climate change - The African Mirror

May

2024

Rains in southern Brazil kill at least 39, some 70 still missing

HEAVY rains battering Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul have killed 39 people, local authorities said, and the death toll is expected to rise as dozens still have not been accounted for. Rio Grande do Sul's civil defence authority said 68 people were still missing and at least 24,000 had been displaced as the storms affected more than half of the 497 cities in the state, which borders Uruguay and Argentina. "These numbers can still materially change over the following days as we gain access to more regions", Rio Grande do Sul Governor Eduardo Leite told reporters. In…

Apr

2024

By DUNCAN MIRIRI

African leaders seek record World Bank financing to combat climate change

BUSINESS

AFRICAN leaders called for rich countries to commit record contributions to a low-interest World Bank facility for developing nations that they rely on to help fund their development and combat climate change. Donors will make their cash pledges to the International Development Association (IDA), a World Bank institution that offers loans with low-interest rates and long tenures, at a conference to be held in Japan in December. "We call on our partners to meet us at this historic moment of solidarity and respond effectively by increasing their IDA contributions... to at least $120 billion," Kenya's President William Ruto told a…

Apr

2024

By The African Mirror

Kenyan military deployed as East Africa floods kill dozens

NEWS

KENYA'S military was deployed to rescue victims of heavy rains that have killed dozens of people across East Africa over the past month. At least 45 people have died in the floods in Kenya since March, including 10 since Monday, the Kenya Red Cross said. Large parts of the capital Nairobi and other major towns are underwater, forcing thousands of residents to leave their homes. Collins Obondo, 38, lost at least four relatives in the flooding on Wednesday in Nairobi's densely-populated Mathare neighbourhood, which lies along the Nairobi River. "The body of my mother's neighbour was trapped right across here…

Apr

2024

By ROBERT PAARLBERG

West Africa’s falling fish stocks: illegal Chinese trawlers, climate change and artisanal fishing fleets to blame

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

AVERAGE fish catches by traditional fishing communities along the West African coast have declined significantly over the past three decades. Along the Gulf of Guinea, stretching from Côte d'Ivoire to Nigeria, fishers launch their wooden canoes from the beach to catch small pelagic fish, like sardines and anchovies, which they sell into local informal markets to make a living. They have done this for generations, but since the 1990s, a decline in the catch has put their livelihoods at risk. In Ghana, total landings of small pelagic fish fell by 59% between 1993 and 2019, despite increased fishing efforts. Landings…

Apr

2024

By MELANIE MURCOTT and CLIVE VINTI

South Africa’s laws aren’t geared to protecting against climate change: judges are trying to fill the gap

ENVIRONMENT

SOUTH Africa has plenty of environmental laws but none that specifically oblige government officials to consider the risks and impacts of climate change when they approve new developments. In their research, environmental law experts Clive Vinti and Melanie Jean Murcott set out how judges are dealing with this gap in the law. What are the gaps in the law? The main gap is that no law specifically obliges companies establishing mines or building new developments like power stations to do a climate change assessment before they start construction. A climate change assessment would look at how a proposed development would…

Apr

2024

By CLARK MINDOCK

Swiss women win big in a landmark climate case. Where do US climate cases stand?

WORLD

A landmark climate change ruling from the European Court of Human Rights found that the Swiss government had violated the human rights of its citizens by failing to do enough to combat climate change, in a case brought by a group of older Swiss women. In the United States, similar litigation has been filed largely on behalf of young people who claim their futures and health are jeopardized by climate change. Here is a look at where those cases stand. YOUTH-LED EFFORT There are at least three youth-led climate cases pending in U.S. federal trial courts and state courts in Hawaii. Youth plaintiffs have already…

Apr

2024

By YAW AGYEMAN BOAFO

Why is Ghana so hot this year? An expert explains

ENVIRONMENT

GHANA’s meteorological agency and the state’s health service have issued warnings about a period of very high temperatures expected in the first half of 2024 around the country. Ghana’s experience is part of a global phenomenon: record temperatures were recorded in 2023. Yaw Agyeman Boafo, the programmes coordinator and a senior research fellow at the University of Ghana’s Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Studies, answers some key questions. What is unusual about the weather in Ghana? Since the 1960s, Ghana has been getting warmer, with temperatures going up by about 1°C – a little over 0.2°C every ten years.…

Mar

2024

By DAVID MACLEOD, ERIK W. KOLSTAD, KATERINA MICHAELIDES and MICHAEL SINGER

East Africa must prepare for more extreme rainfall during the short rainy season – new study

ENVIRONMENT

EAST Africa has recently had an unprecedented series of failed rains. But some rainy seasons are bringing the opposite: huge amounts of rainfall. In the last few months of 2023, the rainy season, known as the “short rains”, was much wetter than normal. It brought severe flooding to Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania. In Somalia, more than 2 million people were affected, with over 100 killed and 750,000 displaced from their homes. Tens of thousands of people in northern Kenya lost livestock, farmland and homes. The very wet short rainy seasons are linked to a climate event known as a positive…

Mar

2024

By PHILIP KOFI ADOM

Climate change: alarming Africa-wide report predicts 30% drop in crop revenue, 50 million without water

NEWS

AFRICAN countries will suffer significant economic loss after 2050 if global warming is not limited to below 2°C, a new study by the Center for Global Development has found. Environment and energy economist Philip Kofi Adom is the author of the report. He synchronised many years of research by climate change scientists and researchers and found that West and East Africa will fare worst. We asked him about his findings. PHILIP KOFI ADOM, Associate Professor, School of Economics and Finance, University of the Witwatersrand You found climate change will reduce Africa’s crop earnings by 30%. How will this affect people?…

Mar

2024

By NYASHA CHINGONO

Africa to be $2.5 trillion short of climate finance by 2030, UN says

ENVIRONMENT

AFRICA will be $2.5 trillion short of the finance it needs to cope with climate change by 2030, a U.N. official said, adding that the continent has contributed the least to greenhouse gas emissions while seeing some of the worst impacts. Africa attracts only 2% of global investments in clean energy but needs $2.8 trillion of investment in the sector by 2030, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa chief economist Hanan Morsy told a conference in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, warning against the consequences of under-funding. "We end up in a vicious circle with investment shortfalls increasing exposure risk and worsening…