|
Africa-wide Civil Society Climate Change Initiative for Policy Dialogues - ACCID
- News Digest - |
| Week ending 17 July 2009 |
| Share | Subscribe | Unsubscribe |
|
|
|
G8 statement on food security
Reuters, 13 July 2009 Following is the joint statement on global food security by world leaders gathered in the Italian town of L'Aquila for the G8 summit... Wild weather in the year ahead, scientists predict The Guardian, 13 July 2009 London: Climate scientists have warned of wild weather in the year ahead as the start of the global “El Niño” phenomenon exacerbates the impact of global warming. As well as droughts, floods and other extreme events, the next few years are also likely to be the hottest on record, scientists say... €400bn energy plan to harness African sun The Independent, 13 July 2009 Berlin: The world's most ambitious green energy project is about to take shape. It is a plan for a chain of mammoth sun-powered energy plants in the deserts of North Africa to supply power to Europe's homes and factories by the end of the next decade. In a few days' time a consortium of 20 German firms will meet in Munich to hammer out plans for funding the giant €400bn (£343bn) project, named Desertec... PACJA/PAPNCC statement Modern Ghana, 13 July 2009 Accra: The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) and the Pan African Parliamentary Network on Climate Change (PAPNCC) wish to extend their heartfelt congratulations and warm welcome to President Barrack Hussein Obama during his stop in Accra from L'Aquilla... ‘Green tech’ transfer is key News24, 14 July 2009 Geneva: An international agreement against climate change could hinge around steps to ease the transfer of green technology to developing countries, a Brazilian official said on Monday... Adapting to climate change: Towards a European framework for action European Union, 14 July 2009 Brussels: Climate change increases land and sea temperatures and alters precipitation quantity and patterns, resulting in the increase of global average sea level, risks of coastal erosion and anexpected increase in the severity of weather-related natural disasters. Changing water levels, temperatures and flow will in turn affect food supply, health, industry, and transport and ecosystem integrity... NEMA warns of climate-induced disaster ThisDay, 14 July 2009 Lagos: The National Emergency Management Agency has alerted the nation of an imminent threat posed by the growing impact of climate change, saying the southern parts of the country are now under threat of flooding and deforestation... USDA scientist says climate change is not an aberration South East Farm Press, 14 July 2009 The world's climate is getting warmer, and that could have a profound impact on U.S. agriculture, says Jerry Hatfield, supervisory plant physiologist with USDA's National Soil Tilth Research Laboratory at Iowa State University... Tunisia, Dubai and Abu Dhabi - towards sustainable development Global Arab Network, 14 July 2009 Innovative environmental initiatives are emerging out of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, while Tunisia is using ancient as well as modern techniques to reduce its carbon footprint... Cassavas get cyanide hike from carbon emissions New Scientist, 14 July 2009 London: One of Africa's most important food crops is likely to become increasingly toxic as a result of carbon emissions. Cassava is a staple for more than half a billion of the world's poorest people. It is promoted by UN agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organization as a saviour for Africa because it grows well in droughts... COMESA on climate change initiative Chronicle, 14 July 2009 Bulawayo: The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has put in place a comprehensive Climate Change Initiative to achieve economic prosperity and climate change protection in Africa. On its website, COMESA said climate change was a major threat to sustainable growth and development in Africa and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals... Zimbabwe to host regional climate change forum Zimbabwe Telegraph, 14 July 2009 Harare: Zimbabwe is next month expected to host the 13th Southern Africa Regional Climate Outlook Forum (SARCOF) whose main objective is to come up with a consensus outlook for the 2009/2010-rainfall season in the SADC region... AGRA: G8 must travel the shortest path to African food security Africa Science News Agency, 15 July 2009 Nairobi: When the leaders of the G8 countries met in L'Aquila, Italy, they had the opportunity to make good on their commitment to boost aid for Africa. They did not disappoint. The world's wealthiest countries committed to raising $20 billion over three years to promote food security and agricultural development in poor countries... Benn: Our farmers need to produce more food... and change the way they do it Yorkshire Post, 15 July 2009 London: Agriculture is at the heart of the two great global challenges we face – food security and climate change. With the events of 2008, when rising food prices caused unrest in many countries, we saw that the world is going to need more food, more farmers and more trade – and our industry is well-placed to make the most of that demand... Climate change to strongly impact Namibian agriculture The Namibian, 15 July 2009 Windhoek: Rainy seasons in Namibia will most likely become shorter but more intense, participants to a congress of the Agricultural Scientific Society of Namibia were told. The theme of the 13th congress was ‘Climate change and food security challenges in sub-Saharan Africa - current agricultural innovations’... South Africa: IDC to study funding models for clean-energy projects Engineering News, 15 July 2009 Johannesburg: South Africa's State-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) was seeking to initiate a far-reaching study into the appropriate funding model for energy-efficiency and renewable-energy investments in South Africa... WB's study on economics of adaptation to climate change The New Nation, 16 July 2009 Dhaka: The World Bank has launched a study on the economics of adaptation to climate change in Bangladesh in partnership with the British, the Netherlands and Switzerland Governments. Other than Bangladesh, this study will be carried out in Bolivia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique, Vietnam and Samoa... Vandana Shiva on sustaining India's agriculture Worldchanging, 16 July 2009 New Delhi: Environmental activist Vandana Shiva has been working to build an organic agriculture movement across India for the past 22 years through the Navdanya Trust, an organization that she founded and directs. She recently spoke with Worldwatch India Fellow Anna da Costa about the connections between sustainable agriculture, climate change, and poverty alleviation... Textile manufacturing goes green and clean Inter Press Service, 16 July 2009 Port Louis: “The cost of production is high in Mauritius as we are far away from our main markets. Our island is so small that at times our clients do forget us. We no longer benefit from any trade preferences. We don't have any natural resources but we have plenty of sunshine and wind and we have decided to use these resources... Kenya prepares for climate change COP15, 16 July 2009 Nairobi: Locusts - the grasshoppers known from the Bible as one of the seven plagues that tormented the ancient Egyptian empire - is one climate change risk factor to be incorporated into a revised version of Kenya's Vision 2030 long term plan. “You know planning is everything. You cannot have a Vision 2030 that doesn't incorporate the risk factor (from climate change)... Less money, less food, more hungry Irin, 16 July 2009 Johannesburg: If the global economy were to rebound in 2010, sub-Saharan Africa would still be one of the world's poorest and most vulnerable regions, and have more than half its food insecure people, says an examination of the impact of the economic slowdown on food security... Hold your fire Inter Press Service, 16 July 2009 Port Louis: Mauritius appears to have a happy problem with the 400 000 tons of waste it produces each year. The island's only landfill is full and the government must decide whether to turn to incinerating waste - generating electricity in the process - or to compost it, to the benefit of farmers... Are the deserts getting greener? BBC News, 17 July 2009 London: It has been assumed that global warming would cause an expansion of the world's deserts, but now some scientists are predicting a contrary scenario in which water and life slowly reclaim these arid places. They think vast, dry regions like the Sahara might soon begin shrinking. The evidence is limited and definitive conclusions are impossible to reach but recent satellite pictures of North Africa seem to show areas of the Sahara in retreat... Norway, UNDP donate US dollars 3m for climate change Zambia Daily Mail, 17 July 2009 Lusaka: The Norwegian government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have signed a memorandum of understanding with Zambia worth US$2.7 million to support programmes aimed at mitigating effects of climate change... Ministry bears teeth at oil industry Ghana Web, 17 July 2009 Accra: Dr. Edward Kofi Omane Boamah, Deputy Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, on Wednesday said the ministry would not stand by and watch players in the oil and gas exploration industry destroy the country's ecology and sacrifice the health and safety of citizens... Incorporate energy from waste, biomass, FG told ThisDay, 17 July 2009 Lagos: The Federal Government has been called on to incorporate energy from waste, biomass and biogas, as a key component of its energy production strategy... India: Climbdown on 2°C clause done as a last resort? Times of India, 17 July 2009 New Delhi: India was the last dissenter on a “recognition” that the world should try to keep temperature rise to under 2 degree Celsius by 2050. At the final round of negotiations to a climate change document in the recent Major Economies Forum (MEF) in Italy on July 7, China, Brazil and South Africa had all agreed to acknowledging the “2 degree C” point before India decided to go along with the compromise... Conservation agriculture gaining ground Inter Press Service, 17 July 2009 Kafue District: Not even the least alert of drivers can miss the sign along the busy road 30 kilometres south of Lusaka: “Look, Conservation Farming Pays!” Touted as a solution to food insecurity and an adaptation mechanism to climate change in Africa, conservation agriculture (CA) is giving farmers like Sinoya Phiri, from Zambia, a reason to smile in their fields and all the way to the bank... Australia: Ministerial statement on climate change and budget issues Australian Government, 17 July 2009 Canberra: Tackling the challenge of climate change is one of the Australian Government's highest priorities. The Government has committed to ambitious emissions reduction targets and is implementing a comprehensive nationwide response to climate change: reducing emissions; adapting to unavoidable climate change; and helping to shape a global response... UK: Government calls for voluntary plan to cut emissions in farming Farmers Guardian, 17 July 2009 London: The Government has called for a six per cent cut in carbon emissions in agriculture as it published its landmark strategy to combat climate change. The Low Carbon Transition Plan sets out a series of ambitious targets across almost all sectors of the economy and calls for the development of a voluntary plan to cut emissions in farming... African Partnership Forum: Climate challenges to Africa African Partnership Forum, 17 July 2009 Rome: The [APF] meeting recognised the severe impact of climate change on Africa and recognised that, like the economic crisis, this was a problem not of Africa's making. It reviewed the key issues affecting Africa under the 4 pillars of the Bali Action Plan adopted in 2007: mitigation, adaptation, technology development and transfer, and finance... |
|
Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN)
Africa-wide Civil Society Climate Change Initiative for Policy Dialogues - ACCID
We appreciate any comments you might have on this digest: feedback@africaclimatesolution.org To subscribe, email: subscribe@africaclimatesolution.org |
|
ACCID website: www.africaclimatesolution.org |