INTER PRESS SERVICE

Indian Ocean Islands Unprepared for Climate Change

Nasseem Ackbarally reports from Port Louis Mauritius that despite clear evidence of climate change, the Indian Ocean Islands have not done much in terms of adaptation and mitigation.

Zambian Churches Slow to Use ‘Socio-political Influence’ to Fight for Climate Justice

It seems that churches in Zambia are becoming more pragmatic in their approach by advocating for better policies and training of vulnerable communities on climate change adaptation mechanisms.

Liberia’s Poor and the Rising Sea

Mary B owned a shop in West Point, Monrovia’s densely-populated slum community, where she sold liquor just a few yards away from the sea. But last month, the ocean left her homeless and without a business because the devastating erosion of the coastline has resulted in most of the land eroding into the Atlantic Ocean with thousands of homes being washed away by the encroaching sea.

Senegal Walks a Fine Line Between Development and Environmental Protection

While the cement factories in Senegal are at war, ostensibly over the environmental impact one company will have on this West African nation, experts have cautioned that as the government plans to radically develop and industrialise the country, striking a balance between environmental protection and development will be key.

Nature Is Talking And Africa’s Legislators Are Listening

Africa's climate change legislative frameworks, though a step in the right direction, have come under fire for not being ambitious enough to meet the challenge of a changing climate.

Q&A: Developing World Leads in Advancement of Climate Change Laws

Developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America are increasingly leading the way in providing a legal framework for climate security and are being hailed for their continued advancement in formulating climate change laws and policies.

Carbon Emissions May Become Taxing for Big South African Polluters

Carbon Emissions Soon to Become Taxing for Big South African Polluters from IPS News on Vimeo.

Kenya’s Climate Change Legislation Takes Shape To Save Struggling Farmers

Daniel Njau, a small-scale farmer from Nyeri County, central Kenya, is torn. He just may have to give up his six-hectare tea plantation in favour of farming climate-resilient food crops.

OP-ED: Climate Change Threatens the Wild Beauty of Small Islands

It’s beginning to sink in that our climate is changing more rapidly than at any time in recorded history and it will have profound and irreversible effects on the planet. On World Environment Day on Jun. 5, let’s stop for a moment to consider in particular the devastating impact that climate change is having on small island states and their wildlife. 

Legislation Alone Will Not Address Africa’s Climate Challenges

Despite a raft of legislation dealing with the environment, African countries are still falling short when it comes to enforcing the legal instruments that respond to challenges posed by climate change, researchers say. 

Offsets to Cushion South African Carbon Tax

To curb greenhouse gas emissions, South Africa wants to put a tax on carbon emissions from big polluters.

Q&A: Investment and Research Key to Resilient African Agriculture

There is urgent need to increase the proportion of climate finance for adaptation in Africa by increasing public sector budgets for agriculture and exploring partnerships with the private sector.

Kenya’s Pastoralists Show their Green Thumbs

For more than a decade Dima Wario from Rupa, a village in Merti division, northern Kenya, escaped death and watched helplessly as many in his community died in a spate of fatal clashes over receding resources.

IPCC Climate Report Warns of “Growing Adaptation Deficit”

The latest update of the world’s scientific consensus on climate change finds not only that impacts are already being felt on every continent, but also that adaptation investments are dangerously lagging.

Sahel Food Crisis Overshadowed by Regional Conflict

Still not enough is being done to improve the food emergency in Africa’s Sahel Region as conflict and instability continue to exacerbate any response towards aiding a region where one in eight people suffer from food insecurity.

Zimbabwe’s Growing Electronic Waste Becomes a Real Danger

Electronic waste in Zimbabwe is becoming “an emerging environmental crisis that is by and large unheralded,” according to Steady Kangata, the education and publicity manager of the government-run Environmental Management Agency (EMA).

Climate Change Triggers Disease Risk in Tanzania

Residents in low-lying areas in Tanzania’s largest city, Dar es Salaam, are potentially at risk of contracting waterborne diseases as heavy rains, which started last week, continue to pound the city.

Kenya’s Empty Bread Basket

Jane Njeri from the semi-arid lower Mukurweini district in Kenya’s Central Province has taken to boiling wild roots to feed her five children.

Kenya’s Excess of Policies Can’t Deal With Climate Change

Kenya is facing its greatest challenge as weather patterns are starting to significantly affect food production. And experts are blaming the low adaptive capacity of the farming sector on an excess of policy and institutional frameworks that are silent on both climate change and agriculture.

Waiting for the Rains, Zambia Grapples With Climate Change

It is seven in the morning and Georgina Musende, 56, of Kamanga Township, which just lies east of the Zambian capital Lusaka, is already sweating as she digs into the dry earth. Every time the hoe hits the ground, the dust engulfs her.

Climate Makes Refugees Out of Young Ghanaians

It was 20-year-old Fizer Boa who first migrated south to Ghana’s capital, Accra, to work in the local Abobloshie market as a porter or “Kayayei”.