| A service (1-18 December 2009) alerting readers to key policy documents and perspectives, with a special emphasis on agriculture and climate change, brought to you by Mr Sindiso Ngwenya, Secretary General, COMESA and Chairman of FANRPAN Board of Governors |
| Alert: COP15 - 11 December 2009 |
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Africa group battles for common position at Copenhagen climate conference Xinhua Copenhagen: The African Group at the ongoing climate change conference in Copenhagen is faced with an uphill battle to come up with a common position as the talks enter their fourth day. Various delegations are working day and night to save the talks from collapse as divisions begin to emerge as to whether developing countries should agree on a 2 degree threshold proposed by industrialized countries such as the European Union or stick to Tuvalu's proposal of 1.5 degrees... Barack Obama backs Norway-Brazil forest protection plan The Guardian Copenhagen: The US president, Barack Obama, made his first public intervention in the Copenhagen climate summit today by backing a plan put forward by Norway and Brazil which would protect the world's rainforests with funding from rich countries that cannot meet their commitments to cut emissions domestically... FAO launches new climate change mitigation programme FAO Rome: Finland is the first country to contribute to a $60 million FAO programme to support climate change mitigation in agriculture in developing countries. The multi-donor programme aims to promote sustainable low-emission agriculture in developing countries over the coming five years, in partnership with countries and other relevant organizations... Soros seeks $100bn IMF funds for green projects Bloomberg Copenhagen: Billionaire George Soros proposed that the richest nations use $100 billion of the foreign exchange reserves they received from the International Monetary Fund to develop emissions-reducing projects in poor countries. “Developed countries' governments are laboring under the misapprehension that funding has to come from the national budgets, but that is not the case,” he said today at climate treaty talks in Copenhagen... Nigeria to devote more funds for combating desertification, says official African Press Agency Lagos: The head of the Climate Change Unit of Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Environment, Dr Victor Fodeke, has said that Nigeria would devote 60 percent of its Ecological Fund to tackle drought and desertification. According to reports moniored here on Thursday in Lagos, Fodeke told journalists on Wednesday in Copenhagen, Denmark, that Nigerian President Umaru Yar'adua had approved the proposal... Kenya: Food crisis feared as El Niño rains delayed Daily Nation Nairobi: Kenya could face an unprecedented food crisis next year, even higher costs of electricity and worse shortages of water because of poor rains. The current short rains, widely expected to produce el Niño-type weather not only failed to do so; they are even below the normal seasonal amount... Climate change threatens Comesa fisheries sector The Monitor Kampala: Climate change is projected to affect the natural productivity and economic potential of the region's fisheries. The climate change debate might seem so distant to most African countries however, a glaring threat to the fisheries sector within the Comesa region is raising concern... How internet enables farmers to comprehend climate Kompas.com Jakarta: Climate information access to farmers is apallingly insufficient because its access provided by internet hasn't been optimized. That is the result of a collaborative study by Australian researchers on climate change and its effects on farmers with small fields in Indonesia. “Compared to Australia's farmers, the effects of climate change are similar, mainly droughts... Media partnerships to promote African farmers Bizcommunity.com Journalists from across West Africa recently attended a media workshop in Accra, Ghana, hosted by Inter Press Service (IPS) Africa on behalf of the International Fund for Agricultural Development. The workshop aimed to build the capacity of local journalists and editors from West and Central Africa to gain the skills and knowledge they need to report on the food crisis and how it can be solved, particularly with the contribution of smallholder farmers... India: PM seeks greater synergy between agri, water policies Business Standard New Delhi: Voicing concern over climatic distortions adversely affecting ground water table and impacting crop productivity, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today sought greater synergy between agricultural and water policies. “This year we had floods in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and elsewhere... Climate change could cost Brazil 2 billion dollars: study AFP Rio de Janeiro: Brazil could lose two billion dollars over the next four decades from climate change, according to a new study by the country's Applied Economics Research Institute and 10 associated institutions. The farming and hydroelectric-dependent energy sectors would be most affected, mainly because of changes in rainfall the study said, while the regions to be hit hardest would be the Amazon and other northern areas... Climate change in Brazil: follow the meat Reuters/Forbes Porto Velho: At an experimental government farm in the western Amazon's Rondonia state, researchers analyze grass seeds under microscopes, shake soil samples in test tubes, and measure the milk production of a new breed of cows. While high-profile police raids targeting illegal ranchers and loggers in the Amazon grab more headlines, these scientists may produce a more important solution in the long fight to save the greatest rainforest... Brazil defends biofuels Inter Press Service Copenhagen: Being the world’s largest producer and exporter of ethanol it is natural for the Brazilian government and its partners to push biofuels as the only real alternative for a world trying wean itself away from fossil fuels that contribute to global warming. Brazilian authorities were ready with their arguments at the United Nations climate change summit underway here... Disagreement over what constitutes a forest may be achilles' heel of REDD plan Science Daily Disagreement over what constitutes a forest could undermine an agreement to protect forests, which is expected to be one of the bright spots at the UN climate change meeting in Copenhagen, according to an analysis by the Alternatives to Slash and Burn (ASB) Partnership for Tropical Forest Margins. While negotiators are struggling to reach consensus in many areas, there is widespread optimism that the conference will produce a framework for paying developing countries to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation -- REDD... Tree planting plan gain for Kenya forests Daily Nation Nairobi: A proposal at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen that poor countries be paid for planting trees could spur Kenya's efforts to reclaim her forests. The agreement to cut carbon emissions by paying developing countries to maintain their forests has the potential to reverse the decline in the world’s forests, according to a comprehensive analysis of national policy options to reduce deforestation released Thursday by the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)... Deal on forests likely, but... Inter Press Service Windhoek: As debate ratchets up ahead of working out a climate change deal, a Dutch study says emissions from deforestation and land degradation are far lower than has been assumed. Will this have an impact on a deal to protect forests in Africa? Emissions from deforestation and forest degradation had been assumed by parties in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to be around 20 percent of global CO2 output... Public and private sectors must work together to help farmers The Guardian London: The world's farmers, especially smallholders across Africa and South Asia, such as those in Katine, are facing growing threats to their ability to feed themselves and the world. Smallholders' lack of productive capacity will not be addressed by continuing the status quo. We need to build broader, deeper and more effective partnerships that improve the effectiveness of the global food chain, and offer farmers the opportunity to produce more and earn more... GAIN: Food for thought at Copenhagen The Hindu Madras: As world leaders in Copenhagen struggle for an ambitious deal, let us not forget that it is the future of our children that is at stake. Hurricanes, floods, heat-waves and droughts wreak havoc when they strike, but in the desolation they leave behind it's relatively easy to reconstruct a road or a house... |
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Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN)
Africa-wide Civil Society Climate Change Initiative for Policy Dialogues - ACCID
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ACCID website: www.africaclimatesolution.org |