Saturday, January 2, 2016

My World Interrupted by Esau Sinnok, Arctic Youth Ambassador

Close your eyes and picture your best memory with your family and friends. If you're like me, that memory is filled with the warmth and comfort of a familiar home. I hope that, unlike me, you are never asked to put a price on that home because of the effects of climate change.

Esau Sinnok, Arctic Youth Ambassador in Shishmaref, Alaska
Welcome to Shishmaref, Alaska, population: 650. We're a small Iñupiaq community where everyone knows each other. Shishmaref is a barrier island that has been eroding and flooding for the past 50 years -- even before disruption from climate change was widely recognized.
Over the past 35 years, we've lost 2,500 to 3,000 feet of land to coastal erosion. To put this in perspective: I was born in 1997, and since then, Shishmaref has lost about 100 feet. In the past 15 years, we had to move 13 houses -- including my dear grandma Edna’s house -- from one end of the island to the other because of this loss of land. Within the next two decades, the whole island will erode away completely.
Coastal erosion in Shishmaref
During my lifetime, I’ve seen unusual weather patterns that villagers have never witnessed before. It rained during winter last year and ice formation is coming later in the year. My grandfather remembers when 30-35 years ago ice used to form fully in late September or the middle of October. It is December, and the ice barely formed enough for us to safely cross it.

The lack of ice has affected our hunting, fishing and other traditions. We use handmade wooden boats to hunt and fish in the surrounding areas of Shishmaref as well as  snowmachines to get around in the winter time. Every year it gets harder and harder to collect enough meat for the winter. Tomcod and whitefish are a large part of our winter diet, but since the ice forms later in the year, it’s more difficult for us to gather enough food.
Members of the Iñupiaq community ice-fishing
Our village is so remote that it is only accessible by airplane, and we only get fresh food products from other parts of Alaska every one to two months. If we can’t hunt and fish to feed ourselves in the winter, we will starve.
In 2001, my people voted to relocate along the coast of mainland Alaska, but the estimated cost is $200-250 million. The reality of moving is very complicated. There is not enough funding for relocation efforts. And even though we made this decision, everyone wants to stay -- especially the older generations who have spent their whole lives in Shishmaref.
But we realize we have no choice. It really hurts knowing that your only home is going to be gone, and you won't hunt, fish and carry on traditions the way that your people have done for centuries. It is more than a loss of place, it is a loss of identity. Once you see how vulnerable my community is to sea-level rise and erosion, you won't be able to deny that Arctic communities are already feeling the impacts of climate change.
Aerial view of Shishmaref
Despite this reality, I appreciate every day that I get to wake up and see the scenery that's still here and that I'm able to call this place home. For now. While it's too late to save the island of Shishmaref, we still have a little bit of hope that we'll be able to preserve our traditions and stay united as a culture.
That's why I am determined to speak up for my community.
This year, I became an Arctic Youth Ambassador -- a program started by the Interior and State Departments in partnership with Alaska Geographic. It gives Alaskan youth the chance to share our perspectives on issues in our communities. As an ambassador, I not only attend the Arctic Council meetings, but I’m also invited to travel with the Arctic Council.
This week, I am in Paris, France, for the United Nations climate talks. It’s only the second time in my life that I have left Alaska, and it’s been a powerful experience. This week, I met with Secretary Jewell and other indigenous people. This meeting gave me insight into how issues of the Arctic and climate change are being handled by our world leaders.

My reason for attending the 21st Conference of Parties in Paris -- COP21 -- is to tell leaders that climate change is affecting the Arctic more than other places of the world, and if the ice in Greenland melts, these villages and islands will be under water.
I hope that world leaders will hear my message and rise to the challenge because it is not just a political issue to me. It's my future.


From US DOI Blog

THE TIME FOR NIGERIA TO STAND WITH THE WORLD ON CLIMATE CHANGE IS NOW

"World leaders are gathering in Paris this week for the 21st United Nations climate conference, known as COP21. Our mission: Secure an ambitious global agreement to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and minimize climate change.
As negotiators hammer out the details of an agreement, I will be meeting with energy ministers, mayors, executives and other leaders to champion the clean energy solutions that are vital to reducing carbon emissions worldwide. Read on to learn more about how we can beat climate change.
"It starts with innovation.
"The global momentum to tackle climate change has never been stronger. At the same time, the costs of today’s clean energy technologies have never been lower. That is no coincidence.
Falling cost clean energy graph revolution now .jpg
"The dramatic cost reduction shown in this graph is a direct result of technological innovations made possible by investments in research and development (R&D) 10, 20, even 30 years ago. This is significant progress, but it is not enough to meet our long-term climate goals. Put simply, we can’t beat climate change with only the technology we have today.
I believe that clean energy innovation is the solution to climate change. It is the key to unlocking new technologies and low-cost clean energy breakthroughs we need to rapidly bend the trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions. As we have seen, innovation also drives the cost reduction necessary to transform global energy markets.
But we don’t have the luxury of waiting for new technologies to emerge. We need to rapidly accelerate the pace of innovation to meet the challenge of limiting global temperature rise to two degrees Celsius.


"That is why President Obama announced last week that the U.S. and 19 other nations are seeking to double our investment in clean energy R&D by 2020. This initiative, called Mission Innovation, seeks to ensure continued improvements in energy technology decades down the road. And it’s not just governments. Bill Gates and dozens of the world’s most prominent investors committed to do the same through a parallel initiative called the Breakthrough Energy Coalition. These commitments -- in the billions of dollars -- are a major step to ensure we have continued breakthroughs and cost reduction in the future.
Together, these two initiatives establish clean energy innovation as a foundation for environmental stewardship, prosperity, security and social responsibility. They also recognize the tremendous economic benefits that await investors in the transformative energy technologies of tomorrow. But even this unprecedented international effort by the public and private sectors is just one step on the long road ahead.
"What comes next?
"What comes after a deal in Paris is just as important as the deal itself. Not only will we need to make good on our commitments in Paris, we must work with international partners to accelerate the global transition to clean energy.
To that end, next year, the United States will host the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) in June. This group is dedicated to advancing clean energy around the world. This important meeting will serve as a key milestone in our work after Paris to help countries reach their climate goals. I will announce the host city and state on Tuesday, December 8.
Additionally, we will be making announcements around several CEM initiatives including the Global Lighting Challenge. This high-impact effort will launch a race to reach cumulative global sales of 10 billion high-efficiency, high-quality and affordable lighting products (such as LEDs) as quickly as possible. Light bulbs may sound small, but they have a big impact; an overnight global transition to highly efficient LED lamps could avoid carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to displacing nearly 250 coal-fired power plants.
"Solving climate change is about more than physics and chemistry.
"Solving climate change is about the human spirit and our ability to tackle shared challenges together. It’s about ensuring energy security, expanding access to reliable and affordable energy, and spurring economic growth that creates jobs and protects the planet.
For all of that, we need innovation. We need more of it, and we need it faster. The climate challenge is more than any one government can solve alone. It’s clear the world is ready to act on climate in Paris. Let’s make sure we’re committed to what lies beyond Paris. 
Let’s get to work".


The message above was released by energy.org as part of President Obama-led government's preparation for the recently held COP 21 in Paris. This clearly shows a leader with vision and passion to go with it. I do hope the President Buhari-led government would have the same sense of urgency concerning our this shared planet. I read from the European Union release that 185 intended nationally determined contributions were prepared ahead in advance of the conference. I doubt if Nigeria prepared anything - no information on the conference exists on Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) website up till now! Delay is very dangerous! I know that for now, investment in Renewable Energy technologies requires a lot of will power, especially for the developing countries, but what we should know is we might the worst hit when the situation becomes worse.


As has already been stated, "solving climate change is about more than physics and chemistry", we need will power and the fierce urgency of now to reserve this worsening global temperature trend. If China could now have over 146,000MW of installed Solar Power I wonder why we are still battling to maintain meager threshold 3,500MW of installed capacity from all technologies. We have a long way to go! and our institutions are not helping matters! If ECN could not have or give information on our participation at COP 21 I wonder where to turn. This is a body that is supposed to work on the policies which we are in dire need of. Things have to change if we must reduce the number and frequency of people that die annually from Carbon II Oxide poisoning.




Strictly my thoughts!


Bolu is a Project Management and Energy Efficiency Professional.