CLIMATE NEWS NETWORK AFRICA

By KOJANET. COM The call for applications is aimed at media organisations, independent journalists and/or bloggers based in Kenya, Tanzania and Madagascar who wish to develop or enhance their content in relation to subjects associated with the environment and global warming. The project Media 21 Africa : Journalism and climate change aims to inform and raise awareness among the African media of the issues and opportunities at the Paris Climate 2015 conference.  The conference COP21, or Paris Climate 2015, will take place from 30 November to 11 December 2015. For more details;   http://www.ac.cfi.fr/en-GB/home-en/42:wed-25-feb-2015-17-58-12-0100.html

By Charles Ogallo. Fear of Ebola Outbreak has engulfed the entire world with increasing cases of infections and death from the deadly virus being reported daily across Africa. Health workers across the globe have been put on high alert as World Health Organization WHO classifies several countries in Africa mainly West Africa as high risk areas for the deadly Ebola stain. West African nations have been struggling to control both the deadly outbreak and the fear it has created. WHO at a press conference in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday named Kenya among African nations vulnerable to Ebola outbreak as a result of being major transport hubs in the region receiving 76 flights a week. The U.N. health agency says  1,013 people have died so far in the Ebola outbreak in West Africa of the 1,848 suspected or confirmed cases recorded by authorities. The killer virus is spread by direct contact with bodily fluids like blood, diarrhea and vomit. However more que...

Published by KOJANEWS. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) announced on Friday the appointment of Jukka Uosukainen as the Director of the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN).   The CTCN, the operational arm of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Technology Mechanism, aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve resilience to changing weather patterns, drought, soil erosion, and other impacts of climate change in developing nations. CTCN Center in Finland Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), congratulated Mr. Uosukainen and said that CTCN is now ready to fulfill its mandate by assisting developing countries to make informed decisions about mitigation and adaptation technologies that suit their needs.   “With the appointment of its new Director, the Climate Technology Centre and Network is now ready to make a substantive contribution to accelerating the use of exis...

Published by Kojanews. The Book produced by UNESCO responds to a real need in African journalists reporting of complex phenomenon of Climate Change. The Book entitled Climate Change in Africa; a guidebook for Journalists also answers to many needs of Africa Journalists especially the scientific interpretations of climate change, in-depth information on climate change,Tips for journalists reporting on climate change and sourcing for climate change stories using data. For more details click   http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/G03710.pdf?   

By Charles Ogallo. The 19 th  Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol came to an end in Warsaw City of Poland with a thumb up from delegates over Clean Development Mechanism. This follows an agreement that Parties make greater use of the clean development mechanism -CDM to ensure the continued success of the mechanism beyond the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol with regard to its contribution to the achievement of the objective of the convention. The over 2000 delegates expressed satisfaction with the success of the clean development mechanism in the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, which to date has been responsible for over 7,300 project activities being registered in over 90 countries. 1,500 components project activities have also been included in over 230 programmes of activities registered in more than 60 countries where over 1.4 billion certified emission reductions being issued for an ...

By  Charles Ogallo. UNICEF estimates that 66 million girls across the world are out of school, and 1 in 7 of these girls marries before they reach age 15, especially in developing countries like Kenya. The girls are often removed from school to prepare for weddings or to work in order to save for their dowry. Once married they are not permitted to continue with their education. So what next? see the link    Because I am a Girl

By Charles Ogallo The realities of climate change effects continue to weigh heavy on delegates attending high powered UN climate change conference in Warsaw, Poland  with many giving emotional speeches terming  two devastating events that took place over the weekend in Puntland and Philippines as climate change madness. Tropical cyclone that hit parts of Puntland State in northeastern Somalia over the weekend killing at least 100 people, took place just a day before the high powered UN conference opens it doors at the historical city Warsaw. That was followed by another devastating Typhoon Haiyan that hit the Philippines which experts termed as one of the most powerful typhoons ever to make landfa ll. Yeb Sano, Philippines head of delegation at the UN climate change in Poland, whose speech brought tears to the eyes of many delegates, announced that he will stop eating until participants make meaningful progress focused on climate change mitigation and adapta...

By Kojanews.net,  (  Warsaw, 12 November 2013) Top UNFCCC Delegates at Warsaw COP19.  The Conference of parties -COP 19 begins with calls for governments to harness strong groundswell of action on climate change across all levels of government, business and society and make real progress here towards a successful, global climate change agreement in 2015.   http://unfccc.int/2860.php The newly elected President of the Conference of the Parties (COP 19/CMP 9), His Excelency  Mr. MarcinKorolec, Poland’s Environment Minister, said in his opening address on Monday that climate change is a  global problem that must be turned further into a global opportunity. “It’s a problem if we can’t coordinate our actions. It becomes opportunity where we can act together. One country or even a group cannot make a difference. But acting together, united as we are here, we can do it,” he said. In her opening speech at the Warsaw National Stadium on  Mon...

By Charles Ogallo " Mangroves, like all plants, capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in their leaves, roots and trunks (their biomass), and in the soil" says a marine scientist at the US-based worldwide conservation organisation The Nature Conservancy.  However, unlike most other forests, mangrove soils do not have a maximum storage capacity, but keep on storing carbon in the soil, for centuries or even millennia. In this way, mangroves actively contribute to mitigating climate change by continuously removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.  According to Climate News Network,scientists have known for centuries that mangroves are one of the most carbon-rich ecosystems on Earth. More details at   http://www.truthdig.com/tag/mangroves

By KOJA-NEWS. Internews Kenya is calling for applications for the online and multimedia journalism training course scheduled for November 18-22 2013 at Inter-news Kenya, I&M Building, 12th floor, Nairobi. The multimedia and online journalism course is aimed at enhancing the professional skills and explore ethical issues around online journalism. See more at : http://www.internewskenya.org/article.php?id=399#sthash.

The UNFCCC secretariat is pleased to announce the launch of CDM African Radio Contest 2013. This year, the competition's sponsors have generously offered a $2,000 prize for the winners of the contest. Under the theme "Changing Lives", the contest aims to spread the word about the benefits of the CDM in Africa and especially in under-represented regions of the continent. Broadcasters and freelancers from Africa are invited to grab their microphone and recording device and create a compelling radio story that answers the following question: "How can my community/city/country benefit from the CDM?" Radio stories will be judged on originality, technical excellence, clarity of message, thoroughness of investigation, level of professionalism and presentation skills. The "Wow Factor" is also very important, so we’ll be looking for radio stories able to generate and hold interest. For more details click   http://cdm.unfccc.int/about/multimedia/...

Early marriages forcing more girls out of school in rural Kenya

By Charles Ogallo. The number of Kenyan fishermen and farmers turning to seaweed farming at the Coast is alarming with scientists blaming it on adverse effects of climate change. Experts believe that climate change was taking toll on villagers along the Kenyan Coast who have depended on the ocean for fishing for many decades as fish stocks continues to dwindle. Ali Mwajafa is a fisherman at Shimoni area of Kwale county in Kenya. For the last 35 years Mr Mwajafa says that his family has lived comfortably from incomes he used to get from fishing. Farmers at Mkwiro Seaweed Farm , Wasini Island But things seem to have taken a different turn in  Mwajafa’s life  as trade he claims to have inherited from his late father Shehe Mbwana continues to fall apart. The big catch he once boasted of during his hey days seems to be no more.  The little income he now gets from fishing can not even help him afford a meal a day for his bloa...

By Charles Ogallo Mombasa Port Containers Terminal  Cargo dwell time and trade transaction costs are set to come down drastically at the port of Mombasa once the government launches a  new  electronic single window platform in October this years. The National Electronic Single Window System being developed currently by Kenya Trade Network Agency-KEN-TRADE , a state corporation under the ministry of National Treasury formerly Ministry of Finance will help facilitate international trade in Kenya. According to KEN-TRADE, the cargo dwell time is expected to reduce to 3 days from the current 8 days. This will therefore reduce trade transaction costs , delay and congestion of cargo that has been the trend at the port as well as border posts. "We are developing a unique system which shall provide stakeholders involved in the international trade transaction documentation with a platform for exchange of trade related documentation electronically". Said Mr Ale...

By Charles Ogallo. Media has played a crucial role in the constitution implementation process in Kenya as the country continue to expect it to keep them informed on developments of legislative and administrative procedures required to implement the constitution. However reporting on devolution has remained a- balancing- act among many Kenya journalists as they try to play their watchdog role in the implementation of the constitution. Journalists at work  The Kenyan constitution has set tight deadlines for the implementation of this new devolved system of governance, with 47 county governments and one national government working independently within a unitary state. Though the on-going political intrigues and holla bulla playing around devolution across the country may have given the media a good time for coverage, delay in implementation of the new system of governance was putting journalists in an awkward situation in terms of communication and resource avail...

By Charles Ogallo Climate change is widely recognized as the major environmental problem currently facing the globe. Scientists and Environmentalists alike have agreed over the reality of Climate Change.   They have also recognized Climate Change as a global crisis expected to hit developing countries the hardest. Its effects; higher temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns, rising sea levels, and more frequent weather-related disasters—pose risks for agriculture, food, and water supplies. At stake are recent gains in the fight against poverty, hunger and disease, and the lives and livelihoods of billions of people in developing countries.This is according to both the UNEP and World Bank reports. However all these information have clearly been simplified in a graphic form by Infographics   Climate Change , which is  featuring to be more informative and a must-visit site for anyone hoping to get in depth information about climate change. Climat...

By Charles Ogallo in Doha, Qatar.  The time has come for Africa to reap the fruits of Clean Development Mechanism commonly known as CDM under the Kyoto Protocol, an international legally binding agreement. Among new investment initiatives aimed at tackling climate change as well as reducing greenhouse gases  e missions globally , CDM has proved to be helpful in promoting sustainable development among communities facing the extremes of this global phenomenon especially in developing nations. Geothermal Power Project in Kenya. This follows an establishment of a loan scheme by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFCCC to assist with project development in countries underrepresented in the CDM. The CDM loan scheme was officially launched on 18 April 2012, during the fourth Africa Carbon Forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Addressing a group of African Radio Journalists at the UN Climate Change Conference in Doha Qatar, Mr Conor Barry an ex...

By Charles Ogallo in Doha Qatar. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change -UNFCCC has rolled out a revamped   outreach program aimed at scaling up public awareness on Clean Development Mechanism, commonly known as CDM of the Kyoto Protocol in Africa. Two projects currently rolled out in Africa and other least developing countries around the globe are among them Regional Collaboration Centers- RCC and Help-Desks, mainly to promote public awareness about CDM and show case benefits of CDM projects in climate change mitigations and promotion of sustainable developments.  UNFCCC Chief at COP18 in Doha, Qatar.  These initiatives come as the UN body’s reports indicate that Africa still lags far behind in number of projects being implemented globally under CDM, with only 2 percent of all registered projects to date. According to experts, Clean Development Mechanism has far reaching benefits in reducing carbon emissions and other greenh...