plan to Reduce Coal Usage or to Phase down Coal (02 to 08/03/2022)
∝ Action 2: Reduce or Phase down Subsidies that artificially lower the price of coal, oil and natural gas (09 to 15/03/2022)
∝ Action 3: Cut Methane Emissions (16 to 22/03/2022)
∝ Action 4: Back Clean Energy (23 to 29/03/2022)
There will be monitoring on 30/03/2022 and evaluation on 31/03/2022 to end the Climate Action March 2022.
Within the above broad actions, there will be specific actions to be taken, for example to reduce the use of coal. These actions will be conducted in the way that supports the work that our Africa-based Sister Organisations are carrying out in order to deal with the problems posed by the impacts of climate change while considering the lingering health and economic effects of COVID-19.
• • Action 1: Plan to Reduce Coal Usage or Make a Plan to Phase down Coal
This Action will be held from 02 to 08/03/2022.
To enable to take the first action, we have organised the following notes:
coal as a source of energy, relationship between the reduction of coal dependency and poverty reduction, actions to reduce coal usage and how CENFACS could work with the community to navigate their way to the reduction of coal usage.
• • • Coal as a source of energy
Coal will be perceived from the perspective of the International Energy Agency (5), which defines it as
“Including both primary coal (i.e. lignite, coking and steam coal) and derived fuels (e.g. patent fuel, brown-coal briquettes, coke-oven coke, gas coke, gas works gas, coke-oven gas, blast furnace gas and oxygen steel furnace gas). Peat is also included”.
Coal, which is the most greenhouse gas emitter, is the largest energy fuel source in many developing countries, particularly in African countries as most electricity generated is from coal.
• • • Relationship between the reduction of coal dependency and poverty reduction
Being able to explore alternative and affordable sustainable sources of energy can help to save money, especially for those who are having energy bills highly sensitive to their household income. The saving that could be made by reducing dependency on coal, which is the highest emitting fossil fuel in terms of greenhouse gases, will be allocated to reduce poverty or simply to meet other basic life-sustaining needs.
However, to be able to realise this reduction of coal dependency in order to generate poverty reduction, actions may need to be taken.
• • • Actions to reduce coal usage
One of the actions to be taken to reduce the coal usage is to phase down power and replace it with renewables or energies from inexhaustible sources (e.g. wind, hydroelectric, solar thermal, solar and biofuel energies).
For example, Donald Perry Kanak (6) argues that
“Many lower income countries [, however,] lack the financial and/or technical capacity to rapidly scale up renewable energy despite dramatic improvements in the cost of renewables, as well as in the storage and distribution of electricity”.
Kanak (op. cit.) also contends that
“Achieving both retirement of existing coal-fired assets and a sustainable energy transition in those countries would require a large-scale initiative in two parts: a coal retirement mechanism (CRM) to acquire and retire existing coal-fired electrical plants within 10-15 years instead of the currently expected lifetime of 30-40 years, and a sustainable energy transition mechanism (SETM) to provide technical expertise and financial assistance to replace the retired and planned coal plants with a combination of energy efficiency, renewable energy and storage, and possibly gas as a bridge”.
Despite the above argument, there are still actions that are and can be taken to move towards renewables. Also, these actions do not need to be going to the direction of phasing out coal power as Kanak suggested. Instead, phasing down coal usage to smooth the way to renewables will be in tune with the needs of the energy poor.
• • • Ways in which CENFACS could help reduce coal usage
There are two ways in which CENFACS can help reduce the coal usage, which are: supporting ASOs working with their beneficiaries on the issue of coal usage, and working with the community on energy transition issue.
• • • • Supporting ASOs
There are ASOs that are helping their locals who are lacking affordable, reliable and safe energy to meet their basic needs for a decent life, especially locals who use charcoal fuel for their household needs.
For those ASOs that are running energy-related services to help their users (e.g. those use open flames, wood and charcoal fuel to heat their homes and cook their meals) come out energy/fuel poverty and or transition towards renewable energy, CENFACS can work with them on planning, monitoring and evaluation aspects of their services.
• • • • Working with the community
Those members of our community who have problems with energy transition and would like to work with us on this matter; we can assess their needs, discuss with them their household energy source and budget, inform, guide and signpost them to services that could address their energy transition needs.
For example, under CENFACS’ Zero Income Deficit Campaign, we can work with users on the following:
√ To identify ways of reducing energy bills through personalised energy advice and tips
√ To signpost users to agencies dealing with energy or fuel poverty
√ To share with users both print and online sources and resources dealing with energy bills and payments, as well as energy efficiency.
To end the Main Development section of this post, we would like to remind to our readers and audiences that climate action is about action, not words only. We have only written these notes to guide us and galvanise our action. This is because to take action, one needs a roadmap or simply to say how they are going to conduct this action.
For those members of our community who are interested in the reduction of coal usage and or who would like to take climate action with us, they are welcome to contact CENFACS.
For any other queries and enquiries about CENFACS‘ Climate Action Month, the theme of ‘Smooth the Way to Energy Transition’ and the sub-theme of Plan to Reduce Coal Usage; please do not hesitate to contact CENFACS.
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• References
(1) https://ukcop26.org (accessed in March 2022)
(2) WFP and FAO (2022), Hunger Hotspots, FAO-WFP early warnings on acute food insecurity, February to May 2022 Outlook, Rome. https://doi.org/10.4060/cb8376en
(3) https://www.devinit.org/org/resources/food-poverty-global-regional-and-national/# (accessed in February 2022)
(4) https://sdgs.un.org (accessed in February 2022)
(5) www.iea.org/weo (accessed in March 2022)
(6) Donald Perry Kanak (2020), How to replace coal power with renewables in developing countries at https: //www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/how-to-replace-coal-and-accelerate-the-energy-transition-in-developing-countries/
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Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.
Thank you as well to those who made or make comments about our weekly posts.
We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support throughout 2022 and beyond.
With many thanks.
