EPA, NovaSphere, others validate Climate Change Report

The Environmental Protection Agency, in collaboration with partners, is conducting a two-day national validation meeting on County Climate Change Baseline Reports here.

By Lincoln G. Peters 

Bong County, Liberia, August 22, 2024 –The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with support from the Government of Canada through NovaSphere, has organized a two-day national validation meeting for County Climate Change Baseline Reports in Gbarnga, Bong County.

The meeting, which brought together local and national leaders as well as stakeholders, took place from 21 to 22 August 2024.

It was attended by County Superintendents, Development Officers, City Mayors, and County Educational Officers from all 15 political divisions of Liberia.

Local and national leaders, along with climate change experts, witnessed PowerPoint presentations by the authors of the county climate change baseline reports before crisscrossing the reports in Question-and-Answer sessions, using the occasion to make interjections. 

EPA Executive Director Dr. Emmanuel K. Urey Yarkpawolo highlighted growing national concerns about illegal, unregulated, un-sustained and unreported extraction of Liberia’s natural resources in cruel manners that continue to destroy and degrade not only the land areas but significant water bodies. 

He expressed concerns over the use of mercury to mine gold, which was facilitated by the increased number of dredges in various Liberian waters.

“Mercury is a long-lasting chemical that can affect all of us. For example, when we mine gold using mercury, the mercury spreads in the water. The fish live in the water and get their food. The mercury enters the fish. When we eat fish, mercury enters our bodies. This can cause damage to our kidneys, cause deafness, cause blindness, and cause women to give birth to children with all kinds of brain problems”, Yarkpawolo explained.

He said a similar situation happens to those who smell mercury while using it to mine gold, saying, “Honorable Superintendents and County Development Officers, Ladies and Gentlemen. There have been instances where local authorities in the counties contribute to the detrimental use of mercury in our waters.”

He notes that sometimes, these miners who make huge amounts of money with little or nothing left with the communities will give small funds to the local authorities to permit them to mine. “When our inspectors go there to identify those illegal miners, the local people hide them and prevent law enforcement officers from enforcing the law.”

He described the situation as unfortunate and added, “We are asking the county superintendents to help us prevent this bad behavior and save our people.”

The EPA Executive Director also revealed that Liberia is a signatory to most international environmental agreements, including the Convention to Conserve Biological Diversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Wetlands, and many others, and the country must take steps to commit to these instruments.

 “We have demonstrated the political will over the years to ensure we work to fulfill the objectives of these agreements that we are party to.” Dr. Yarkpawolo affirmed. 

He believes the EPA can succeed in its work in the counties only if county authorities like superintendents collaborate. He adds that the meeting will also improve communication and collaboration between the EPA and local authorities. 

“The EPA, as a statutory government agency, cannot do it alone to protect and manage the environment. The Act creating the EPA identifies the Ministry of Internal Affairs as an arm of government responsible for the custodian of the resources. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is the oldest government ministry within the Republic of Liberia. Internal Affairs Ministry is the premier Ministry of Government. This means we have a statutory mandate to work with you closely to assist the EPA in achieving its mandate. Without your collaboration, cooperation, and support, it will be difficult or impossible to achieve our statutory function to protect and manage the environment and the sustainable use of our resources to meet the needs of this generation and the future generation.”

According to the EPA boss, Liberia will require support from both local and international partners in fighting climate change to achieve its vision for the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), which intends to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 64% in 2030. 

Dr. Yarkpawolo recounted that Liberia’s NDC mandates that the country take steps to reduce its high vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, noting that they have identified adaptation actions in nearly all climate-sensitive sectors, namely, agriculture, health, waste, forestry, and coastal resources.

According to Dr. Yarkpawolo, achieving Liberia’s Climate Action Plan will require strong, dedicated, and committed local and international partnerships.

He disclosed that the Government of Canada, through Novasphere, has identified Liberia as a strategic partner in working together to fight climate change here to achieve the Paris Agreement’s objectives.

“Liberia’s partnership with the Government of Canada through Novasphere commits technical and financial support by the Government of Canada to tackle or remove all those obstacles/hindrances impeding Liberia’s desire to fulfill her obligation under the Paris Agreement.”

He continued that, with the support of the Government of Canada, the EPA has established a National University Climate Change Laboratory on the Capitol Hill Campus of the University of Liberia for the first time in the Republic of Liberia.

According to the EPA boss, the laboratory will assist the Government of Liberia in generating the needed report to open the carbon market in Liberia. The carbon market is intended to use resources, mainly forest resources, to capture carbon in the fight against climate change. In return, Liberia hopes to generate the needed revenues to promote its economic development.

Moreover, Dr. Yarkpawolo lauded county superintendents, mayors, and other stakeholders who continue to assist the EPA in executing its mandate in the country.

He urged them to continue demonstrating strength and courage to help protect and manage forests, rivers, creeks, wildlife, wetlands, and other endowed natural heritage of the country that God has blessed Liberians with to take them out of poverty.

For his part, Mr. Isaac Kannah, the team lead for MRV Climate Action in Liberia, said the event is to review a climate chance baseline that was developed some time ago for the fifteen counties in Liberia.

“We are here for a few objectives. One is for us to look at how we can integrate climate change issues into national development; secondly, we developed a county climate change baseline report for all the fifteen counties and we want for you, our Superintendents and county leaders, to have a say into these reports because we will soon have the national validation of the counties baseline reports”, he added.

Mr. Kannah noted that most of the climate change reports had been at the national level over time, but this was the first exercise at the county level. Editing by Jonathan Browne