By: Frank P. Martin
GBARNGA, BONG CO.: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with support from the Canadian government through NovaSphere, organized a two-day National Validation meeting for the County Climate Change Baseline Report in Gbarnga, Bong County.
Held from August 21-22, 2024, the event convened local and national leaders including stakeholders from the environmental and climate change sectors.
The meeting included County Superintendents, County Development Officers, City Mayors, County Educational Officers from all fifteen counties of Liberia, and officials from various government ministries and agencies.
Attendees engaged in PowerPoint presentations by the authors of the baseline reports, followed by Question-and-Answer sessions that allowed participants to contribute to the refinement of the reports.
During the event, EPA’s Executive Director, Dr. Emmanuel K. Urey Yarkpawolo, raised concerns about the illegal and unregulated extraction of Liberia’s natural resources, particularly the harmful use of mercury in gold mining.
He emphasized the dire consequences of mercury contamination, which not only threatens the environment but also poses severe health risks to humans, including kidney damage, deafness, blindness, and neurological issues in newborns.
He also expressed concerns over the use of mercury to mine gold, facilitated by the increased number of dredges in the various waters across Liberia.
“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.
“ The same thing happens to those who smell mercury while using it to mine gold. Honorable Superintendents and County Development Officers, Ladies and Gentlemen. There have been instances where local authorities in the counties are contributing to the detrimental use of mercury in our waters,” Dr. Yarkpawolo lamented.
Dr. Yarkpawolo called on local authorities, including County Superintendents, to collaborate with the EPA in curbing these destructive practices.
He highlighted Liberia’s commitments under various international environmental agreements, such as the Convention to Conserve Biological Diversity and the Paris Agreement, urging stronger partnerships to achieve national and global environmental goals.
He also announced the establishment of a National University Climate Change Laboratory at the University of Liberia, supported by the Government of Canada through NovaSphere. The Laboratory according to the EPA boss, will assist the Government of Liberia in generating the needed report that is required to open up the carbon market in Liberia, adding that the Carbon market is intended to use resources, mainly forest resources to capture carbon in the fight against climate change and in return Liberia hopes to generate the needed revenues to promote her economic development.
This laboratory will play a crucial role in generating reports necessary for Liberia to participate in the global carbon market, potentially unlocking new revenue streams to support the country’s economic development.
He believed the EPA can succeed in her workings within the counties only if county authorities like the Superintendents in the different counties collaborate, adding that the meeting will also pave the way for better communication and collaborations between the EPA and local authorities.
He continues: “The EPA as a statutory government agency cannot do it alone to protect and manage the environment. The Act Creating the EPA identified 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 in assisting the EPA to achieve 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.”
He told the gathering that in order for Liberia to achieve its vision for the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), which intends to reduce her greenhouse gas emissions by 64% in 2030, it will require support from both local and international partners in fighting climate change.
Dr. Yarkpawolo recounted that Liberia’s NDC mandates that the country takes steps to reduce the high level of vulnerability Liberia to the impacts of climate change.
He noted that they have identified adaptation actions in nearly all the climate-sensitive sectors, namely, agriculture, health, waste, forestry, coastal resources.
According to Dr. Yarkpawolo, achieving Liberia’s Climate Action Plan will require strong, dedicated, and committed local and international partnerships.
The Liberia EPA Executive Director noted that the Government of Canada, through Novasphere, has identified Liberia as a strategic partner in working together to fight climate change in Liberia in order to achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
“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 that are impeding Liberia’s desire to fulfill her obligation under The Paris Agreement”, The EPA boss said.
Isaac Kannah, the team lead for MRV Climate Action in Liberia, emphasized the importance of integrating climate change issues into national development plans and encouraged county leaders to actively participate in the validation process of the climate change baseline reports.
This marks the first-time climate change reports are being developed at the county level, reflecting a more localized approach to addressing climate issues.
He said “We are here for 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 counties leaders to have a say into these reports because we will soon have the national validation of the counties baseline reports.
Over the time most of the climate change reports we have had have been done at the national level, but for this on it is the first time we are coming to have it at the county level”.