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Welcome to OGRC News, a quarterly round-up of big ideas and
practical steps on the journey towards a sustainable future for people, places
and planet. Please share with your networks.
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Above | The OGRC delegation at COP28, standing in front of the South African Pavilion: from left, Cebisa Luzipho of Orchard on 25, Yves Vanderhaeghen of Jive Media Africa, Professor Laura Pereira, Dr Odirilwe Selomane, Rendani Nenguda, OGRC research associate, and OGRC head Dr Duncan MacFadyen
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Forty South African business organisations and social partners were in Dubai as part of the National Business Initiative (NBI) representation at COP28. OGRC head Duncan MacFadyen led the organisation’s delegation to demonstrate their commitment to climate action and build the networks necessary for implementation.
The South Africa Pavilion was hosted by the NBI in collaboration with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, and is seen as a space that brings an ambitious and coordinated business voice on climate action for South Africa. OGRC showcased its research through its partners in several key areas through three panel events at the South African Pavilion.
Event 1: The increasing risk of neglecting environment in
financial markets
The first of the events hosted by OGRC at COP28, on Monday, 4 December, was titled “The Increasing Risk of Neglecting Environment in Financial Markets”. Facilitated by OGRC’s science communication partner Jive Media Africa, the panel noted that the top four global risks identified in the 2023 World Economic Forum Global Risks Report are all related to concerns about climate change and biodiversity loss. Panellists Odirilwe Selomane, Depak Patel and Olivia Adhiambo debated whether these risks are enough to get the private sector involved in biodiversity and climate efforts. They further shared the big stories of transition across various sectors, and wrestled with what would speed up existing mechanisms/instruments for private sector involvement. Selomane is a senior lecturer at the University of Pretoria, researching ecosystem services, social-ecological systems, sustainable development indicators, food systems and nexuses, and ecological economics. Patel is the head of climate finance and innovation in the SA Presidential Climate Commission at COP28. Adhiambo is the climate policy director of Wildlife Works in Kenya.
Watch a recording here and read a write-up here
Event 2: Unlocking carbon revenue through tech to boost
wildlife economies and restore ecosystems
Carbon credits are a global commodity, and in the second OGRC panel discussion at COP28, on 6 December, two case studies were presented by Matthew Child (Rewild Capital and SANBI), Duncan MacFadyen (OGRC) and Max Makuvise (resident director, Shangani Holistic) on how carbon revenues benefit conservation efforts.
The discussion was facilitated by Peter Makumbe, research manager at OGRC. OGRC head Duncan MacFadyen unpacked the Tswalu Kalahari Carbon Project, the first time a private protected area will earn carbon credits from ecological management aimed at restoration of ecosystem functioning and climate change adaptation, and representing a model that can be replicated across Africa. Shangani Holistic demonstrates that communities don’t have to transition to wildlife but can earn credits through adjusted grazing management and even increased stocking rates.
Watch a recording here and read a write-up here
Event 3: African science for the African position
The final panel discussion involving
OGRC took place on Friday, December 8, and was titled “African Science for the
African Position”. Panellists Lara Pereira, Cibele Queirox, Patricia Pinho, Odirilwe Selomane, William Cheung and Amir Sokolowski delved into Africa-specific needs,
emphasising insights from technical reports emanating from expert input across
43 African countries.
The discussion focused on the
utilisation of African science to shape the continent's stance and placed a
particular focus on the critical role played by the ocean and land in climate
change mitigation. Pereira is an associate professor at the Global Change
Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand, leading a number of projects
including as the co-principle investigator on the Future Ecosystems for African
Programme. She is also affiliated to the Stockholm Resilience Centre where she
is involved in work on sustainability transformations and futures. Queiroz is a
researcher on social-ecological resilience at the Global Resilience Partnership
and the Stockholm Resilience Centre. Patricia Pinho is deputy science director at IPAM, Odirilwe Selomane is at the University of Pretoria, William Cheung is from UBC and Amir Sokolowski is Global Director, Climate Change at CDP.
Watch a recording here
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Climate Change: Is enough being done to address the
global threat?
Global efforts to limit carbon emissions are falling short, developed countries have not coughed up the $100 billion promised to help developing countries meet targets, and the EU is set to impose carbon taxes that will hamstring Africa’s development ambitions. Duncan MacFadyen and Rendani Nenguda argue for the need for a focus on adopting high-level targets with clear delivery indicators, including the enhancement of adaptive capacity, with the hope of doubling finance. Read more here.
Harness positive Tipping Points for a cascade of goods
for Africa
Tipping points present huge risks in
the climate and ecological emergency, but also huge opportunities to transition
to more sustainable futures, write Tom Powell, Laura Pereira, Antony Emenyu and
Therezah Achieng. That’s the key message of a new Global Tipping Points Report
released at COP28. Read more here.
Wildlife economies can extend Africa’s biodiversity
conservation and curb climate change
Conventional protected areas are unlikely to conserve the land area necessary to curb the extinction of plants and animals, and secure the ecosystem services on which millions of people across Africa depend, write Frank Vorhies, Hayley Clements and Wiseman Ndlovu. Different nature-friendly wildlife enterprises are one way in which this footprint can be extended to achieve conservation outcomes and mitigate climate impact. They argue that sustainable use of wild meat value chains contributes to carbon sequestration and local climate regulation, wildlife economies have more diverse revenue streams than conventional agriculture, and boosting wild meat consumption will help rewilding and restoring landscapes. Read more here.
Take the money? A conundrum for African biodiversity and
climate negotiators
Money is currently pouring into Africa
and the Global South to achieve climate mitigation via ecosystem-based
approaches. This is both an opportunity and a problem for Africa, write Sally
Archibald, Laura Pereira, Odirilwe Selomane and Barney Kgope. It is an
opportunity because funds are being released for action on the ground, where
fiscal resources are increasingly squeezed, and where the right kind of action
could spark all sorts of benefits for people and nature. It is a problem
because like all “development” funding, it generally comes with strings
attached, and the funders (even when the intentions are good) have not
necessarily thought through the implications for the countries and ecosystems
where they intend to implement these interventions. Read more here.
If you want to follow the highlights of COP28, catch up with
the OGRC delegation on social media and on the OGRC website.
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The 12th Oppenheimer Research Conference was opened with an online welcome from ethologist and conservationist Jane Goodall, who warned that time is running out to turn the tide on environmental degradation.
“We not only are part of the natural world, but depend on it for food, water, air, everything. And in healthy ecosystems, all animals and plants are interconnected and have a role to play,” she said.
A deeper, grassroots approach to conservation, and solid
science, could stave off looming extinctions
Conservationists and scientists are
turning the tide, noted South Africa’s minister of International Relations and
Cooperation, Dr Naledi Pandor, in her keynote address to the 12th Oppenheimer
Research Conference.
Her assessment was borne out by several
of the presentations at the ORC, notably the work done by Prof. Carl Jones,
whose work on Mauritius has helped save five bird species from extinction. Read
more here.
How to save the birdlife of Marion
Island from a plague of rats is the mammoth task presented by Mark D. Anderson,
the CEO of BirdLife South Africa, and Mavuso Msimang, the chair of the
Mouse-Free Marion Non-Profit Company, who argue that this is the world’s most
important bird conservation project, but it needs funding. Read more here.
A more cautious note about conservation
was sounded by Hector Magome, former head of conservation at South African
National Parks (SANParks), who said that many of South Africa’s cash-strapped
and sometimes poorly managed provincial parks risk collapse, but that the
private sector can come to the rescue. Read more here.
Reflecting on the conference outcomes,
Dr Duncan MacFadyen, head of Oppenheimer Generations Conservation and Research,
said that amid the stark assessments of the challenges Africa faces, this
year’s edition of the conference was “refreshingly positive”. He added that
breaking down silos between scientists is one of the objectives of the
conference, and it’s Mission Accomplished!
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If you missed it....
How the giving game turned pro
Philanthropy has come a long way.
Nevertheless, businessman Jonathan Oppenheimer challenged panellists at the
12th Oppenheimer Research Conference to suggest ways to increase the woefully inadequate
levels of philanthropic financing that conservation must make do with, warning
that the very survival of mankind is at stake. And he chided the panellists on
occasion for being adept at diagnosing the problem, but less adroit at
prescribing cures. The panellists were engaging with the topic “Environmental
Philanthropy: Learning from the past to inform the future”.
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Tipping Points 17 was livestreamed from the 12th
Oppenheimer Research Conference. If you missed it, catch up on the video
recording here and a write up here.
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The illegal wildlife trade is not just
about poaching, although most people don't see beyond the individual poacher as
the source of the problem. It is, rather, as the director of Organised Crime Observatory
for East and Southern Africa, Julian Rademeyer, argues, about crime syndicates
and how they insinuate themselves into local economies with the complicity of a
range of powerful actors. Community conservationist Vusi Tshabalala argues
further that perceptions of what makes poaching a crime when it is sometimes
food provisioning, exacerbates attempts to get on top of the illegal wildlife
trade.
During the webinar, the Khetha 2024 Story Project was introduced by project manager Lara Rall of WWF SA, which
aims to deepen coverage of the issue. Watch a recording of this webinar here and read a write-up here.
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- The 19th Episode of OGRC Tipping Points webinar takes
place on 29th February 2024
- Jennifer Ward Oppenheimer Grant applications open in April
2024
- 13th Oppenheimer Research Conference takes place
from 9th-11th October 2024
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From the OGRC Network
Why we must safeguard our forest muthi
Four
of every five of us worldwide depend on medicinal plants for our primary
healthcare. But are Africa’s traditional healers, the source of many of these
cures, benefiting? Africa’s indigenous forests are a fabulous treasure trove –
a cornucopia of foodstuffs, seed varieties and medicines, a bulwark against
climate change and environmental degradation. It’s a shame, then, that so few
of the continent’s people are getting a fair share of this natural bounty,
argues Kenyan forest scientist Dr Doris Mutta. Read more here.
Plant ‘canaries’ offer new early warning system for Africa’s
environmental crises
Generations
of coal miners relied on canaries in cages as an early warning system to detect
toxic or explosive gases. The birds, being more sensitive than humans, would
die or get sick first, giving miners a chance to escape or put on protective
breathing equipment. Using plants in much the same way, this year’s JWO
Research Grant winner, Madagascar-based scientist Dr Lovanomenjanahary (Lova)
Marline, hopes to intensify her studies on a unique and primitive group of
plants, while monitoring three major threats facing humanity and the global
environment – air pollution, climate change and the biological diversity
crisis. The alarm bells she has in mind are bryophytes – small, flowerless
plants that collect all the nutrients they need from tiny droplets of water in
the air around them. Read more here. |
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Plastics ban ‘good for economy’
South
Africa’s economy will receive a “sharp boost” from an immediate ban on plastic
stirrers, straws, oxo-degradable additives and microbeads, reports the Mail & Guardian. This is among the
findings of a report commissioned by WWF SA on the socio-economic impacts of
the mandatory bans and the phasing out of 10 identified “high-risk” plastic
products used in the country. The study concluded that given the evidence of the
overall beneficial socio-economic outcomes of the bans and phase-outs, the
government “should support this control measure in negotiating the text of the
global treaty. It should also highlight the need for support for
implementation.” Read more here.
Biodiversity tax agreements for rhino and lion owners
Private
owners of lion and rhino will be able to get tax benefits by implementing
Biodiversity Management Agreements (BMAs). The Department of Forestry,
Fisheries and the Environment, together with the Sustainable Finance Coalition
and in consultation with the Wilderness Foundations Africa, has developed BMAs
to be implemented by three private rhino and lion owners in Limpopo. The BMAs,
which are valid for a period of five years, are linked to the implementation of
the Biodiversity Management Plans (BMPs) for the iconic species. These are the
first BMAs to be developed and implemented in SA. These agreements offer unique
biodiversity tax incentives for the landowners in terms of the Income Tax Act.
Read more here.
Game meat strategy paper set to boost industry
A
newly gazetted game meat strategy paper is set to transform and formalise the
industry in SA, according to a report in the Cape Times. This will enable retail outlets such as Shoprite, Pick
n Pay and Checkers to stock more wildlife meat on shop shelves. According to
the report, only about 10% of game meat is formally marketed through retail
outlets. “The aim of this strategy is to create a formalised game meat industry
and achieve economies of scale necessary for commercial ventures based on game
meat production, harvesting, distribution and marketing,” explains the strategy
paper. Read more here.
To save biodiversity, it’s time to turn science into societal outcomes
“There
is no repairing extinction,” said Arizona State University’s Professor Leah
Gerber in a recent article published in Conservation
Biology and co-authored by ASU colleagues Chris Barton and Derrick
Anderson. “But averting biodiversity loss is a new type of problem. Without
public investment in both the production of science and its use – and an
explicit effort to integrate the two – we will continue to suffer the
irreversible consequences of biodiversity loss.” Read more here.
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Above | Peter Makumbe, Duncan MacFadyen, Max Makuvise and Matthew Child, taking part in one of the OGRC panel discussions at the South Africa Pavilion during COP28.
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Our mailing address is: Oppenheimer Generations Research & Conservation 6 St Andrew's Road, Parktown, 2193 P.O. Box 61631, Marshalltown, 2107 Email: info@opp-gen.com Created by Jive Media Africa, research communication partner to OGRC |
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