SUSTAINABILITY - The African Mirror

Oct

23

2024

Wildlife loss is taking ecosystems nearer to collapse – new report

SUSTAINABILITY

EVEN for a conservation biologist numbed to bad news about nature, the biennial Living Planet report from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is a stark reminder of our failure to arrest the loss of biodiversity – the variety of living things and the ecosystems they live in. The 2024 report uses an index that has tracked the fate of 35,000 populations of 5,495 species of wild vertebrates – that’s animals with a spinal column, so mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish – from 1970 to the present day. Over the past 50 years (1970–2020), the average size of these monitored…

Oct

16

2024

By KWAME ADJEI-MANTEY and ROULA INGLESI-LOTZ

Ghana needs to stop households from using firewood: what must be done

SUSTAINABILITY

COOKING on firewood and coal increases air pollution and ill health. Some of the dangers include stunted growth in children and undernutrition in children and adults. Babies who’ve been exposed to charcoal and firewood smoke while in the womb can have reduced birth weight. In Ghana, it’s mostly women who have the task of preparing household meals. Babies are often carried on women’s backs while they cook, and children play close to charcoal or wood fires. This exposes women and children to the indoor air pollution resulting from burning biomass fuel. We are economists who investigated whether environmental consciousness had…

Oct

13

2024

By IMRAAN VALODIA; JULIA TAYLOR and SONIA PHALATSE

Climate change: care for humans, other species and the natural environment is the key to a just transition

SUSTAINABILITY

COMMUNITIES across the world are facing two worsening crises: a climate crisis and a care crisis. The evidence and urgency on the climate crisis has been expertly illustrated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The root cause of this crisis is the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This is due to excessive exploitation of fossil fuels, deforestation and industrial processes. In short, it is a result of development processes that have not been based on caring for the environment. Less discussed is the care crisis. This refers to a society’s capacity to maintain livelihoods in households,…

Oct

11

2024

By The African Mirror

Africa’s Great Green Wall will only combat desertification and poverty by harnessing local solutions

SUSTAINABILITY

IN the rural village of Téssékéré, the increasing number and intensity of droughts linked to climate change is making the lives and livelihoods of the local Fulani communities increasingly vulnerable. Here, in the northern Sahel desert region of Senegal (known as the Ferlo), the pastoral population walks over dry, dusty ground with their livestock in search of grazing areas and working borehole water pumps. In favourable years, these farmers can stay in the fields around their local boreholes, but climate change is forcing them to move further afield to find pasture to feed their cattle. In the small Ivory Coast…

Oct

09

2024

By RICHARD CALLAND

Gas isn’t a good alternative to coal – South Africa should focus on solar, wind and green hydrogen

SUSTAINABILITY

SOUTH Africa is immersed in a “just energy transition” from a fossil fuel-based energy system to a cleaner, low-carbon energy system. This new system will be based primarily on renewable energy, such as solar, wind and green hydrogen. Such a transition is deeply contested. Those with direct and indirect commercial interests in the coal industry will defend their stake. On the other hand, those who could gain from a transition will aim to entrench their new interests in the renewable energy sector. Then there are those who argue that gas is a reasonable compromise between the need to decarbonise and…

Oct

05

2024

By GABRIELLA SANTINI

Maasai Mara’s Indigenous forest is disappearing, with drastic consequences

SUSTAINABILITY

NEXT to the world-famous Maasai Mara National Reserve, an indigenous forest called Nyekweri serves as a sanctuary for elephants, rare birds such as the bright green Schalow’s turaco, a small nocturnal mammal called the tree hyrax and the endangered giant pangolin. Despite its importance as a conservation hotspot and ecotourism destination, Nyekweri is disappearing. Originally, it spanned 500km² but more than 50% of this forest has been cleared within two decades by local communities. If you stroll through the forest today, wisps of smoke linger in the air as charcoal pits smoulder across the landscape. While charcoal burning is illegal…

Oct

04

2024

By KATIE DEVENISH

Madagascar’s mining rush has caused no more deforestation than farming – new study

SUSTAINABILITY

IF tens of thousands of miners turned up in the middle of a protected rainforest to mine for sapphires, you might expect that to cause lots of deforestation and harm local wildlife. Mining has a very bad reputation. It is often assumed to be one of the worst land uses – destroying and polluting the environment and creating barren, moon-like landscapes. Where mining occurs in areas of high biodiversity, it is considered a serious threat. But in the eastern rainforests of Madagascar, over 10,000 people mining for sapphires didn’t cause more damage to the forest than farmers clearing land for…

Oct

03

2024

By GRACSIOUS MAVIZA and SIYAXOLA GADU

Extreme weather is disrupting lives in southern Africa: new policies are needed to keep the peace

SUSTAINABILITY

OVER the past decades, heavy and more frequent rainfall and dry spells in southern Africa have caused loss and damage to agriculture, livestock, the energy sector, food security and nutrition. Gender and migration scientist Gracsious Maviza and climate change specialist Siyaxola Gadu talked to The Conversation Africa about how this poses risks to stability and peace in the region. What’s the link between climate, peace and security? There is no direct and linear relationship between climate risks and security. However, the changing climate intensifies socioeconomic problems. These include water scarcity, already precarious livelihoods and food insecurity, poverty, and weak governance.…

Oct

01

2024

By GARY HAQ

Why we need to talk about older people and climate change in Africa

SUSTAINABILITY

AFRICA is often viewed as a relatively young continent, with less than 7% of the population over 60. But this is set to change. Declining fertility rates and increasing life expectancy mean that by 2050, the number of people over 60 in Africa is projected to triple to 235 million (about 9% of the African population). This demographic shift is occurring when global climate change is intensifying, leading to more frequent and severe extreme weather events such as heatwaves, flooding and tropical cyclones. By 2050, older adults in Africa are projected to face significantly higher heat exposure due to rapid…

Sep

14

2024

By WALE FATADE

Nigeria is the world’s 2nd biggest plastic polluter: expert insights into the crisis

SUSTAINABILITY

PLASTIC pollution is a major problem in Nigeria. Recent research identified the country as a plastic pollution hotspot, second to India. India emits 9.3 million tonnes of plastic into the environment each year – one-fifth of the global total. Nigeria emits 3.5 million tonnes annually. Just how big is the issue and what can be done about it? The Conversation Africa has published various articles by academics on the country’s plastic pollution problem and how it should be tackled. Plastic pollution in Nigeria Temitope Sogbamu warns that plastic pollution is a serious problem in Nigeria and can be found wherever…