SUSTAINABILITY - The African Mirror

Jan

24

2021

Step up adaptation to climate change now or risk ‘enormous toll’, scientists warn

SUSTAINABILITY

MEGAN ROWLING MORE than 3,000 scientists on Friday called for a far bigger global push to protect people and nature from the effects of a heating planet, even as researchers estimated funding to adapt to climate change has dropped because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement, the scientists - including five Nobel laureates - warned that a failure to respond to rising climate risks, as governments try to revive their economies from coronavirus woes, would have severe consequences, especially for the poorest. "Unless we step up and adapt now, the results will be increasing poverty, water shortages, agricultural losses and…

Sep

09

2021

By The African Mirror

Madagascar faces one of the world’s first climate change famines

SUSTAINABILITY

KIM HARRISBERG THE cracked red earth and sunken eyes of gaunt children, their bellies swollen from acute malnutrition, bear witness to the devastation being wrought by Madagascar's worst drought in four decades. As the south of the island is pushed to the brink of famine, climate change researchers say such harrowing images should serve as an alarm bell over the need for drastic action to cut planet-heating emissions and climate-proof global food systems. According to the United Nations, more than 1.14 million people in the south of the Indian Ocean country are food-insecure due to the drought, which some experts have blamed…

Sep

10

2021

By The African Mirror

African tropical mountain forests store far more carbon than previously thought – new research

SUSTAINABILITY

TROPICAL forests are well known for being the “lungs” of our planet. Through photosynthesis, the trees in these forests produce oxygen and remove enormous amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, helping to mitigate global warming. The world’s most famous tropical forests found on lowlands, like those of the Amazon or Borneo, are celebrated for their ability to store carbon. The Amazon rainforest itself holds up to five years’ worth of human carbon emissions in its trees and soil. A tropical mountain forest in Bwindi, Uganda. Author provided While tropical forests can also be found on tropical mountains such as…

Sep

08

2021

By The African Mirror

Renewable energy projects in rural Ghana have some built-in limitations

SUSTAINABILITY

RENEWABLE energy technologies like solar lanterns, solar panels and biogas digesters offer the prospect of affordable power in remote communities. For the last 30 years, international organisations have been involved in projects to make these technologies available to users in African countries. Mainly this has been done free of charge and has included efforts to build local capacity and reform policy. DR. BASIL AMUZU-SEFORDZI, Postgrad Research Fellow at UWA AfREC, The University of Western Australia But despite these efforts, internationally funded renewable energy projects have often failed after they withdrew their support. In the last decade, international organisations have been…

Sep

07

2021

By The African Mirror

COP26 summit urged to prioritise adaptation as ‘climate emergency’ surges

SUSTAINABILITY

MEGAN ROWLING ON the heels of last month's warning from the U.N. climate science panel that extreme weather and rising seas are hitting faster than expected, leaders called on Monday for more money and political will to help people adapt to the new reality. At a dialogue in Rotterdam convened by the Global Center on Adaptation, more than 50 ministers and heads of climate organisations and development banks called for November's COP26 climate talks to treat adaptation as "urgent". In a communique, they said adaptation - which ranges from building higher flood defences to growing more drought-tolerant crops and relocating…

Jan

20

2021

By The African Mirror

Kenya braces for return of devastating locust swarms

SUSTAINABILITY

SWARMS of desert locusts have reappeared in East Africa to the dismay of farmers and villagers who witnessed them wreak havoc on their crops and pasture in previous years. Locust swarms first soared in number in late 2019, as a result of unusual weather patterns amplified by climate change. They dispersed eastwards from Yemen leaving Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia hardest hit. "In Kenya, several immature swarms are arriving every day and spreading west throughout northern and central areas," the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a statement. "Swarms have now been seen in seven counties ... compared to…

Sep

02

2021

By The African Mirror

Kenyan villagers tap traditional wisdom to save native trees and water

SUSTAINABILITY

DOMINIC KIRUI WHEN the stream in his village in Kenya's western Kericho County dried up 15 years ago, Wilson Towett had to ferry water each day from another river several kilometres away during the two-year dry spell that followed. But much has changed since then. Using their traditional knowledge, Towett and 14 other elders in Cheplanget village began planting water-retaining indigenous trees along the stream's bare banks and issued local by-laws banning the cutting of bush and trees along the stream. Within two rainy seasons, it was in full flow again. "We learned the hard way 15 years ago... That's…

Feb

03

2021

By The African Mirror

Why ocean pollution is a clear danger to human health

SUSTAINABILITY

OCEAN pollution is widespread, worsening, and poses a clear and present danger to human health and wellbeing. But the extent of this danger has not been widely comprehended – until now. Our recent study provides the first comprehensive assessment of the impacts of ocean pollution on human health. JACQUELINE MCGLADE, Professor of Natural Prosperity, Sustainable Development and Knowledge Systems, UCL PHILIP LANDRIGAN, Professor and Director, Global Public Health Program and Global Pollution Observatory, Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society, Boston College Ocean pollution is a complex mixture of toxic metals, plastics, manufactured chemicals, petroleum, urban and industrial wastes, pesticides,…

Feb

04

2021

By The African Mirror

One man’s waste is another man’s legacy

SUSTAINABILITY

“DO you know where your waste ends up?” This simple yet thought provoking question has driven the growth of Boombadotmobi since its establishment in 2017, turning it into one of South Africa’s most dynamic social enterprises. Boombadotmobi’s impact has been sufficiently significant to land it a place on Digital Africa 1 000 Entrepreneurs, while the company’s Nondumiso Sibiya was named Fairlady Sanlam Rising Star in the 2019 Women of the Future Awards. This success was something founder Sbusiso Shongwe couldn’t have imagined when he took the step that would lead to Boombadotmobi’s inception. Shongwe explains that the seed was planted…

Feb

09

2021

By The African Mirror

Fruit famine is causing elephants to go hungry in Gabon

SUSTAINABILITY

THE behaviour and life cycles of the largest animals on the planet are incredibly important for the healthy functioning of our planet’s life support systems. Unfortunately, many big species now face extinction due to their value in the illegal wildlife trade, vulnerability to habitat degradation and because they often come into conflict with humans. EMMA BUSH, Scientist, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) KATHARINE ABERNETHY, Professor, University of Stirling ROBIN WHYTOCK, Post Doctoral Research Fellow, University of Stirling The African tropics host many of these remaining megafauna or large animals like gorillas, elephants and hippos, but they are now losing ground.…