CLIMATE NEWS NETWORK AFRICA

By Eliakim Mwachoni World population now exceeds 7 billion, and the United Nations has estimated that, by 2050, that number will reach 9 billion. In Africa, where there are many developing countries, current population exceeds 1 billion and estimated to reach 2 billion by 2050. Large increase in people has increased labour market, and thus African countries are now facing biggest challenges in food security, education, health and employment. Currently the population of Africa is increasing by 2.3 percent per year, which is higher than that of 1 percent in Asia. The increase in the number of people in countries of south Sahara is much larger than the North African country. The results of the census conducted by the ministry of planning in Kenya shows , that Kenya's population between 1999 to 2009 has increased by 35 percent, where on average each woman bore five children, and every day 7, 150 children are born. According to this increase, the population of Kenya will exceed 80 milli...

By Charles Ogallo The faith communities in Africa have united to present a united front at COP 17 in Durban, South Africa. Faith communities feel they have a moral obligation to ask the negotiators to look beyond their own countries' selfish interests and, even though it may cost them in economic terms, to come up with a solution for the whole world. The religious community has also vowed to ensure its voice is heard during the 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP17) to take place in Durban, later this Month. African faith leaders including South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu have however rallied the faith communities including Youths from around the globe through several activities calling on world governments to take a committed moral stand and reach an agreement to curb climate change, through the ‘We Have Faith Act Now for Justice’ campaign. "We, the people of the world, have lost our moral compass, and red...

By Charles Ogallo. Transparency International launched a Global Corruption Report on Climate Change Thursday with scathing attacks specifically directed to the Kenya Government over inadequate measures in place to curb corruption in climate change projects in the country. The attacks come as Kenya prepares to present her case over climate change fundings at the Seventeenth session of the Conference of the Parties -COP17 set to be held in Durban, South Africa later this Month. Hundreds of representatives of the world's governments, international organizations and civil society will gather in Durban to discuss issues that seek to advance, in a balanced fashion, the implementation of the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, as well as the Bali Action Plan, agreed at COP 13 in 2007, and the Cancun Agreements, reached at COP 16 last December. The report titled: A Global Corruption Report: Climate Change in Kenya will be used to monitor funds meant for programs aimed at mitigating climate ...

Kojanews.net A new United Nations report has warned that international efforts to mitigate climate change are insufficient to meet the goal of keeping global warming to below 2degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Also, plans for a multi-billion dollar fund to help developing countries deal with climate change, has hit a big barrier, as countries could not agree on the design of the fund. The report, released just a month before a major conference on the issue is held in Durban, South Africa, laid out a list of options to achieve the target. These include more cuts in greenhouse gases from additional sectors, stronger accounting rules both within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and through other multilateral and domestic strategies, sharing mitigation efforts based on countries’ capacities or contributions to the problem, and legally binding commitments. The report, ‘Building the Climate Change Regime: Survey and Analysis of Approaches’, was published by t...

By Corinne Schoch (IIED) Over the past five years, climate change has moved from being a purely environment and development issue to being a matter of national and international security. For years we have understood that civil wars generally break out as a result of political instability, a poor national economy, weakened infrastructures and, in the case of African states, the collapse of the Cold War. Now it seems that environmental shocks can be added to that list - journalists, academics, policymakers, security institutions and heads of states repeatedly tell us that the impacts of climate change pose a grave security threat. As a result, the idea that prolonged heat waves, rising sea levels, more variable climates and more frequent disasters such as cyclones or droughts will result in more civil conflicts has taken firm root in the public’s imagination. The popular belief that climate change will soon spark ‘water wars’ between water-scarce regions and countries is just one exampl...