Environment

Launch of the Civil Society Urban Development Programme (CSUDP) in Nairobi, supported by SIDA

africasc_admin — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 07:45:43 -0500

PRESS RELEASE: Sweden to contribute KES 10 billion to climate fund

africasc_admin — Tue, 18 May 2010 10:02:10 -0500

The formal negotiations on contributions to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) for the period 2010-2014 were concluded last week. At the negotiations in Paris, donors agreed to add USD 4.25 billion to the fund, which is an increase of 52% compared to the last replenishment. Sweden pledged a contribution of over SEK 1 billion (KES 10 billion) to the GEF, encompassing both Sweden's traditional portion and an extra contribution for climate initiatives.

"I am pleased that we have agreed on reforms to make the GEF better at delivering results in recipient countries. We are aware that many developing countries have enormous needs in the area of the environment, and in particular we are seeing increased needs in the area of climate. The agreement we have reached is an important step in tackling this challenge," says Sweden’s Minister for International Development Cooperation Ms Gunilla Carlsson.

In the negotiations, Sweden has consistently pushed to make the GEF more effective and flexible so that initiatives are better able to meet the actual needs of recipient countries. Sweden was successful in this, and the link between GEF initiatives and countries own development plans will now be strengthened.

Background
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) was started in 1991 to offer coordinated funding for the new conventions entered into after the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. The GEF currently channels funding for the climate, desertification, biodiversity and Stockholm conventions. The GEF pays the excess costs of making projects in developing countries more environmentally friendly, which contributes to sustainable development, improving poor people's living conditions, a better environment and developing countries prospects of realising their commitments under international environmental conventions. So far it has channelled USD 8.7 billion to over 2 400 environmental projects in more than 165 countries.

For further information:
Linda Widmark, Press Officer, Embassy of Sweden
linda.widmark@foreign.ministry.se ● 020 423 4054 / 0733 331117

Swedish Vattenfall in controversy over mine workers health in Namibia

africasc_admin — Mon, 17 May 2010 11:10:47 -0500

Swedish mainly state owned energy company Vattenfall's import of uranium from Namibia has shown the difficulty of being a nation of good-doers at all levels. The company is blamed for not worrying enough for Namibian mine workers health, but passes on some of the responsibility to the Swedish Governments recently implemented "partner cooperation" policy which recommends increased trade with Namibia.

In this case a report by a Namibian think tank, stating that Namibian workers are exposed to unacceptable levels of radiation which runs against a newly implemented Swedish partner co-operation policy pointing out Namibia as a favoured trading nation.

Swedish Vattenfall states in its defense of the company's purchase of uranium from Namibia that it fulfills all environmental, workplace and legal requirements after criticism in a report that Namibian mine workers are not adequately protected.

The company's head of environment, Agneta Rising, states that pictures broadcasted on a Swedish news channel, following a report on labour conditions at the Rössing mine, were "strong" but that Vattenfall stands by its decision to purchase from Namibia, which is one of four supplier of uranium to Vattenfall operated nuclear power plants. The other supplier countries are Canada, Australia and Russia.

Ms Rising states hat controls are very tight before any contras are entered into, including that the Vattenfall gets full insight into the suppliers operations.

"Radiation levels at the Rössing mine are on par with the natural background radiation levers. At these levers there is no correlation between radiation and health concerns", states Agneta Rising.

Vattenfall's view is contradicted by a report by the Labour Resource and Research Institute in Namibia which states that workers in the uranium mines run the risk of being exposed to radiation, but when they get sick they have great difficulty to prove that there is a correlation and therefore they don't get paid compensation.

The report, by the institutes head Hilma Shindondola-Mote, also states that workers are generally badly informed about the health risks they run.

As the nuclear power is on the rise, due to carbon emission related global warming the nuclear energy industry will find itself becoming ever more scrutinized not the least by think tanks and the media.

Vattenfall states it doesn't takes political decisions, but relies on the Swedish Foreign office for guidance. And the Swedish Governments officially adopted line is to encourage trade with the South West African desert nation through its freshly adopted policy of so called partnership cooperation - a policy that replaces development co-operation in countries that are too rich to benefit from financial assistance.

With some 20 percent of Vattenfall's uranium needs supplied by Namibia, uranium is the South West African desert Nations major export to Sweden by far.

ITT ready when South Africa's multi-billion water and waste market takes off

africasc_admin — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:16:04 -0500

ITT Water and Wastewater is well positioned to win water management contracts in South Africa as the country turns its attention to environment issues. The company is presently "discussing" a number of projects in South Africa that are all running into hundreds of millions.

Significant recent orders include pumps for the Gautrain - a high speed train that would be the equivalent of Arleanda Express and the Stockholm Metro - which is set to be ready ahead of the Fifa World Cup next year.

"A recent significant order include the turnkey supply, installation and commissioning of drainage pumps for the Gautrain. The project is scheduled for completion in December 2009. The order value was ZAR 6 million", says Ralf Hansson, resonsible for the structured finance side for so called Global Projects at ITT Water & Wastewater.

The company is also presently upgrading sewage works east of Johannesburg.

"We are completing the refurbishment and upgrading of a 6 Megalitre/day municipal sewage works east of Johannesburg valued at R 3.5 million", says Mr. Hansson.

Yet another project the company recently finalised was a sewage pumping project for a prestigious golf estate in Kwa-Zulu Natal valued at R 1.5 million.

ITT is no newcomer to environmental ideas in South Africa. Established in the country since 1957, under the Swedish Flygt brand, the company has most of the country’s municipalities, construction companies and mining companies as clients already.

But through rationalisation and bringing together various different units, projects and competencies within the ITT world the company feels it can offer turnkey solutions to waste disposal, water purification and desalination.

“We can now offer large scale solutions, projects that can go way beyond SEK 100 million in value. There is a will in South Africa to invest in complete solutions, though lack of finance and expertise often slows down the process”, says Ralf Hansson.

The company, through experience from its old pump division in South Africa, knows that expertise is hard to come by at municipalities. It therefore offers to run projects for the first few years in order to make it possible for the authorities to take over and run projects themselves.

The SymbioCity concept, Ralf Eriksson admits, isn’t entirely easy to grasp. But he states he is pleased that it happens as ITT Water and Wastewater is right bang the middle of where environment, business and politics meet each other.

“We try as much as possible to be and act as locals. We have some 100 employees in South Africa. What we do is that we want to bring technologies and environment competencies across from home and adapt them to the host country. If it makes sense we manufacture in South Africa too”, says Ralf Eriksson.

Gunnebo adds safe bank environment to SymbioCity's customers

africasc_admin — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:43:13 -0500

One of the most unsafe moments in your daily life in South Africa's is when you are withdrawing cash from a bank ATM as robbery is common and you even face the risk of being at the wrong ATM at definitely the wrong time – when robbers are trying to blow the ATM up. This happens hundreds of times in South Africa annually.

Swedish safe manufacturer Gunnebo believes it has the solution that should appeal to bankers, politicians and the public, as it has developed an ATM security solution that minimises the robbers ability to actually gain access to the cash.

“For us this is both a security and an environmental issue that links us to SymbioCity”, said Robert Hermans, MD for Gunnebo South Africa.

Gunnebo was one of the sponsors of the SymbioCity manifestation aimed at exhibit what Sweden could do in terms of offering cleaner and safer technology to South Africa, Botswana and Namibia – the three countries that were targeted – but also the rest of the continent.

Gunnebo also hopes that the exposure at the event will serve the company well when its time for the SA Reservebank to purchase new bank vaults or security slusses.

“SymbioCity being very much a political forum it made sense for us to showcase our brand”, said Mr. Hermans.

Gunnebo are also supplying banks with tailor made security slusses, teller security and bank vaults.

The South African subsidiary battled with productivity problems until recently, until it hired a contractor to handle the production line. According to Mr.Hermans the company is topping up contract staff's salaries by 40 percent.

Swedish summit on sustainable cities will find fertile ground in South Africa

africasc_admin — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 02:07:31 -0500

The Swedish Government sponsored summit in Midrand this week on sustainable cities, where both the Swedish PM Fredrik Reinfeldt and Trade Minister Ewa Björling enrolled to drum up support for Swedish export opportunities, was well timed.

Among participating, and hopeful, Swedish companies were many of the largest multinationals, like Alfa Laval, Atlas Copco, Scania, Saab and Volvo, and others that already have subsidiaries or a foot in the door in South Africa such as ITT, Gunnebo and Kapsch TrafficCom.

On the executive level Sweden and South Africa have drifted apart over the past ten years. South Africa has moved up the ladder internationally and has become a buddy and playmate to much bigger and more influential friends like Brazil, India and China. They all want to have South Africa as a friend rather than a foe in their quest for Africa's raw material and markets. Sweden, on the other hand, have stayed on the sideline, ambivalent over what to do and were to go as Government links on leadership became more strained - not the least due to Mbeki's policy on aids and passive handling of Robert Mugabe.

With the Jacob Zuma administration in control in Pretoria, Sweden has a chance to tighten the relationship again. And the Swedish center-right Government seems to be keen to grasp that opportunity.

South Africa's President Jacob Zuma stated after a meeting with the Swedish Prime Minister, that he welcomed close co-operation with Sweden on the climate change front. The two countries, Zuma said, were tied together historically and needed to stand together during the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen in November.

"We will have to. The deal in Copenhagen will need to balance climate and development, past and future, mitigation and adaptation, action by developed and developing countries, and a shared vision on reducing emissions, with means of implementation", said President Zuma.

South Africa, as the BRIC countries, maintains that most of the global climate mess is caused by OECD’s advanced economies. They must clean up in their own backyard and allow development nations to have some leeway.

In between the lines it seems like Zuma had an unspoken message to Mr. Reinfeldt: you support us in Copenhagen and we are willing to do business on the ground around those climate change issues you are so keen to promote.

The pressure on South Africa is not just external. South Africa doesn't need foreigners to remind them that action is needed to curb carbon emission; the local pressure is mounting so the Government party is slowly waking up to them as aggrieved local constituencies are becoming impatient.

On Wednesday this week residents from Secunda, a small "dorph" 140 kilometers west of Pretoria, protested against massive pollution, outside the HQ of the home grown petro-chemical multinational Sasol, one of the main culprits in South Africa as far as pollution goes. Sasol spits out some 75 million tons of greenhouse gases annually or about 21% of South Africa's total greenhouse gas emissions per year.

Earlier in the week environmental NGO Earthlife Africa stated that Sasol is one of the worst emitters of greenhouse gases on the African continent.

Other South African companies with a battle on their hands and that could face touch penalties if they are not cutting back on their pollution are power utility Eskom, minerals giant Anglo American and BHP Billiton.

Both Swedish PM Fredrik Reinfeldt and Trade minister Ewa Björling gave upbeat messages to South African business- and Government decision makers at the conference venue in Midrand.

Reinfeldt said that the Swedish economy had grown by 50 % in 18 years but had managed to drop emissions by 10 %. Oil consumption had halfed since the Seventies.

Trade Minister Dr. Ewa Bjorling pointed out that these achievements was a result of a balancing act where one had to think green across the ministries, not just in the Ministry of Environment. Individual behavioural change was as important to achieve the overal gool to balance affordability and sustainability, she said.

THis may be what South Africa wants to hear. To grow fast and still cut emissions appeals to the country's leaders.

Certainly climate change and environmental concerns in South Africa has put pressure on companies and government alike. South Africa’s cities are facing massive traffic increases – 7 % annual increase in traffic – and there is very little done so far to stimulate energy saving- and carbon cutting transport even in public sector.

Large municipalities, like Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town are faced with increased urbanization levels well over a million annually that adds to the pressure on the environment. The majority is people from rural areas in South Africa but a large chunk are also illegal immigrants from neighbouring countries. Most of them begin their new city life in slums 50 kilometers or more outside the city centers where the municipalities have an uphill task to supply basic energy, water, and sanitation and waste management.

Mr. Reinfeldt and his wife saw this poverty-stricken side of South Africa too, during a visit to the Khayelitsha township outside Cape Town, and were reportedly humbled. If Mr. Reinfeldt picked up President Zuma’s message along the way remains to be seen.

For sure, largely due to apartheid and with an understandable fixation with primarily dealing with income- and racial gaps South Africa is very much a latecomer on the environmental bandwagon.

The inheritance from the last white administration was a mixed blessing. 92 % of the country's energy generation and 10 % of the fuel - the oil-from-coal technology was an invention to circumvent sanctions - comes from coal and authorities have decided to turn a blind eye to the consequences.

New policies to combat climate change are in the pipeline, in a bid to address environmental concerns at home and climate concerns from EU - the Swedish PM was primarily in South Africa to handle EU-South Africa relations in his capacity as EU chairman – are underway. But there is no way South Africa will turn away from coal, its leading fossil asset.

To handle power cuts the South African Government has embarked on a fast-track programme to add new power plants – mostly coal fired plants. The consequence is more emissions instead of less.

To make the equation work South Africa needs to catch up and take drastic energy saving and carbon saving measures. In other words the country needs to purchase clean technologies.

South Africa is a net importer of just about all machinery and distribution technologies. And the same goes for energy and carbon reducing technologies and processes for the public and private sectors.

So exporters of such technologies, such as Sweden, therefore are well advised to position themselves and take advantage of opportunities.

Sweden has generally not been not very good at try and capitalize on its old liberation credentials with South Africa – partially because the Swedish way of doing business institutionally separate the public and private sectors. Swedish state institutions, both central and on municipal levels, have “benefitted” to a degree from Sida sponsored programmes. The most famous Swedish contribution to South Africa is undoubtedly Swedish tax consultant’s assistance to help and more than quadrupling the country’s tax base.

The Sustainable City concept is another success story that made its debut at the 2002 World Summit of Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. Infrastructure consultants Sweco on behalf of the Swedish Government developed it. In South Africa this integrated approach has been successfully implemented in Buffalo City, the larger East London area.

Since then Swedish development bureaucrats have been made a concerted push in the clean technology sector.

• Sweden and South Africa signed a bi-national agreement on the subject in 2007 to focus on skills development, technology transfer, infrastructure build up and increased trade.
• Last year Swedish Trade Council organized a seminar in Pretoria attended by 150 delegates from business, government and academic sectors.
• Grants and loans, through Swedish government agency Nutek and state owned private equity fund Swedfund have been searching and funding clean tech- and biofuel projects.

Niches to be explored include clean and energy efficient public transport systems; optimising pump systems for energy efficient and sustainable waste disposal; encouraging sustainable business investment strategies; and finding opportunities around the South African energy utility Eskom’s six-point plan on climate change.

For all these reasons Reinfeldt's visit was timely. The SA government want co-operation in this field. It also wants allies as South Africa doesn’t want to be wrapped over the knuckle at the Copenhagen climate change summit in November or face carbon curbs.

Naturally Sweden is by no means alone. Climate change is the name of the game for other Nordic countries too – and for just about every Northern Hemisphere exporter.

SymbioCity - Swedish Trade delegation to South Africa

africasc_admin — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 01:40:25 -0500

SYMBIOCITY - SUSTAINABILITY BY SWEDEN - A SWEDISH TRADE DELEGATION TO NAMIBIA AND SOUTH AFRICA, 8-10 September 2009

On 1 July Sweden assumes the Presidency of the European Union. In mid-September the EU-South Africa Summit will take place in South Africa and the Swedish Prime Minster, Mr. Fredrik Reinfeldt will be in South Africa to participate in the Summit.

In conjunction with his visit, the Embassy of Sweden in Pretoria together with the Swedish Trade Council in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa invite you to participate in an official Swedish trade delegation to Namibia and South Africa, 8-10 September 2009.

The purpose of this trade delegation is to increase trade and strengthen business by identifying new projects, investment opportunities and business partners. The delegation will give the Swedish companies the opportunity to meet with key decision makers from Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, as well as provide a platform to market their products and services. The week will also offer various networking events.

SymbioCity – Sustainability by Sweden
As part of the trade delegation, the Embassy of Sweden and the Swedish Trade Council will host two SymbioCity events focusing on climate change and sustainable solutions from Sweden: one in Namibia on 8 September and one in South Africa on 10 September.

Climate change is one of the most critical global challenges of our time and an important theme during the Swedish EU-Presidency. A major problem for Africa is the lack of knowledge and technological solutions around the areas of environmental care and design, energy transformation, sustainable ICT infrastructure and environmentally friendly transport solutions.

The six areas of focus and discussion during the two days will be sustainability within:

COMMUNICATION
TRANSPORT
ENERGY
DESIGN
SAFETY AND SECURITY
WATER

Key stakeholders from Botswana, Namibia and South Africa will participate in SymbioCity seminars. The
programme for the delegation will include presentations from the Departments of Trade and Industry and
Environmental Affairs, a presentation on the South African and SADC economies amongst many others.
There will aslo be dinners and receptions for networking opportunities. A detailed schedule will follow.

The deadline for registration is 15 August 2009.

We look forward to your participation!

Best regards,

Swedish Trade Council

The Swedish Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa

http://www.swedishtrade.se/sydafrika

EU parliamentarians meet about Africa

africasc_admin — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 05:44:14 -0500

JOHANNESBURG. A network of European parliamentarians (AWEPA) who are committed to putting Africa on the European political agenda – and to help strengthen parliamentary democracy in Africa – will meet for a conference in Stockholm in connection with World Water Week and Sweden assuming the EU presidency, the organization announced.

About 50 parliamentarians from Europe and Africa will attend the conference during August 19-21. The main aim of the conference is to increase parliaments’ awareness of climate change, maintenance of scarce water resources and to increase effectiveness of development aid in these areas.

Swedish trade delegation visit set

africasc_admin — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 01:16:32 -0500

JOHANNESBURG. The Swedish trade delegation to Namibia and South Africa will take place on the 8-10 September, the Swedish Trade Council announced. Sweden assumes the Presidency of the European Union on July 1, and Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt will be visiting South Africa in mid-September to attend the EU-South Africa Summit.

In conjunction with his visit, the Embassy of Sweden in Pretoria together with the Swedish Trade Council in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa is organizing a trade delegation to Namibia and South Africa, as Africascan reported earlier.

EAC wants SIDA's help on climate plan

africasc_admin — Fri, 15 May 2009 02:48:24 -0500

JOHANNESBURG. The Secretary General of the East African Community held talks with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) – calling on Sweden to support EAC’s Climate Change Master Plan, the EAC announced.

The Secretary General of the EAC, Ambassador Juma Mwapachu met a delegation from the SIDA led by the Assistant Director General Operations, Magnus Lindell, who called on him at his office in Arusha, Tanzania.

The Swedish government has engaged SIDA to prepare a new strategy for regional development cooperation in the Sub-Saharan Africa during the year 2009 and as part of this process high-level meetings are scheduled with the Regional Economic Communities, including the East African Community, the Southern Africa Development Community and the African Union.