More than 200 organisations from 56 countries are calling on the World Bank and other international financial institutions to end subsidies to the oil industry. In a statement released on October 18 , the groups refer to 'oil aid' as one of the most glaring barriers to fighting climate change and addressing energy access in developing countries.
The latest annual report of the International Finance Corporation indicates that little has changed in the institution's approach. In 2007, the private-sector lending arm of the World Bank provided more than $645 million to oil and gas companies. This is an increase of at least 40 per cent from 2006.
The report came out as heads of the World Bank gathered in Washington were meeting in the same week to discuss their energy lending and climate change strategy.
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"The World Bank's approach to climate change and energy is inconsistent and contradictory," said Jennifer Kalafut of NGO Oil Change International. "Despite commitments to cut global greenhouse gas emissions, it continues to increase support for oil extraction projects around the world."
In 2006, the World Bank increased its energy sector commitments from $2.8 billion to $4.4 billion. Oil, gas and power sector commitments account for 77 per cent of the total energy sector programme while 'new renewables' account for only 5 per cent.
"The oil industry includes some of the most profitable companies in the world," said Petr Hlobil of the CEE Bankwatch Network based in the Czech Republic . "Why is the World Bank using development assistance earmarked for poverty reduction to subsidise oil, when investment is desperately needed in renewable energy sources?"
"Investing in renewable electricity will save 10 times the fuel costs than if we stayed on a 'business as usual' course with fossil fuels," said Daniel Mittler from Greenpeace International. "We can cut global CO2 emissions by 50 per cent by 2050, while addressing issues of energy access for the poor and maintaining global economic growth."
The Bank's support to the oil sector is also highly inequitable. While the majority of its oil projects are designed for export to wealthy countries, 1.6 billion people, including 500 million in sub-Saharan Africa, still lack access to electricity.
"By funding these oil projects the World Bank is undermining its own goals of fighting energy poverty and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It is also perpetuating problems of conflict and human rights violations often associated with extractive projects, as in the case of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline," said Korinna Horta from Environmental Defense, a U.S-based NGO.
The hundreds of groups and affected communities that have signed this statement are demanding that the World Bank and other public financial institutions stop financing oil projects. They assert that development assistance should be tackling the issue of energy poverty and building clean energy pathways rather than subsidising big oil.
Statement available at: www.endoilaid.org/globalcall
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Friday, October 12, 2007
WASH MEDIA AWARDS 2007/2008
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The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) and the
Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) are co-sponsoring the second
edition of the WASH Media Award competition, to be held between July 2007
and April 2008. This competition is open to journalists in developing countries
who publish or broadcast original investigative reports on issues relating to
water supply, sanitation or hygiene in their countries.
Journalists can each submit up to two pieces of work, which can include articles from traditional print or recognized online newspapers, magazines, or journals; radio broadcasts; television documentaries or reports. The entry form with further instructions is available at www.wsscc.org/en/media/wash-media-awards
Eligible works must be published or broadcast between 1 July 2007 and 30 April 2008. Articles or broadcasts can be submitted in French, English or Spanish. Works not originally published or broadcast in one of these languages must be translated into one of the three competition languages in order to be considered for submission.
Prizes will be awarded in each of the three competition languages, with an additional prize awarded for the best entry that deals specifically with issues related to gender and water, sanitation or hygiene. A ceremony presenting the winning entries will take place at the World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden, in August 2008. Winning journalists will be invited to attend as special guests of WSSCC and SIWI. More details about additional prizes
will be announced at the winners’ ceremony.
Submissions to this competition will be judged by a nine member international jury, jointly convened by SIWI and WSSCC. The jury, which will have three judges for each of the three competition languages, will be composed of respected members of the media, particularly those with strong backgrounds in environmental journalism.
Entries will be judged on the following criteria:
1. Originality of subject: capacity of the story to surprise
2. Quality of content: style, structure and objectivity of information
3. Quality of research: thoroughness in researching, compiling and
incorporating relevant information
4. Working conditions: difficulties the journalist had to cope with while
doing the research and producing the story
5. Relevance of the WASH issues: how well the story links WASH issues
to the overall development process
6. Potential public impact: capacity of the story to have an impact on
the general public and political opinion
7. Proven public impact: the story had a tangible effect on water supply,
sanitation or hygiene policy in the country or locality where and about
which it was written
All entries must be recei ved by no late r tha n 15 May 2008.
Friday, October 05, 2007
Mr. JON LANE IS THE NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION COUNCIL
Kojanews , 5 October 2007 - Mr. Jon Lane has been appointed as the new Executive Director of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC).
According to the council statement , he succeeds Dr. Gourisankar Ghosh, who held the Executive Director position from 2001 to 2006, during which time he contributed largely to fostering the widespread success of the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for All (WASH) Campaign. Jon Lane's appointment was formally approved on Thursday ,4 October 2007 by the Director-General of he World Health Organization, Dr. Margaret Chan.
Jon Lane is British and is a Civil Engineer by profession.
He began his career as a consulting engineer in London before moving to international development work.
In the late 1980's Jon Lane worked as country representative in Nepal for WaterAid, one of the world's leading nongovernmental organizations concerned with drinking water and sanitation in developing countries.
Following his stint with WaterAid in Nepal, he was Director of RedR (Registered Engineers for Disaster Relief).
From there, he took the position of Director of WaterAid. Under his leadership, the organization received the prestigious Stockholm Water Prize for outstanding water related activities.
Jon Lane left the London-based NGO in 1999 to work as a senior-level consultant in water and sanitation, primarily for multilateral and bilateral agencies and NGOs, both globally and within Malawi, where he has lived since then. His work during that period mainly involved
strategy, policy and advocacy work.
Additionally, Jon Lane has chaired and been a member of the steering committees of several prominent water and sanitation sector organizations.
Jon Lane has been an active member of WSSCC from its inception, even attending the New Dehli meeting in 1990, where the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council was
created.
He has been involved in some of WSSCC's key milestone moments, including Vision 21, a landmark project that established many of the principles that still guide WSSCC's activities, and the periodical Global Forums, which are meetings to establish priorities, measure progress, and plan for actions within the water and sanitation sector.
In January 2007, Jon Lane accepted the position of Interim Executive Director of WSSCC, to provide leadership to the organization during the transitional period before the appointment
of its Executive Director.
Jon Lane will guide and direct WSSCC's activities through 2008, the International Year of Sanitation, and beyond. His top priorities include:
increasing the number of countries with an active WASH presence - currently that number stands at 36;
expanding WASH advocacy to push for greater global recognition of the importance of safe water supply, adequate sanitation and hygiene facilities;
continuing the knowledge management and thematic networking activities of the WSSCC;
launching a new sanitation grants programme, which is designed to support the scaling-up efforts of sanitation initiatives in developing countries.
After receiving the announcement, Jon Lane asserted "I am honoured to be appointed to this post. I intend to work with all my colleagues in WSSCC around the world to serve people in
developing countries who lack sanitation and water."
According to Dr. Roberto Lenton, the WSSCC Chair, " Jon will bring to the position a deep knowledge of the field, through both his extensive on-the-ground experience in water and sanitation and his work with a broad range of civil society organizations. I greatly look forward to working with him in the years to come."
WSSCC was founded in 1990 in line with a United Nations General Assembly resolution to continue the work of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-1990), and is since then legally and administratively hosted by the WHO. Its mission is to achieve sustainable water supply and sanitation for all people. Currently, 1.2 billion people worldwide lack access to safe water and 2.6 billion people - nearly half of the world's population, lack access to adequate sanitation.
The Collaborative Council, using the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets for water and sanitation as a milestone, aims to ensure that these basic human rights are available to all people.
According to the council statement , he succeeds Dr. Gourisankar Ghosh, who held the Executive Director position from 2001 to 2006, during which time he contributed largely to fostering the widespread success of the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for All (WASH) Campaign. Jon Lane's appointment was formally approved on Thursday ,4 October 2007 by the Director-General of he World Health Organization, Dr. Margaret Chan.
Jon Lane is British and is a Civil Engineer by profession.
He began his career as a consulting engineer in London before moving to international development work.
In the late 1980's Jon Lane worked as country representative in Nepal for WaterAid, one of the world's leading nongovernmental organizations concerned with drinking water and sanitation in developing countries.
Following his stint with WaterAid in Nepal, he was Director of RedR (Registered Engineers for Disaster Relief).
From there, he took the position of Director of WaterAid. Under his leadership, the organization received the prestigious Stockholm Water Prize for outstanding water related activities.
Jon Lane left the London-based NGO in 1999 to work as a senior-level consultant in water and sanitation, primarily for multilateral and bilateral agencies and NGOs, both globally and within Malawi, where he has lived since then. His work during that period mainly involved
strategy, policy and advocacy work.
Additionally, Jon Lane has chaired and been a member of the steering committees of several prominent water and sanitation sector organizations.
Jon Lane has been an active member of WSSCC from its inception, even attending the New Dehli meeting in 1990, where the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council was
created.
He has been involved in some of WSSCC's key milestone moments, including Vision 21, a landmark project that established many of the principles that still guide WSSCC's activities, and the periodical Global Forums, which are meetings to establish priorities, measure progress, and plan for actions within the water and sanitation sector.
In January 2007, Jon Lane accepted the position of Interim Executive Director of WSSCC, to provide leadership to the organization during the transitional period before the appointment
of its Executive Director.
Jon Lane will guide and direct WSSCC's activities through 2008, the International Year of Sanitation, and beyond. His top priorities include:
increasing the number of countries with an active WASH presence - currently that number stands at 36;
expanding WASH advocacy to push for greater global recognition of the importance of safe water supply, adequate sanitation and hygiene facilities;
continuing the knowledge management and thematic networking activities of the WSSCC;
launching a new sanitation grants programme, which is designed to support the scaling-up efforts of sanitation initiatives in developing countries.
After receiving the announcement, Jon Lane asserted "I am honoured to be appointed to this post. I intend to work with all my colleagues in WSSCC around the world to serve people in
developing countries who lack sanitation and water."
According to Dr. Roberto Lenton, the WSSCC Chair, " Jon will bring to the position a deep knowledge of the field, through both his extensive on-the-ground experience in water and sanitation and his work with a broad range of civil society organizations. I greatly look forward to working with him in the years to come."
WSSCC was founded in 1990 in line with a United Nations General Assembly resolution to continue the work of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-1990), and is since then legally and administratively hosted by the WHO. Its mission is to achieve sustainable water supply and sanitation for all people. Currently, 1.2 billion people worldwide lack access to safe water and 2.6 billion people - nearly half of the world's population, lack access to adequate sanitation.
The Collaborative Council, using the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets for water and sanitation as a milestone, aims to ensure that these basic human rights are available to all people.
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