SUSTAINABILITY - The African Mirror

Feb

03

2026

Climate change is hurting Kenyan women working in coastal tourism – they explain how

SUSTAINABILITY

I returned home to Kenya’s coast after months of winter in Germany, and the heat felt extreme. Temperatures rose past 35°C by midday under the blazing sun of Kilifi, a tourism destination on Kenya’s shores of the Western Indian Ocean. It is here that international visitors come for pristine beaches, marine excursions, and trips to nearby islands and creeks. As a tourism researcher, I study how women earn a living through coastal small businesses in times of environmental change. My research work in Kilifi brought me into close contact with the everyday realities of climate change in Kenya’s coastal tourist…

Jan

13

2026

By EMILY GHOSH and DERIK BROEKHOFF

Nigeria and South Africa plan to boost fossil fuel production, risking their climate change pledges

SUSTAINABILITY

JUST 20 countries produce 80% of the world’s oil, gas and coal. Since 2019, researchers have released regular reports analysing how these governments plan to continue drilling and mining for fossil fuels – and how those plans diverge from the global climate goal set out in the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit temperature rise to less than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. The 2025 Production Gap Report found that many of these countries still plan to produce far more fossil fuels by 2030 than is safe for the climate. Scientists Emily Ghosh, Derik Broekhoff, Bathandwa Vazi and Olivier Bois von…

Jan

10

2026

By OLASUNKANMI HABEEB OKUNOLA

Climate adaptation has a new global plan. What the Belem indicators are and why they matter to Africa

SUSTAINABILITY

AT the 2025 global climate summit, COP30, held in Belém, Brazil, one decision stood out with major consequences for Africa: countries agreed on a new set of progress indicators. The “Belém Adaptation Indicators” were developed through a two-year UN process. Although the name may sound technical, the idea is straightforward. For the first time, countries now have a shared way to understand whether the world is actually improving at adapting to climate impacts. Climate adaptation means taking actions to prepare for and cope with the impacts of climate change. These impacts include floods, droughts, heatwaves, coastal erosion, crop losses and…

Dec

29

2025

By SANDRA LAI

Africa’s rarest carnivore: the story of the first Ethiopian wolf ever captured, nursed and returned to the wild

SUSTAINABILITY

WHAT’S the value of one animal? When a wild animal is found badly injured, the most humane option is often euthanasia to prevent further suffering. That’s what usually happens, and sometimes for good reason. Even when the resources to rescue one animal are available, a rehabilitated animal brought back into the wild might be rejected by its group or struggle to find food or escape predators. If it does survive, it may fail to reproduce and leave no lasting mark on the population. But every so often, a single case comes along where one animal becomes evidence that intervention can…

Dec

16

2025

By EBEN PROOS

Bloemfontein, South Africa: how to turn clear skies, a planetarium and an observatory into a tourist attraction

SUSTAINABILITY

ASTRO-TOURISM is a niche form of tourism where visitors explore the night sky through stargazing events, guided tours, educational presentations and digital astronomy experiences. Unlike mass tourism, astro-tourism focuses on learning rather than just sightseeing. Astro-tourism could also offer a lifeline to places that don’t have major natural resource attractions that draw tourists. One place that could benefit from astro-tourism is Bloemfontein, situated in the heart of South Africa’s Free State province. It’s never been considered one of South Africa’s popular tourist destinations. That’s because the city lacks a major attraction like the Kruger National Park or Cape Town’s Table…

Dec

09

2025

By BRITTA RENNKAMP

South Africa’s G20 presidency is over – what did it achieve for climate and clean energy in Africa?

SUSTAINABILITY

SOUTH Africa opened its G20 presidency with an ambitious message for a world divided by conflict and economic strain: solidarity, equality and sustainability. The Johannesburg G20 leaders’ summit tried to mend deep geopolitical rifts. Even those who chose to boycott the summit remained included, with their chairs left symbolically empty. A G20 presidency is more than a summit of political leaders. It is a series of dialogues between countries that represent 78.9% of the world’s population. The South Africa G20 presidency hosted 177 official meetings and was guided by 15 thematic working groups and groups representing youth, business, women’s rights,…

Dec

06

2025

By PAUL COUGHLAN and AONGHUS MCNABOLA

Zambia’s factories burn too much coal – how reusing hot water can cut energy use

SUSTAINABILITY

ZAMBIA wants to cut its national greenhouse gas emissions almost in half by 2030. But its 8th National Development Plan aims to transform the country into a “prosperous middle-income nation by 2030” through industrialisation. And here’s the challenge: there isn’t an obvious way to replace the fossil fuels that are used in growing industries. Zambia is badly affected by the climate crisis, with six extended countrywide droughts since 2000. In 2024, the drought was declared a state of emergency and caused nationwide power cuts. We are a transdisciplinary research team of engineers, geographers, social and political scientists, and managers from…

Jun

18

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Iron Man’ Downey backs DNA mapping of rivers, wetlands to protect wildlife

SUSTAINABILITY

MICHAEL TAYLOR "IRON MAN" star Robert Downey Jr. has backed a new project that will use DNA technology to map information on fish and other wildlife living in and around rivers, lakes and wetlands to advance conservation and attract more money for such efforts. The eBioAtlas, launched on Thursday by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and UK-based company NatureMetrics, aims to unlock private investment and guide government policy on biodiversity. "We are at a point ... where we understand the urgency of addressing biodiversity loss," NatureMetrics founder Kat Bruce told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "It is really being talked…

Nov

29

2025

By ZUNAIDA MOOSA WADIWALA and TRACY-LYNN FIELD

TotalEnergies: French court ruling over false climate claims could boost African cases against polluters

SUSTAINABILITY

A court ruling in France could give African countries more power to hold corporations to account when they pretend to be environmentally friendly. The Paris Judicial Court found global oil and gas giant TotalEnergies guilty of misleading commercial practices in a case brought by three environmental organisations. The October 2025 ruling marks the first time a fossil fuel major has been punished by the courts for greenwashing – where a company makes misleading claims about being environmentally friendly. TotalEnergies' greenhouse gas emissions are increasing every year, yet in an advertising campaign, the company presented itself as a “major player in…

Nov

22

2025

By SETH ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

How African reps held their ground at COP30

SUSTAINABILITY

A determined African bloc mounted a formidable challenge at the latest round of global climate negotiations at COP30, refusing to adopt a framework it views as an unfair shifting of financial burdens and political responsibility onto the low and middle-income countries. The confrontation centred on a technical but politically charged set of measurements known as the global goal on adaptation (GGA) indicator list. For African nations and their allies, the list is not a mere statistical exercise but a mechanism that could lock in inequity for decades. The deadlock revealed a fundamental rift in how the world measures progress on…