|
Africa-wide Civil Society Climate Change Initiative for Policy Dialogues - ACCID
- News Digest - |
| Week ending 31 July 2009 |
| Share | Subscribe | Unsubscribe |
|
|
|
Low gas use to blame for poor forest cover, says VP
Daily Nation, 27 July 2009 Nairobi: Kenya's forests are being depleted rapidly because competitively priced liquefied petroleum gas is not available in rural areas. Despite removal of both Value Added Tax in 2004 and common external tariff on LPG in 2005, Kenya’s per capita consumption of 1.5 kilogrammes lags behind Senegal, at 12.2 kilogrammes per capita, which is the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa... Over 25 per cent of Mau grabbed, report says The Standard, 27 July 2009 Nairobi: The taskforce that investigated human settlement on the expansive Mau Forest Complex says 107,000 hectares were illegally acquired. This represents 25 per cent of the key forest, and the excision took place in 15 years of violation of Kenyan laws and international conventions... AMMA: The African monsoon, global climate change and our concerns, by scientists The Guardian, 27 July 2009 Ougadougou: If current thinking within the global science community is anything to go by, the most pressing threat to human existence in coming years may not come, as many have feared, from the global proliferation of nuclear arsenal, which both the United States of America and Russia have now pledged to halt... EU seeks billions immediately for poor Boston Globe, 27 July 2009 Brussels: Rich countries should immediately mobilize billions of dollars in development aid to the poorest nations to win their trust in the run-up to global climate talks in Copenhagen, a draft European Union report said. Nations in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development should also fulfill their existing commitments on overseas aid, which would more than double those aid flows to poor nations to around $280 billion annually by 2015, it added... Tackling transfer of ‘green’ technology Inter Press Service, 27 July 2009 New Delhi: As Indian and United States negotiators wrangled this week over contributions to mitigating climate change, it became clear that the main hitch remains technology flow in a highly competitive trade environment... Nigeria: FG to cultivate 16 000 hectares of trees Daily Triumph, 28 July 2009 Abuja: Worried by continuous threats to soil by desertification, land degradation and the effects of climate change, the federal government has said that it will cultivate 16 000 hectares of land annually by planting various economic trees as part of measures to curtail these menaces... How energy efficiency mitigates greenhouse emissions ThisDay, 28 July 2009 Lagos: The country office of the UNDP recently hosted its regional energy technical adviser, Mr. Benoit Lebot. The occasion provided a forum for the formulation process for the Global Environment Facility energy efficiency project in the country. Interested stakeholders were part of the discussions on how best to mitigate the impact of global warming on Nigeria... Want an extra US$250 a year? Adopt fuel-efficient stoves The East African, 28 July 2009 Nairobi: The carbon credit trade -- a by-product of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change -- is gaining credibility in the developing world, by using the double-pronged approach of making money for rural communities while at the same time conserving the environment. For instance, Carbon Manna Africa, a Kenyan-registered company is working on reducing greenhouse gases by promoting the use of fuel-efficient stoves that use less firewood, thereby reducing the amount of trees felled by rural communities... Kenya to build Africa's biggest windfarm The Guardian, 28 July 2009 Nairobi: One of the hottest places in the world is set to become the site of Africa's most ambitious venture in the battle against global warming. Some 365 giant wind turbines are to be installed in the desert around Lake Turkana in northern Kenya – used as a backdrop for the film The Constant Gardener – creating the biggest windfarm on the continent... Greening agriculture key to fighting climate change and boosting food security UNEP, 28 July 2009 Environmentally-friendly farming practices hold the key to combating climate change and poverty, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said today, stressing that ‘green’ agriculture holds the key to dealing with the world’s rapidly growing population. One-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming, are attributable to agriculture, deforestation and other forms of land use... Mau forest must be saved Business Daily, 29 July 2009 Nairobi: The ongoing Mau Forest Complex environmental debate offers a simple lesson to Kenya; pay your water bills! It is estimated that the originally 988,000 acre forest complex acts as a “water tower” that supplies both the Lake Victoria region and lakes in parts of Rift Valley. Other than seeking to politicize this issue; if our leaders are interested in a long lasting solution, they must devise a strategy to pay Kenyans to conserve forests and other strategic environmental assets... China's three biggest power firms emit more carbon than Britain, says report The Guardian, 29 July 2009 Beijing: China's three biggest power firms produced more greenhouse gas emissions last year than the whole of Britain, according to a Greenpeace report published today. The group warned that inefficient plants and the country's heavy reliance on coal are hindering efforts to tackle climate change... FAO, agencies move to curb bushfire problem Afrique en ligne, 29 July 2009 Nairobi: Every year, fire affects an estimated 350 million hectares of land, with damage to property, livelihoods and frequently loss of lives, the United National Foood and Agriculture Organization (FA0) stated. Uncontrolled vegetation fires also contribute to global warming, air pollution, desertification and loss of biodiversity... Experts urge adoption of sustainable farming practices Afrique en ligne, 29 July 2009 Nairobi: Environmental conservation and management experts from the Nairobi-based World Agro-forestry Centre (ICRAF) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) are calling for a worldwide adoption of sustainable farming practices to mitigate the perils of climate change. The call was made here Monday at the launch of the 2nd World Congress of Agro-forestry... Waste-to-energy plant is Ivory Coast's first CDM project Ecosystem Marketplace, 29 July 2009 French carbon dealer ecosur today received approval under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism for a waste-to-energy carbon offset project in Côte d'Ivoire that it had submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on July 9. A subsidiary of US agro-industrial giant Cargill has already signed forward agreements to purchase Certified Emission Reduction certificates (CERs) from the Abidjan Municipal Waste-to-Energy Project, which is the first CDM project located in a member state of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), and one of the few in sub-Saharan Africa outside of South Africa... Publics want more government action on climate change - global poll World Public Opinion.org, 30 July 2009 A new WorldPublicOpinion.org poll of 19 nations from around the world finds that majorities in 15 countries think their government should put a higher priority on addressing climate change than it does now. This includes the largest greenhouse gas emitters: China (62% want more action), the US (52%), and Russia (56%)... PM Manmohan Singh on climate change SIFY.com, 30 July 2009 New Delhi: “The Major Economic Forum Declaration adopted at L'Aquila is not a declaration of Climate Change policy by India, nor is it a bilateral declaration between India and another country or a group of countries. It is a declaration that represents a shared view among 17 developed and developing countries, the latter category including China, South Africa, Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico... Local electricity: Africa goes off-grid The Ecologist, 30 July 2009 Nairobi: Giant wind farms may grab the headlines but plans to develop local off-grid electricity will have bigger impact on Africans and carbon emissions. Kenya made the headlines recently when it announced plans to build the continent's biggest wind farm. When they are up and running in 2012, the 300-odd wind turbines will produce a quarter of the country's power (300MW)... Environment ministry drafts greenhouse gases inventory Angola Press, 30 July 2009 Luanda: Angola, through the Ministry of Environment, is since April this year drafting its First National Communication (PCN) to develop an inventory on greenhouse gases. The information was released to Angop by the National director of Environment, Vladmir Russo, who said this is in response to the UN Convention on Climatic Changes, in partnership with the UN Programme on Environment (UNEP)... Southern Africa: building regional water management Inter Press Service, 30 July 2009 Windhoek: As southern Africa braces for the negative effects of climate change, calls for integrated water resources management become more strident. The Southern African Development Community is working to build regional capability, address weaknesses in data collection and ultimately coordinate management of shared resources to benefit citizens throughout the region... Poor nations seek 95-per-cent emission cuts by 2050 Earth Times, 31 July 2009 Dhaka: Environmentalists and civil-society activists from Asia-Pacific and African countries particularly vulnerable to climate change called Wednesday for industrialized nations to cut their greenhouse-gas emissions 95 per cent by 2050 from 1990 levels... US lawmakers see new mood in China ties AFP, 31 July 2009 Washington: US lawmakers on Wednesday saw a new spirit of cooperation with China after top-level talks here, but some pointed to climate change as a looming dispute that could divide the Pacific powers. The United States and China this week held their first in-depth policy dialogue under President Barack Obama, who declared that the relationship between the biggest developed and developing nations would shape the century... Egypt blocks Nile water deal UPI, 31 July 2009 Alexandria: Hopes that the 10 Nile Basin countries would sign a water-sharing agreement at a meeting in Alexandria to settle one of the planet's most contentious water issues have been dashed -- for now at least -- after Egypt and Sudan rejected any cuts in their traditional quotas... Horticulture exports face new threat as EU acts on food miles Business Daily, 31 July 2009 Nairobi: Kenya’s horticultural exports have come under renewed threat as the carbon footprints campaign gains momentum in key European markets, a new survey indicates. In a report published on Wednesday, the European Union said the majority of consumers support the controversial carbon footprints concept and want it immediately implemented to help fight climate change... |
|
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 |