Johannesburg: Countries staring into a gloomy future of low food production, less water, higher storm surges, longer dry periods and other expensive consequences of climate change have been told they can adapt at a cost ranging from several hundred billion dollars to over a trillion dollars.The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has stepped in to help overwhelmed developing countries calculate the cost of implementing measures not only to mitigate their greenhouse gas emissions but also to adapt to climate change... Read more...
Johannesburg: As temporary measures go, the idea of a South African carbon capture and storage (CCS) effort in mitigation of the greenhouse effect and climate change would seem reasonable were it not for the inherent constraints to the process. If CCS is to significantly reduce SA's contribution of greenhouse gases to the earth's atmosphere, it would be best done by capturing CO² at the most important point sources, that is, at Eskom's coal-fired power plants, and permanently stored away from the atmosphere in stable geological formations... Read more...
Climate change experts call on G20 members to commit to action
London: A last-ditch effort is being made to insert clearer green commitments into the global economic recovery package. The move comes amid fears amongst some British government officials that the G20 summit is in danger of missing a unique opportunity to prevent the world from being locked into irreversible and catastrophic climate change... Read more...
Africa: United States to Host Climate Change Forum in April
The United States has invited 16 major economies to a forum in April to discuss climate change and clean energy ventures, the White House said. The April 27-28 meeting in Washington is designed to culminate in a leaders' meeting on the sidelines of the G8 Summit in July in La Maddalena, Italy... Read more...
Dakar: Some of the 50 parliamentarians from across West Africa attending a conference on climate change, and food and water security held in Dakar on 25 and 26 March, looked uncomfortable when presented with a picture of a banana with a watermelon-coloured peel and an elephant with a cabbage head... Read more...
Ministry of Tourism joins forces with COMESA to tackle climate change
Lusaka: The Ministry of Tourism and Natural Resources partnered with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) have partnered to create awareness for the campaign on climate change.Tourism , Environment and Natural Resources Minister Catherine Namungala said she is concerned that most African countries including Zambia were still not fully aware of the serious threats that climate change posed to people's livelihoods and sustainable development... Read more...
Experts warn of climate change effects on the EAC
27 March 2009, source: The New Times URL: http://allafrica.com/stories/200903260211.html
Kigali: The third annual East African Health and Scientific conference got underway, yesterday, with officials warning of food insecurity and deterioration of peace in the region if climate change effects are not immediately checked.The three-day conference taking place in the Kenyan capital Nairobi aims at addressing the challenges, and charting a way forward for EAC partner states in curbing the after effects of climate change... Read more...
New publications detail how to protect forests, address climate change
27 March 2009, source: Africa Science News Service URL: http://africasciencenews.org/asns/index.php?option=com_content&task;=view&id;=1113&Itemid;=2
The papers by Virgilio Viana, show ways to implement REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation), which is one of the tools likely to feature in the new global plan to tackle climate change that governments are negotiating this year. Viana knows first-hand how to do this, having implemented successful projects to reduce deforestation in Brazil 's Amazon... Read more...
Anglican head blames floods on climate change
25 March 2009, source: Catholic Information Service for Africa URL: http://allafrica.com/stories/200903240852.html
Cape Town: The floods ravaging Angola and Namibia are a further illustration of the urgent need to tackle global warming, the head of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town, said on Tuesday."We have had enough of talking. The international community cannot continue to prevaricate while countries like ours are increasingly suffering inestimable human cost, in deaths, displacement, and the destruction of livelihoods... Read more...
Zambian farmers test new ways to collect, preserve water
25 March 2009, source: VOA News URL: http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/2009-03-24-voa31.cfm
Lusaka: Loss of rainfall attributed to climate change has stimulated new innovations of accessing water in dry seasons. Development experts are assisting smallholder farmers and rural communities' in accessing clean water while responding to global warming. Scientific studies have shown that the ever-increasing global temperature is reducing the size of water basins in many developing countries like Zambia... Read more...
Tanzania: Weather agency explains lack of adequate rainfall
25 March 2009, source: The Citizen URL: http://thecitizen.co.tz/newe.php?id=11529
Dodoma: Drastic climatic change has been responsible for the erratic behaviour of the rainfall pattern in central region. The Tanzania Metrology Agency (TMA) Central Zonal Manager Gaetan Mwikeve said the zone has been experiencing unpredictable rainfall especially in the current rain season. Speaking during a brief ceremony to mark World Metrology Day in Dodoma yesterday, Mr Mwikeve said the rainfall variable pattern in the central zone particularly in Dodoma drastically affected the farmers... Read more...
We are not paying enough attention to climate change
24 March 2009, source: Monitor Online URL: http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/opinions/We_are_not_paying_enough_attention_to_climate_change_81821.shtml
Kampala: According to UNDP human development report 2007/8, we are witnessing what could be the onset of major human development reversals in our lifetime. This is the challenge posed by climate change; it will curtail the attainment of Millennium Development Goals, stall development and reverse progress built over generations... Read more...
Climate change: Changing rules of the game
24 March 2009, source: The New Nation URL: http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/03/23/news0866.htm
Africa is the continent most affected by climate change, yet it has gained the least from past climate change negotiations. In theory, the Kyoto Protocol should offer Sub-Saharan Africa a way out of the poverty trap by promoting clean development with minimum environmental impact. But its financial incentives for doing so, especially the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), do not favour African contexts... Read more...
Planning should take climate change into account, scientists say
24 March 2009, source: International Herald Tribune URL: http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/12/healthscience/climate.php
Washington: Despite years of study and analysis, the world is unprepared for climate change and needs to rethink basic assumptions that govern things as varied as choosing cars and building bridges, the National Research Council reported Thursday.Current building, land use and planning practices assume a continuation of climate as it has been known in the past... Read more...
WashingtonL If water is the new oil, is blue the new green? Translation: if water is now the kind of precious commodity that oil became in the 20th century, should delivery of clean water be the same sort of powerful political force as the environmental movement in an age of climate change?And, in another sense of green, is there money to be made in a time of water scarcity? The answer to both questions, according to environmental activists watching a global forum on water, is yes... Read more...
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