climate change - The African Mirror

Feb

2024

IMF reaches staff-level agreement with Ivory Coast for $1.3 bln resilience, sustainability facility

THE International Monetary Fund said that it had reached a staff-level agreement with Ivory Coast for a $1.3 billion programme to fight climate change supported by the fund's Resilience and Sustainability Facility. Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa grower, is exposed and vulnerable to climate change, the IMF said in a statement. "Rising temperatures, rainfall disruptions, flooding, rising sea levels and coastal erosion are major challenges and represent recurring risks for resilient, sustainable and inclusive economic growth," the fund said. The reform measures between 2024 and 2026 will support Ivory Coast's actions to strengthen climate change adaptation and mitigation, particularly…

Jan

2024

By The African Mirror

Why are floods in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal so devastating? Urban planning expert explains

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

THE devastation caused by the recent floods in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa demonstrates again that the country is not moving fast enough to adopt appropriate urban planning. It should integrate risk assessment and management in the design and development of cities. This is becoming more urgent as the frequency of floods increases. HOPE MAGIDIMISHA-CHIPUNGU, Full Professor, University of KwaZulu-Natal Most South African cities were built a long time ago before climate change was predicted. KwaZulu-Natal experienced flooding in July 2016, May 2017, October 2017, March 2019, April 2019, November 2019, November 2020, April 2023, June 2023, and now in January 2024.…

Dec

2023

By The African Mirror

Trade rules and climate change: Africa stands to lose from proposed WTO policy tools

ENVIRONMENT

THE World Trade Organisation launched its Trade Policy Tools for Climate Action during the COP28 conference. International economic law expert Olabisi D. Akinkugbe discusses whether the new Trade Policy Tools benefit Africa. OLABISI D. AKINKUGBE, Associate Professor & Viscount Bennett Professor of Law, Dalhousie University What are the WTO’s new Trade Policy Tools? The new tools offer opportunities for countries to mitigate the climate change effect of their trade practices. The tools align with the Paris Agreement, the 2015 legally binding United Nations Treaty on Climate Change. However, the global contribution of African states to climate change remains very low:…

Dec

2023

By The African Mirror

African countries at COP28: several big wins and a united voice

NEWS

AFRICAN countries entered the recent COP28 negotiations on climate change in high spirits. Before this conference, in September, African government leaders, policymakers, activists and other groups from the continent met at the African Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya. The African position and expectations for COP28 were shaped at this summit by the adoption of the Nairobi Declaration. BAMIDELE OLAJIDE, Lecturer, University of Lagos Africa’s main agenda at COP28, hosted by the United Arab Emirates, was to convince global players that they must show more altruism in financially supporting targets to reduce global emissions. For African countries, COP27, hosted by Egypt,…

Dec

2023

By The African Mirror

COP28 climate deal ‘stab in the back’, activist Greta Thunberg says

WORLD

THE COP 28 climate deal reached with huge fanfare this week in Dubai is a stab in the back for the nations most affected by global warming and won't stop temperatures rising beyond critical levels, activist Greta Thunberg said. Nearly 200 countries agreed at the summit to begin reducing global consumption of fossil fuel and adopt a raft of measures, including more clean energy production, to avert the worst effects of climate change. But critics say the deal will not prevent global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average, which scientists say will trigger catastrophic and irreversible impacts, from…

Dec

2023

By VALERIE VOLCOVICI, GLORIA DICKIE and WILLIAM JAMES

Nations strike deal at COP28 to transition away from fossil fuels

ENVIRONMENT

REPRESENTATIVES from nearly 200 countries agreed at the COP28 climate summit to begin reducing global consumption of fossil fuels to avert the worst of climate change, signalling the eventual end of the oil age. The deal struck in Dubai after two weeks of hard-fought negotiations was meant to send a powerful message to investors and policy-makers that the world is united in its desire to break with fossil fuels, something scientists say is the last best hope to stave off climate catastrophe. COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber called the deal "historic" but added that its true success would be in its…

Dec

2023

By NYASHA CHINGONO

Dozens of Zimbabwe elephants die as climate change dries up Hwange park

NEWS

DOZENS of elephants have died of thirst in Zimbabwe's popular Hwange National Park, and conservationists fear losing more as a drought caused by climate change and the El Nino global weather pattern dries up watering holes. The seasonal El Nino, which causes hotter, drier weather throughout the year, has been exacerbated by climate breakdown, scientists say, a cause of concern at the ongoing COP28 discussions on climate action in Dubai. Hwange has no major river running through it, and animals rely on solar-powered boreholes, Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authorities (Zimparks) officials said. "We are relying on artificial water because our…

Dec

2023

By The African Mirror

Building African cities that cope with climate shocks – experts outline what it will take

AFRICITIES

THE international climate change negotiations began almost three decades ago when many were still hesitant to accept that human activities were changing the planet. Now the scientific evidence is unequivocal. Climate change is a major threat to our wellbeing, the health of the planet and the ecosystems we rely on. DEBRA ROBERTS, Head: Sustainable and Resilient City Initiatives Unit, EThekwini Municipality; Honorary Professor, University of KwaZulu Natal and Co-Chair of Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, University of KwaZulu-Natal MEGGAN SPIRES, Director: Climate Change, Energy & Resilience, ICLEI Africa, ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability But…

Dec

2023

By JENNIFER RIGBY

Climate change is the biggest human health risk, says Africa’s disease boss

NEWS

CLIMATE change is the biggest threat to human health in Africa and the rest of the world, the head of the continent's public health agency said. Mitigating that risk was top of his agenda, Jean Kaseya, the director general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told Reuters as he headed to the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, which begins on Thursday. The measures needed, Kaseya said, would include funding to help countries in Africa trying to contain outbreaks of disease. In an online interview, he said the threat of "a climate change-related disease becoming a pandemic and coming…

Nov

2023

By The African Mirror

Faith communities are rallying to check climate change – their size and influence counts

ENVIRONMENT

ACCORDING to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), more than 80% of the global population is motivated by faith or spirituality. Faced with the triple planetary crises of pollution, biodiversity loss and climate change, what role can faith communities play in saving the planet? RACHEL MASH, Research Associate of the University of Pretoria, Faculty of Theology and Religion, Department of Practical Theology and Mission Studies, University of Pretoria In a recent publication, we looked at the role of two faith-based organisations – the Green Anglicans movement, which is present in 13 African countries, and UNEP’s Faith for Earth Initiative, a…