Climate Action

Photo: Flood waters rush around a house in Long Island, New York. Credit: U.S. Geological Survey

When Climate Change Dishes Up a 'Toxic Stew'

By William S. Becker*

MILWAUKEE, USA (IDN) – It happened in July 2016. A flash flood roared through Ellicott City, Maryland, killed two people and caused tens of millions of dollars in damages to the historic buildings along Main Street. The experts said it was one of those rare 1,000-year flood events. The city set about the job of rebuilding. It takes a long time – often years – for a community to recover from a devastating flood.

Then in May 2018, while Ellicott City was still getting over the 2016 disaster, it happened again, another one of those “extremely rare” 1,000-year floods.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 22 September 2018

Photo credit: James Gordon. Source: United Nations University.

Climate Change: The Devil Is in the Details

Neither Climate Change Deniers Nor Technology Enthusiasts Hold the Key to Addressing Global Warming

Viewpoint by Franz Baumann

The author is a visiting professor at New York University and a former UN assistant secretary-general, special adviser on environment and peace operations. Dr. Baumann joined the UN Development Program in 1980, began working in the UN Secretariat in 1985, and retired in 2015 after about a dozen assignments under five secretaries-general, in four duty stations and on three continents. – The Editor

NEW YORK (IDN) – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, on September 10^,2018 spoke eloquently and with urgency about the frightening prospect of a climate catastrophe. "Climate Change is the defining issue of our time, and we are at a defining moment," he said. Everything in his powerful speech was backed by science and evidently correct. Yet, because Secretaries-General cannot say everything, it was incomplete.

: Franz Baumann; OPINION; 14 September 2018

Photo: Now Medina earns enough to feed her five children. Credit: Kizito Makoye | IDN-INPS

Building Climate Resilience through Women's Entrepreneurship in Ethiopia

By Kizito Makoye

BOYNA, Ethiopia (ACP-IDN) – A long spell of drought three years ago made life extremely challenging for 48-year-old Medina Igahle, a mother of five living in Boyna village in the Bubta Wodera region, when some of her goats, cattle and camels starved.

“When disaster hit, I had to bundle up what little I owned and together with my family head out to meet an uncertain future,” she says.

In many parts of Africa, changing weather patterns and environmental degradation are putting small-scale farmers at risk of extreme poverty, hunger and displacement.

: IDN-INPS Middle East & Africa Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 14 September 2018

Photo: A woman walks in the street of Roseau, capital of Dominica, which has struggled to overcome the severe impact of two category 5 hurricanes which tore through the region in September 2017. Credit: UNICEF/Moreno Gonzalez

Nine Foundations Pledge $459 Million to Forests, Indigenous Rights, and Lands to Combat Climate Change

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Ahead of the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, nine of the world's leading philanthropic foundations have decided on the protection, restoration, and expansion of forests and lands worldwide and the recognition of indigenous peoples' and traditional communities' collective land rights and resource management.

For the purpose, they have announced their intent "to commit at least" $459 million for what they aver are "powerful and under-appreciated climate solutions and must be urgent global priorities to help avert the worst threats from a warmer world".

: J Nastranis; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 11 September 2018

Former UN Chief and Bill Gates on Board as the Netherlands Accelerates Climate Adaptation

By Reinhard Jacobsen

AMSTERDAM (IDN) – Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will oversee the Global Commission on Adaptation to climate change, which the Government of the Netherlands and the Global Center on Adaptation have decided to set up. It will be formally launched on October 16 in The Hague. Bill Gate, Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva will support Ban.

The Global Center on Adaptation, an international organization hosted by the Netherlands, in partnership with World Resources Institute will co-host the Commission.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 11 September 2018

Photo: Bangkok Climate Change Conference. Credit: UN Climate Change

A Mountain to Climb Before December UN Climate Summit

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN (IDN) – Despite growing calls for urgent and strong climate change action, a crucial round of talks concluded in Bangkok on September 9 with what UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa has termed "uneven progress".

The Chair of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group, Gebru Jember Endalew of Ethiopia finds that "progress has been slow" in Bangkok, Thailand's capital city. Mohamed Adow, Christian Aid’s International Climate Lead feels relieved that "scuppering the ship" has been averted.

The meeting was the final gathering of countries before they meet to agree the implementation guidelines for the Paris Agreement at the UN Climate Conference (COP24) in Katowice, Poland this December.

: Ramesh Jaura; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 10 September 2018

Photo: An evening glimpse of entrance to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Big Oil Locked in War with Institutions of the Art World

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – A growing number of museums in Europe are turning thumbs down on oil company dollars when the companies not only contribute to global warming but fund the "science" that supposedly disproves it.

Oil company funding also misleads public perception of environmental devastation as in Nigeria where billions of dollars were made extracting oil while highly toxic water and soil remain.

A recent study published in the International Journal of Hydrology found that levels of Cobalt, Copper and Iron are so high in the communities of Gokana, Ogoniland, River State, as to render their water unsuitable for human consumption due to the potential adverse health effect at high levels.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 04 September 2018

Photo: President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump pose for members of the media with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and his wife Margaret Kenyatta as they arrive at the White House, August 27, 2018, in Washington. Credit: U.S. Department of State.

Kenya Signs Deal with U.S. to Finance Wind Power

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) - Kenya has signed agreements with a U.S. wind energy company, providing a major boost for wind power and food security.

President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya said the 'Big Four agenda' projects – boosting manufacturing industry, promoting food security, providing affordable housing and universal healthcare coverage – present major opportunities for local and foreign investors.

The U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and Kipeto Wind Energy Company signed documents to close a $232 million deal in financing the construction and operation of a 100-megawatt grid-connected wind power plant south of Nairobi.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 28 August 2018

Photo: Space science and earth observation can help institutions in sub-Saharan Africa face many challenges in integrating climate information to inform policy making in the management of natural resources, and reducing disaster risks. Credit: RCMD

Space Science Vital to Achieving Global Development Goals

By Justus Wanzala

NAIROBI (ACP-IDN) – Space science and earth observation are some of the key pillars in the attainment of most of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to experts participating in an international conference, organized by the Regional Centre for Mapping Resources for Development (RCMRD) in Kenya's capital city.

The central theme of the RCMRD International Conference (RIC 2018) was 'Space Science for Sustainable Development' with particular focus on agriculture and food security, weather and climate, water and hydro-climatic disasters, land use land cover and ecosystems, land management and surveying, and cross cutting themes.

: Justus Wanzala; SUSTAINABILITY; Poverty; 27 August 2018

Photo: Seaweed farmers. Credit: Mwinyi Sadallah

A Glimmer of Hope for Zanzibar Seaweed Farmers

By Kizito Makoye

PAJE, Zanzibar (IDN) – As the morning breeze sweeps Mwanamkasi Jumbe wade through knee-deep water, her gown flapping in the wind as she drags a pile of seaweed seedlings to her farm before it is too hot.

Armed with a bundle of sticks, she hangs pieces of fresh seaweed haphazardly hooked on a yellow polyethylene rope.

"It's a tough job, but I love doing it. I get something to support my family," she says. "The seedling takes six weeks to mature," she adds.