climate emergency - The African Mirror

Sep

07

2021

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

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…

Jun

30

2021

By The African Mirror

Stung by pandemic, G20 foreign ministers urge greater cooperation

WORLD

CRISPIAN BALMER and HUMEYRA PAMUK G20 foreign ministers have called for multilateral cures for global crises like the COVID-19 pandemic and climate emergency at their first face-to-face meeting in two years. The one-day gathering in the heat-soaked southern city of Matera focused on how to improve cooperation and revive the world's economy following the pandemic and how to boost sustainable development in Africa. "The pandemic has highlighted the need for an international response to emergencies that transcend national boundaries," Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio told his counterparts from the Group of 20 major economies. The G20 members account for…

Dec

16

2020

By The African Mirror

Code red: UN calls for urgent shift to planet-friendly development

ENVIRONMENT

MEGAN ROWLING UNDER huge pressure from COVID-19, climate change and natural destruction, warning lights for the planet and societies are "flashing red" - and now is the time to choose a safer, fairer path for human development, the United Nations said on Tuesday. "We are at an unprecedented moment in the history of humankind and in the history of our planet," it said in a report, urging efforts by governments, business and citizens to pursue a new kind of progress that protects the environment. "The COVID-19 pandemic is the latest harrowing consequence of imbalances writ large," said the Human Development Report…

Dec

13

2020

By The African Mirror

Climate primer: Why is everyone talking about ‘net zero’?

ENVIRONMENT

As the Paris Agreement marks its fifth anniversary, a U.N-backed global campaign to slash climate-changing emissions has added new high-profile members to its ranks, including high-street fashion retailer Primark and consumer electronics giant Sony. The "Race to Zero", launched on World Environment Day in June, brings together businesses, cities and other organisations that aim by around mid-century to cut their planet-heating emissions to net zero - meaning they produce no more emissions than they can offset through measures such as planting trees. As a "Climate Ambition Summit" got underway on Saturday, the U.N. climate body said members of the Race to…

Dec

13

2020

By The African Mirror

Declare states of ‘climate emergency,’ U.N. chief tells world leaders

WORLD

MATTHEW GREEN and KATE ABNETT WORLD leaders should declare states of "climate emergency" in their countries to spur action to avoid catastrophic global warming, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in opening remarks to a climate summit. More than 70 world leaders were due to address the one-day virtual gathering aimed at building momentum for much steeper cuts in planet-warming emissions on the fifth anniversary of the 2015 Paris climate accord. "Can anybody still deny that we are facing a dramatic emergency?" Guterres said via video. "That is why today, I call on all leaders worldwide to declare a State of…

Dec

03

2020

By The African Mirror

New Zealand declares climate emergency, promises carbon neutral govt by 2025

WORLD

PRAVEEN MENON NEW ZEALAND promised its public sector would become carbon neutral by 2025 as it declared a climate emergency, a symbolic move that critics said needed to be backed with greater actions to reduce emissions. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the climate emergency declaration was based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's findings that to avoid more than 1.5 degree Celsius rise in global warming, emissions would need to fall by around 45% from 2010 levels by 2023 and reach zero by around 2050. "This declaration is an acknowledgement of the next generation. An acknowledgement of the burden…

Oct

01

2020

By The African Mirror

Good governance is the lynchpin for African progress

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

ABDOULIE JANNEH COVID-19 has joined the climate emergency at a time when Africa is facing what Mo Ibrahim calls “a crisis in leadership and governance.” This crisis seems all the worse when we define governance as the delivery of goods and services that citizens legitimately expect their governments to deliver. Citizen’s expectations relate to the promotion and support of human rights and participation, safety and rule of law, socio-economic opportunities and human development. In view of the very mixed progress made so far in meeting these entirely reasonable expectations, the permanent question is how to apply Africa’s abundant wealth in…

Sep

30

2020

By The African Mirror

Beyond the pandemic – better governance for a green Africa

ENVIRONMENT

ABDOULIE JANNEH COVID-19 has joined the climate emergency at a time when Africa is facing what Mo Ibrahim calls “a crisis in leadership and governance.” This crisis seems all the worse when we define governance as the delivery of goods and services that citizens legitimately expect their governments to deliver. Citizen’s expectations relate to the promotion and support of human rights and participation, safety and rule of law, socio-economic opportunities and human development. In view of the very mixed progress made so far in meeting these entirely reasonable expectations, the permanent question is how to apply Africa’s abundant wealth in…