Environment

This climate change profile is designed to help integrate climate actions into development activities. Since 1980, decreasing rainfall has been accompanied by rapid increases in temperature on the order of more than 1°C. This warming, which is two and a half times greater than the global warming, is making ‘normal’ years effectively drier. Rapid population growth and the expansion of farming and pastoralism under a more variable climate regime could dramatically increase the number of at-risk people in Sudan over the next 20 years. Climate change will aggravate South Sudan’s fragile situation and may contribute to existing tensions and conflict.

In the oil fields of Thar Jath, South Sudan, increasing salinity of drinking water was observed together with human incompatibilities and rise in livestock mortalities. Hair analysis was used to characterize the toxic exposure of the population. Hair samples of volunteers from four communities with different distance from the center of the oil field (Koch 23 km, n = 24; Leer 50 km, n = 26; Nyal 110 km, n = 21; and Rumbek 220 km, n = 25) were analyzed for altogether 39 elements by inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry. Very high concentrations and a toxic health endangerment were assessed for lead and barium. The concentration of lead increased steadily with decreasing distance from the oil field from Rumbek (mean 2.8 mg/g) to Koch (mean 18.7 mg/g) and was there in the same range as in highly contaminated mining regions in Kosovo, China or Bolivia. The weighting materials in drilling muds barite (BaSO4) and galena (PbS) were considered to be the sources of drinking water pollution and high hair values. The high concentrations of lead and barium in hair demonstrate clearly the health risk caused by harmful deposition of toxic industrial waste but cannot be used for diagnosis of a chronic intoxication of the individuals.

South Sudan is highly vulnerable to climate change, including flooding, droughts and, most recently, a locust infestation. Long-term climate change, like a gradual increase in temperature, and short-term changes, like increased flooding, have indirect and interlinked implications for peace and security in South Sudan.

This paper reviews the existing literature to determine the adequacy of evidence and extent
of the environmental impacts in the oil producing areas in South Sudan. The following is
revealed:
o Evidence from previous studies shows that there is a serious environmental and
social disaster in the three oil producing areas, even though such evidence does not
generate enough consensus for the decision makers.
o Environmental impacts assessments (EIA) conducted before the oil operations
reveal that (1) the air in these locations was of good quality and (2) the water was
safe for both human and animal consumption, except for the pockets with high
concentration of salt in groundwater in the Um Ruwaba geological region.
o Still, many parameters of environmental quality usually recognized by World
Health Organization (WHO) have not been tested in both the EIAs and related
environmental studies.
o In summary, existing evidence links high concentrations of salt and heavy metals to
oil exploration, development and production, which are the cause of the widely
reported birth defects, miscarriages, infertility, and cancers in the affected areas.
We recommend a comprehensive, independent environmental and social assessment to
determine the extent of environmental and social impacts. Resulting insights could be used
to develop remediation measures to restore the environment and address related health
and social problems. The assessment should be carried out by a reputable firm or an
organization, which would need to be selected by the Ministry of Environment and
Forestry through a competitive bidding process. In the long term, results from this
assessment could help lay the foundation for sustainable development, provide oil
companies with new social license to operate, avert potential conflict and ecological
disasters, and aid in building a lasting peace in the country

The Horn of Africa including South Sudan has been facing a wide range of interconnected and mutually reinforcing negative conditions for many years. Recently, climate change-induced migration, either voluntary in nature as an adaptation strategy or through displacement, has become a formidable challenge for these countries. Achieving a resilient society – where people can adapt in place and thrive, or migrate with dignity to areas of higher opportunity – should be an important part of meeting national development goals. It is thus critical to take a long-term perspective on how to reduce vulnerability and make human and socioeconomic development more resilient, in order to reduce the number of distressed people forced to move as a result of climate change.

South Sudan is a landlocked country that falls almost entirely (96 per cent) within the Nile River Basin in East-Central Africa. It is bordered in the north by Sudan; by Ethiopia and Kenya in the east; by Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in the south; and in the west by the Central African Republic. It occupies an area of 658,842 km2. The country is covered by extensive grasslands, wetlands and tropical forests. Its natural assets include significant agricultural, mineral, timber and energy resources. The climate is mostly hot and dry, with seasonal rains that allow for two or three harvests a year in the country’s green belt. Apart from oil, however, its natural resources are largely unexploited and only 4.5 per cent of its potential arable land is cultivated.
South Sudan is inhabited by a number of different ethnic groups, the largest of which is the Dinka, a traditionally pastoralist people that makes up 36 per cent of the population. It is followed by the Nuer, who constitute about one-fifth. Other groups include the Zande, the Bari, the Shiluk and the Anywa (Anwak). In total there are 64 ethnic groups in South Sudan. There is also a small Arab population in South Sudan.
With less than 13 people per square kilometre, population density in the country is one of the lowest in Africa. Livelihoods in the northern dry areas are dominated by seasonal agriculture, pastoralism, fishing and hunting. The country is divided into three regions (the former historic provinces): Bahr el Ghazal in the northwest, Equatoria in the south and Greater Upper Nile in the northeast. There were ten states, which are now divided into thirty two.

The report is divided into three parts. Part I covers the status, trends, threats to biodiversity and its implications for human well-being. Part II deals with the status of the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan in South Sudan including its implementation and mainstreaming of biodiversity while Part III presents progress that South Sudan has made towards achievement of the 2011-2020 Aichi Biodiversity targets and its contribution to the relevant 2015 Targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
South Sudan is the newest member of the Convention on Biological Diversity, having acceded to it only on 17 February 2014. It is also the youngest nation politically having gained its independence in 2011. Its effort to conserve biodiversity must be looked at in this light. It has also gone through a long period of war and insecurity
which has had a very negative impact on biodiversity in a manner that has not been experienced by many countries around the world.

Over the past two decades, the rangelands of Eastern Africa have experienced sweeping changes associated with growing human populations, shifting land use, expanding livestock marketing and trade, and greater investment by domestic and global capital. These trends have coincided with several large shocks that were turning points for how rangeland inhabitants make a living. As livelihoods in the region’s rangelands transform in seemingly paradoxical directions, away from customary pastoralist production systems, greater insight is required of how these transformations might affect poverty and vulnerability. This article reviews the state of what is known regarding directions of livelihood change in the rangelands of Eastern Africa, drawing on case studies of structural change in five settings in the region. It considers the implications of long-term change, as well as the emergence of very different livelihood mixes in pastoral rangelands, for efforts to reduce poverty and vulnerability in these places.

This report shares Oxfam’s experience with a water treatment plant community-led operator in Juba, South Sudan. It contributes to the debate on the role that communities can play in the process of managing water supply systems amid protracted crises. The report gives guidance on how to support professionalization of community services by providing business, governance and institutional support, and calls on donors and implementing agencies to develop WASH programmes which consider medium-term institutional support that ensures sustainability and pro-poor accessibility.

While South Sudan is endowed with 3.5 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, the exploitation of this natural wealth is turning into a catastrophe for some local communities, particularly in Melut County. Through focus group discussions, individual interviews, and field observations, we found the following:

Many households in Paloch, Melut County, are in close proximity to oil wells and facilities, and within a short distance of a large lake of toxic produced water, exposing them to highly toxic chemicals.
Livestock graze around the oilfields, passing on highly toxic pollutants to residents through the food chain.
Community drinking water, held in containers that are placed on dusty roadsides by Dar Petroleum Operating Company (DPOC), and chemical containers used by community members to hold water, are likely sources of human exposure to toxic pollutants.
Communities have repeatedly complained about a high prevalence of petroleum pollution that causes diseases and reproductive health issues, including birth defects, infertility, stillbirth, and miscarriages, among others. We discovered 13 cases of birth defects, including spinal bifida, facial and head deformities, sexual organ deformities, limb deformities, and growth retardations.
All of the participants expressed anger and frustration, a sign of a more serious potential crisis that could cripple petroleum industry operations in the area, if not prioritized and addressed.


We recommend the following to the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (RTGONU) and DPOC:

Urgently identify areas sufficiently distanced from the oil fields, build basic services infrastructure in those areas, and relocate residents away from the oil fields and facilities;
Fence off the oilfields to prevent access by humans, livestock, and wildlife;
Conduct a comprehensive environmental and social assessment similar to the one that was conducted in Ogoniland in Nigeria by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to assess the extent of pollution damage, determine compensation and remediation costs, and make recommendations that are enforceable through an act of parliament or a presidential order; and
Expedite the tabling, review, and passage of the draft Environmental Protection and Management Bill to strengthen environmental protection rules and enforcement capacity to better protect the health and welfare of those South Sudanese suffering from oil industry operations.