Execlusive: Bishop Tutu demands 100% renewable energy by 2050

Exclusive@NaijaAgroNet:

The Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town and member, Faiths for Earth Campaign, Most Reverend Desmond Tutu has joined the climate change crusade, demanding from global leaders to set renewable energy target of 100 per cent by 2050, reports NaijaAgroNet.

He also expressed hope on the forthcoming United Nations global meeting on climate change and ability of the likes of President Barack Obama and UN Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon to positively respond to this call.

Tutu in a petition already co-signed by over 216,779 as at the time of filing this report, called on the global leaders to “Respond urgently to climate change by setting a renewable energy target of 100 per cent by 2050.”

For him, climate change is one of the greatest moral challenges in this era, because it threatens the health of the planet and people; especially the poorest and most vulnerable. Just as it also threatens children’s future and everything humanity holds dear. 

“It is time for all of us to wake up and take action together; in our local communities, nationally and globally, as well as in our daily lives,” he said.

Bishop Tutu noted as citizens motivated by faith and other moral traditions, to recognize that there is a grave obligation to act on climate change.

“We call on you as leaders to respond urgently to the threats of climate change and set a renewable energy target of 100% by 2050. We need bold action like this to keep global temperature rise below the unacceptably dangerous tipping point of two degrees, to phase out carbon pollution to zero, and to invest resources in sustainable development pathways to build a more flourishing, inclusive and balanced world,” the retired Bishop Tutu declared.

He enjoined the people of faith to embrace the moral responsibility to care for their world and for each other and by seeking to live better and more sustainable lives in greater joy and harmony.

“Let us act now, boldly and together, to build a better life for all,” Bishop Tutu urged.
 
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
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100 young scientists thinker on feeding 9.6bn people

NaijaAgroNet

 About100 concerned young scientists are currently looking at ways of making food available to 9.6billion people in the world and another two billion people by 2050, NaijaAgroNet reports.

This information emerged from an interactive discussion designed to mark the 65^th Lindau Nobel Lauraete Meeting this year. The meeting  which witnessed a record number of 65 laureates and over 650 young scientists meeting in Germany from June 28-July 3, is meant to discuss solutions to world food problem.

Mars’ Chief Agricultural Officer, Howard-Yana Shapiro, NaijaAgroNet gathered, spoke during the discussion about the need to look beyond calories: “undernourishment is really just the tip of the iceberg. Deficiencies in nutrients like iron, vitamin B12, folate, vitamin A, affect huge numbers of people around the world and lead to physical and cognitive stunting”, in a world where an estimated 2 billion people are anaemic.

Report says that over six decades after the Green Revolution, malnutrition still stares vast majority of the world in the face; meanwhile, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, had said that almost 800 million people worldwide are undernourished. With the global population predicted to rise to between 9 and 10 billion by 2050, NaijaAgroNet learnt, the world faces an increasingly uncertain future that demands a coordinated response from all sectors and disciplines.

According to Steven Chu who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1997 and served as the US Secretary of Energy in the first Obama administration, “the food system is one of the greatest contributors to climate change and will also be one its greatest victims. But agriculture can mitigate worsening climatic stresses if sustainable practices are adopted at scale.” Chu currently teaches at Stanford University, where he is the William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Physics and Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology.

Once every year, NaijaAgroNet reports, some dozens of Nobel Laureates convene at Lindau to meet the next generation of leading scientists: undergraduates, PhD students, and post-doc researchers from all over the world. The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings foster the exchange among scientists of different generations, cultures, and disciplines. The 65th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting is dedicated to interdisciplinary scientific exchange.

Cyriacus Nnaji/ GEE

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