In Mozambique, United Nations Secretary General António Guterres begins a two-day visit Thursday to assess the damage from storms Idai and Kenneth, which devastated the country earlier this year. Guterres will meet with President Filipe Nyusi to begin his travel, and receive updated briefings from UN agencies in the field…
A group of international researchers working in the Democratic Republic of Congo say that deforestation, typically to use more land for agriculture, may be adding carbon dioxide into the planet’s atmosphere through a different and less understood pathway. While the broader effects of deforestation are known, the new research suggests…
President Donald Trump of the United States has never been known for his attention to the African continent, with the exception of unfortunate negative remarks that reverberate around the world. With the 2020 U.S. presidential race taking off, though, other candidates are starting to address the importance of Africa in…
Young climate change activists from across the globe have received Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award for 2019, for their work in the Fridays for Future movement spearheaded by Greta Thunberg of Sweden. “We are humbled and inspired by the determination with which youth activists across the world are challenging…
As Mozambique hosts a donor conference to support cyclone relief efforts – it begins Friday in Beira – the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warns that the destruction caused by storms Idai and Kenneth is a wake-up call to deal with impacts linked to climate change. Tropical cyclones, coastal flooding and…
An estimated 1 million animal and plant species are at risk of extinction within decades and the threats to their survival are accelerating, according to a much-anticipated report on biodiversity from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). The IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem…
President Xi Jinping of China, speaking Friday at the opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, focused on sustainable global development as he assured world leaders that the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) aligns with their own initiatives. “From the Eurasian continent to Africa, the Americas and…
Sudan and Nigeria are among countries in the world where economic growth already has been most damaged by global warming, according to new research from Stanford University in the United States. The research, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), also listed Brazil, India…
As Africa Climate Week wraps up in Ghana comes news that two climate champions from the continent – climate change director Anthony Nyong at African Development Bank and African Union agronomist Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko of Angola, above – were named in the top tier of the “Climate 100.” This…
Students in Kenya marched to the edge of the Karura Forest in Nairobi to demand action on climate change, joining young people in 123 countries who participated in Friday’s Climate Strike – a massive undertaking in more than 2,000 cities. “Every single person who came out to march today is…
By Naza Alakija, Flourish Africa Climate change and issues relating to it has recently been at the forefront of much public debate. Nations globally are implementing new policies to win the race against climate change whilst others (a minority) neglect to acknowledge that it is actually happening. The United Nations…
The University of Cape Town (UCT) is leading a project to measure the long term effects of humans on global warming, with a view toward reducing impacts on Africans and Global South populations. UCT African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI) director Professor Mark New is co-leader of a team that…
Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates has named 10 breakthrough technologies that will help to reinvent the future, and listed them in a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Review article published Wednesday. Gates said he first thought of the plow, in use since 4000 BCE, while contemplating how technologies create…
More than 60 million people were affected by extreme weather and natural hazards last year, including floods in Nigeria and drought in Kenya, according to an analysis of 281 events. Flooding continues to impact the most people – more than half the total, although earthquake and tsunami accounted for the…
There’s a direct link between climate change and public health in Lesotho, according to the findings of an intriguing study from ICAP at Columbia University in the United States and its partners. The authors led by Dr. Andrea J. Low, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Columbia Mailman School…