CLIMATE SUMMIT.
COP21 has begun in Paris as nations work to achieve a comprehensive climate change agreement. The International Resource Panel has provided a guide of key messages on how sustainable management of natural resources can contribute to global efforts to combat climate change.

From the carbon cycle and drivers of deforestation to financing approaches and stakeholder engagement, explore technical issues and processes.

WORLD WATER ASSESSMENT REPORT

• UN Water

The report, published by the World Water Assessment Programme on behalf of UN-Water stresses the urgent need to change the way we use and manage this vital resource, as the United Nations prepares to adopt new Sustainable Development Goals.

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said, "The impacts of our increasingly stressed global water resources can be felt by almost everyone, in the form of food insecurity, disease, degraded ecosystems, biodiversity loss, loss of economic productivity, endangered marine life, loss of tourism and more".

"What this means is that the remedy to these ills cannot be administered in a piecemeal and fragmented form. An integrated approach is key because solutions that address the environmental challenges, if they are to be effective, must also address the economic and social ones. All countries, regions and international agencies should combine efforts to apply integrated approaches to water supply chain management to address these challenges, now, and in the post-2015 development agenda", he added

"Water resources are a key element in policies to combat poverty, but are sometimes themselves threatened by development. Water directly influences our future, so we need to change the way we assess, manage and use this resource in the face of ever-rising demand and the over exploitation of our groundwater reserves. This is the appeal made by the latest edition of the UN World Water Development Report. The report's observations are timely, because the international community has to draw up a new development programme, to take over from the Millennium Development Goals", said UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova.

"There is already international consensus that water and sanitation are essential to the achievement of many sustainable development goals. They are inextricably linked to climate change, agriculture, food security, health, energy, equality, gender and education. Now, we must look forward to measurability, monitoring and implementation", said Michel Jarraud, Chair of UN-Water and Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organisation

Growing demand

In 2000 India had nearly 19 million mechanised or tube wells, compared to less than a million in 1960. This technological revolution has played an important role in the country's efforts to combat poverty, but the ensuing development of irrigation has, in turn, resulted in significant water stress in some regions of the country, such as Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

This example alone illustrates the complex relationships between access to water and development. While water is essential for economic growth and the fight against poverty, it is also itself directly affected by economic development. To find a solution to this conundrum, we must seek a balance between water supply and demand. But we are nowhere near this. Despite the considerable progress that has been made in recent years, 748 million people are still without access to an improved drinking water source. And those first affected are the poor, the disadvantaged and women.

At the same time, the planet has never been so thirsty. To answer the needs of an ever- growing population, the agriculture and energy sectors have to keep producing more and more. From now until 2050, agriculture, which consumes most water, has to produce 60 per cent more food globally, 100 per cent in developing countries. Demand for manufactured goods is also increasing, which, in turn, puts further pressure on water resources. Between 2000 and 2050, the demand for water by industry is expected to increase by 400 per cent.

But while demand for water rockets - it is expected to increase by 55 per cent by 2050 - and

20 per cent of global groundwater sources are already overexploited, it is still not being managed sustainably. Intensive crop irrigation, uncontrolled release of pesticides and chemicals into watercourses and the absence of wastewater treatment - which is the case for 90 per cent of wastewater in developing countries − are all proof of this state of affairs.

Development is putting a strain on water

The environmental cost of practices like these is high. It means wide-scale water pollution and significant wastage. In the North China Plain, intensive irrigation has caused the water table to drop by over 40 metres. The environmental cost is also seen in terms of the sometimes irreversible damage to many ecosystems across the world, especially in wetlands and coastal areas. This substantially reduces their capacity to perform vital ecosystem services such as water purification and storage.

Climate change only adds to this pressure. The increased variation in rainfall and rising temperatures lead to greater evaporation and transpiration by vegetation. Meanwhile, sea level rise is threatening groundwater in coastal areas. Just like Calcutta (India), Shanghai (China) and Dacca (Bangladesh), other cities are finding their groundwater reserves are being contaminated by salt water. The picture is the same in the Pacific islands of Tuvalu and Samoa, whose inhabitants increasingly depend on imported water to satisfy their needs, as their own groundwater has become too salty.

According to the authors of the report, this growing pressure on water resources is also likely to lead to greater competition between sectors, as well as between regions and nations.

The time has therefore come for us to change the way we assess, manage and utilise this resource, the report stresses, pointing to failures in our governance of water. Water is too cheap, compared to its real value, and is rarely taken into account when decisions are made regarding energy and industry. In general, decisions that determine how most of water is used are taken by a limited number of players (public, parapublic and private) and follow a logic dictated by short-term goals, rather than environmental concerns.

The virtuous circle of sustainable development

The report emphasises the role of public authorities in influencing the strategic choices that will guarantee a lasting future for our water resources. In particular it recommends limiting the development of thermal power stations that, today, produce 80 per cent of our electricity and consume vast quantities of water. This could be achieved, for example, by granting subsidies to renewable energies such as wind and solar, which are still relatively expensive. It could also mean rewarding farmers who use efficient irrigation methods. For example, in an arid country like Cyprus, subsidies like this have led to a major change in farmers' attitudes towards irrigation techniques and the imposition of techniques that consume less water.

The transition towards more sustainable models of production comes at a cost, but as the report points out, such investments are part of a virtuous circle. Indeed, studies show that for every dollar invested to protect a catchment area up to $200 can be saved on water

treatment. So, while $235,000 are needed annually to optimise the treatment of waste in order to maintain the Nakivubo marshlands in Uganda ecologically intact, this ecosystem provides a water purification service for Kampala that is estimated to be worth USD 2 million per year. In New York, managing the upstream catchment areas saves the city an estimated USD 300 million a year.

The efforts that some countries are making show that better governance and more careful use of water are possible, including in developing countries. The water authorities in Phnom Penh (Cambodia) are a case in point. This organisation, once accused of corruption and on the verge of bankruptcy has, in the space of a decade, become one of the world's most efficient water suppliers. It has reduced water losses from 60 per cent in 1998 to 6 per cent in 2008, which is equivalent to Singapore's entire water supply.

As the United Nations prepares to adopt the future Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, the report points to the need to devote an entire goal to water. It argues that the focus be extended from drinking water and sanitation - as was the case in the Millenium Development Goals - to the global management of the whole water cycle. The proposed SDGs would thus take into account questions of governance, water quality, wastewater management and the prevention of natural disasters. The Sustainable Development Goals will be finalised in the autumn of 2015 during the United Nations General Assembly.

The United Nations World Water Development Report is the result of collaboration between the 31 agencies of the United Nations system and the 37 international partners that make up UN-Water. It is produced by the World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP), hosted by UNESCO. The report presents an exhaustive account of the state of the world's water resources and, up until 2012, was published every three years. Since 2014 it has become an annual publication, devoted to a specific theme. Its publication is now timed to coincide with World Water Day, whose theme is also aligned with that of the report.

THOUGHTS ON POLLUTION AND ENVIRONMENT

When seeking to define pollution, a very useful reference point is the ambient quality of the physical environment. Basically, physical environment refers to the natural state of the environment without the interference by mankind.
Based on the above scenario, pollution can therefore be explained as a lowering or reduction of the ambient quality of the physical environment as a result of the activities of human.
Pollutants can classified taken into consideration three key elements:
        The first key element has to do with chemical and physical properties. This usually explain a situation whereby pollutants are classified into organic compounds(detergents, oil, solvents, etc), inorganic compounds ( acids, salts,, etc) ,infectious agents (virus, bacteria, etc) and energy firms        ( radioactive waste).
         The next element is the source of emission which is classified into three of which are:
1st: Cumulative and non-cumulative pollutants:
        these are non-biodegradable , for instance, plastic and radioactive waste whiles the non-cumulative are biodegradable , for instance noise.
2nd: Point sources and non-point sources pollutants:
        these are pollutants whose source point of emission can be traced and identified, eg. carbon monoxide, whiles non-point source pollutants are those that cannot be identified, eg. fertilizer washed away into water bodies.
3rd: Continuous and episodic pollutants:
        Continuous pollutants are generated on the routine bases. eg. carbon monoxide from engines
whiles the episodic pollutants on the other hand are generated occasionally. eg. chemical fertilizers been washed into water bodies.
 The last key element and also prominent among the all has to do with the geographic scale of the impact of the pollutants.
The above element reveals three levels of pollutants, thus the global, regional and local pollutants.
Global pollutants emitted locally with a potential world wide impact. eg. the emission of chlorofloro carbon (CFC) on the ozone layer in the worlds stratosphere.
Regional pollutants emitted locally but the impact extends beyond the geographic boundaries of the source of emission but not world wide. eg. carbon monoxide , waste disposal, etc.
Local pollutants emitted locally with a potential local impact. eg. smoking, intensive local pollution is also prevailing in most cities in China and India.
Sixteen of the the twenty world polluted cities are situated in China. Serious pollution has long term health and environmental damages or effects.
China and most developing countries of which Ghana is among are now exchanging good health and healthy environment for industrial gains.
Lets go green to protect and safeguard our environment for our common future.
By: Afriyie Moses
      Environmental Officer
      Greenlove Ghana.
  

WHO SHOULD BE ACTIVE IN ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS AND GOVERNANCE?

Trend analysis conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the players of environmental politics and governance did not exclude anyone.
The fact of the matter is that, issues of environment do not restrict any living being of involvement.
Records reveal that, in the 1950s and 60s, there were so many industrial and environmental catastrophes because there were no exact legislation to control industrial behavior and activities.
Mention could be made of cyanide spill that caused health hazard to villages in the Wassa West District of Ghana's western region by mining companies.
Internationally, mention could made of 'Minamata' disease( prominent Japanese environmental disaster)
       Environmental politics examines the relationship between global political forces and environmental management  with particular attention given to the implications of environmental change for world politics.
Conversely,  environmental governance is essentially concerned with distribution of powers within environmental decision-making.
It deals with the operations of civil individuals in the society. It is also involved in the administration of environmental bodies and policies in an organization.
By governance, we need responsibilities for making, implementing and enforcement of environmental governance and policies of a particular organization or society.
Actors or players of environmental organization has to do with those who are involved n environmental decision-making. For instance Governmental organizations or agencies as well as Non-governmental organizations( civil societies)
Actors could also be termed as stakeholders, thus, Environmental  Protection Agency (EPA), District Assemblies, Town and country planners, Government, Donor partners, Minerals Commission, Environmental and Local Government ministries, Religious and Traditional institutions.
           Players should be up and doing for environmental sustainability of which our souls and spirits would love to witness through inter and intra-generations.
By: Afriyie Moses-
Environmental Officer
Greenlove Ghana

You can check erosion in your community

Fellow Ghanaians, once again the rains are in. Due to unplanned community structural layout, erosions are rampant and severe.

Every year, we experience flooding which in consequence costs us lives and properties.

We have always been the talking generation.

It's time to turn the table around and take up the responsibility to act now.

Folks, we can contribute towards environmental protection by simply organizing ourselves in our respective communities so that we can through communal labour check erosions.

It begins with you and your community's youth.

Think of what you can do for mother Ghana and not what Ghana can do for you.

God bless our homeland Ghana.

harvest rain water and save water bills

By the grace of the Creator of heaven and earth, the rains have set in again.
utility bills are surging up amidst economic hardship.
Greenlove Ghana is giving out this simple but important tip to households to start rain harvest now.
Simply, get a clean container that can store as much water as possible.
Place the container at a position where enough water can enter.
When enough water enters, store the harvested water for future use.
Water is very important so lets all come on board and harvest more water and save the ever increasing water bills.
Water is life. Thank you for your attention.

Greenlove Ghana for our common future.

Harmattan is not to blame but us

"No condition is permanent". This is a popular wise saying that all appreciates.
Annually, weather conditions change the world over.
To be specific, Ghana has two main seasons: monsoon and harmattan.
Monsoon is a rainy season whilst Harmattan is a dry season coupled with dusty winds.
To every Ghanaian, both seasons are good in their own rights, for either has its own pros and cons.
To illustrate, monsoonal rains have often caused floods that have destroyed both lives and properties. Often the causes of such floods have not been immediate rather remote.
        On the contrary, the lives and properties that are lost as consequence of Harmattan-triggered fires have often been immediate. Perpetrators are often close to the mess.
It implies that, ones the cause is immediate it can easily be knit right in the bud, if the least effort is made.
We are guilty for negligence as a nation. If stringent by-laws are passed to deter potential culprits, the situation will change for good if not for the better.
 We are quick to accuse the Harmattan Season for being drier, but the logical question is: can dry leaves or bushes burn on their own without a fire? The answer is NO!
If humans quit setting bushes ablaze, the dried bushes will give way to fresh and greener ones in the rainy season. We rather truncate this life-cycle with our bad practices.
It's time to respect the environment by observing green practices.
Say NO to bush fires and plant trees in place of felled ones.
Greenlove Ghana is urging us all to stop the talk as usual and start acting now.
Ghana is ready to green if we embrace GREENLOVE GHANA for our common future.
Let's give more meaning to the green color in our national flag.
God bless our homeland Ghana.