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Africa-wide Civil Society Climate Change Initiative for Policy Dialogues - ACCID
Africa Climate Change Digest: 19 April 2010 |
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BRIC for more inclusive and transparent climate talks The Economic Times New Delhi: The BRIC countries today pitched for “more inclusive and transparent” climate talks in Mexico later this year to achieve a “comprehensive, balanced and binding” deal to tackle global warming. The BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China - at their summit meeting here, declared their commitment to promote the 16th Conference of Parties at Mexico in early December... How ICT can grow green economies in Africa The East African Nairobi: Faster adoption of information and communication technology could help African countries accelerate economic development while conserving the environment. “Technology is part of the answer to everything,” said Mike Bushell, the principal scientific adviser at the Syngenta International Research Centre during the recent State of the Planet forum... Is climate finance little more than aid 'business as usual'? Reuters AlertNet London: An argument you hear over and over about the money rich countries have promised to poor countries to help them deal with the impacts of climate change is that it should be different from aid. The reasoning goes like this: the world's wealthy, industrialised nations are responsible for messing up the global climate because historically they've emitted most of the greenhouse gases that are warming the planet... Mozambique: Industrialised countries must take responsibility for climate change Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique Maputo: Mozambique's Environment Minister, Alcinda Abreu, declared in Brussels on Friday that Mozambique cannot be expected to pay for other countries' industrialization with the lives of its own people. Speaking at a meeting organised by the Swiss Crans Montana Forum, Abreu stressed that global warming is the responsibility of the industrialized countries, since it is the greenhouse gases they have been releasing into the atmosphere... South Africa: Pressure on to get green power Fin24 Johannesburg: With the controversial $3.75bn World Bank loan for Eskom in the bag, government now needs to focus on proactively developing a sustainable energy policy to ensure sustained economic growth in South Africa, said consultancy group Frost & Sullivan... Eskom loan a contradiction for World Bank Business Day Johannesburg: SA's application to the World Bank for a $3.75bn loan, most of which is intended for coal-fired electricity, coincides with a worldwide debate on the appropriate role of international finance institutions, as well as divergent geopolitical interests. The World Bank's decision on Thursday night to grant the loan appears to be in conflict with its own guidelines, according to the Environmental Defence Fund (EDF)... Don't use climate change as an excuse to limit growth Gulf Times London: Last Thursday the World Bank approved a £2.4bn loan to build a huge new coal-fired power station in South Africa. The issue has exposed the rift between two central international goals - alleviating poverty and preventing global warming. South African ministers claimed that the project was essential for their country's development, while a concerted environmental campaign lobbied international governments to block the scheme... Should we have a carbon tax to promote a low-carbon economy? Engineering News Johannesburg: The question of the merits of a universal carbon tax compared with those of a cap-and-trade system is a source of considerable debate among policymakers. Some time soon, the National Treasury should be releasing a discussion paper on the matter, and this may or may not settle the issue... How Delta is pioneering efforts in climate change adaptation strategies BusinessDay Asaba: Victor Sorokwu writes that the administration of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan in Delta State is already partnering United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other international agencies on strategies to foster green economy: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Delta State Government have set a time line in July to sign a pact on measures aimed at combating the effect of climate change in the state... Nigeria: Legislators, groups step up climate policy actualisation Daily Independent Lagos: As stakeholders gathered a couple of weeks ago in Abuja to explore modalities relating to the emergence of a National Climate Change Policy and Legislation (NCCPL), emphasis was laid on the fact that the document should adopt a development approach by indicating the activities that the country should engage in to reduce carbon-dioxide (C02) emission... Southern, East Africa EEP to solve energy problems BOPA Gaborone: The Energy and Environment Partnership in Southern and East Africa (EEP) aims to solve the regional shortage of energy plus its related environmental impacts, Mr Boikobo Paya, deputy Permanent Secretary for Minerals, Energy and Water Resources has said. Mr Paya said EEP will contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and the international climate change mitigation goal... China boosts Kenya geothermal project Afrique en ligne Nairobi: Kenya received a consessional loan of Sh7.5 billion from China for the Olkaria IV Geothermal Field Production Wells Drilling Project. Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, said the loan would be used to drill 26 steam production wells to boost geothermal power production in the country... WB approves $25m for Tanzania's renewable energy projects East African Business Week Dar es Salaam: The World Bank's Board has approved an additional International Development Association credit worthy $25 million to Tanzania's Energy Development and Access Expansion Project. This adds to the IDA credit of US$105 million and the Global Environment Facility grant of US$6.5 million originally approved for this project in December 2007... Multilateral banks ready to mobilize climate finance PreventionWeb Washington: Leading Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and the International Monetary Fund, meeting at the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg, mapped out their plans to support a sustainable global recovery and agreed the Copenhagen Accord is an opportunity for action to finance measures to combat climate change... Monitoring a changing climate Inter Press Service Nairobi: The gathering environmental crisis presented by global warming makes effective weather information and prediction a matter of urgency. As Africa's farmers come to grips with adapting to climate change, it may be that the best way to equip them is to involve them directly in collecting the data... Weather services ‘poorly funded’ Daily Nation Nairobi: African governments have been urged to increase investment in meteorological services. The call was made by Environment minister John Michuki, at a regional conference on meteorological services, which opened in Nairobi on Monday. Mr Michuki said meteorological services in most African countries were deteriorating due to poor funding... Experts lobby govts to adopt laws that promote rainwater harvesting The East African Nairobi: Africa is running out of water but its governments are not moving fast enough to replenish sources or enact water-friendly laws. This has prompted experts to lobby for policies that encourage people to harvest rainwater, a neglected yet cheap and simpler water supply technique... SA firms' water usage scrutinised Fin24 Vereeniging: Multinational companies serious about sustainable development and protecting their working environments will in future publish more information about water consumption, as in the case of their carbon footprint. Shareholders and other interested parties can use this information to decide whether the company is conducting a sustainable business. This is the latest initiative by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)... How green is our constitution? Mail and Guardian Johannesburg: Nature has powerful resonances for South Africans. Well-heeled, educated folk regard it as an elitist hobby. Others, who live off the land, revere it as a critical survival resource. Paradoxically, nature is routinely disrespected by South Africans... Extreme weather tests pastoralist perceptions Irin Samburu: The effects of climate change - such as drought, livestock deaths and resource conflict - may be all too apparent for the pastoralists of northern Kenya, but there is much to be done to explain the true causes. “We were warned about the current situation by our elders and spiritual leaders when I was very young. This was about 50 years ago when the Ngishili age groups were born,” Lemeteki Lerinagato... UN, Malawi sign climate change management project deal World Countries Lilongwe: Malawi, UN Development Programme (UNDP) and other donor partners on Thursday signed the formulation phase project document for managing climate change in the country which will cost nearly US$4,152,399 (MWK 2 billion)... IFPRI: Climate change impacts in Ethiopia and Southern Africa IFPRI The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has released two discussion papers on climate change impacts on the hydrology and irrigation of the Limpopo River Basin of Southern Africa and the impact of changing precipitation patterns on crop production in Ethiopia... Nile Basin research programme University World News Bergen: From the southernmost source in Burundi to the outflow in the Mediterranean, the river Nile stretches over 6,600 kilometres, draining its water from 10 countries - Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, the DR Congo, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Egypt. More than 370 million people make up the population of these tributary countries, a number estimated by the UN to rise to 635 million by 2030... UN climate project to help Kenya control malaria spread Reuters AlertNet Nairobi: As rising temperatures encourage the spread of malaria to Kenya's highland regions, the east African nation is taking part in the first international project to help public health systems cope with the impacts of climate change. Rising cases of malaria in areas where it used to be rare are causing alarm among health officials, according to Kepha Ombacho, head of Kenya's Division of Environmental Health... £3m awarded for climate model to predict disease outbreak University of Liverpool Liverpool: Researchers across 13 European and African research institutes will work together to integrate data from climate modelling and disease forecasting systems to predict the likelihood of an epidemic up to six months in advance. The research, funded by the European Commission Seventh Framework programme, will focus on climate and disease in Senegal, Ghana and Malawi and aims to give decision makers the necessary time to deploy intervention methods to help prevent large scale spread of diseases such as Rift Valley Fever and malaria... Scientists cleared of malpractice in UEA's hacked emails inquiry The Guardian London: The climate scientists at the centre of a media storm over emails released on the internet were disorganised but did not fudge their results, an independent inquiry into the affair reported today. The inquiry, the second of three set up in the wake of the controversy, found “absolutely no evidence of any impropriety whatsoever”, according to Lord Oxburgh, who led the investigation... |
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Africa-wide Civil Society Climate Change Initiative for Policy Dialogues - ACCID
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