top of page

Search Results

305 items found for ""

  • Loss and Damage: Africa's final push for finance facility at COP27

    Africa is in a last-minute dash to secure far-reaching climate deals, including a critical finance facility for the loss and damages states have borne due to extreme weather Seth Onyango, bird story agency With the landmark "loss and damage" agenda adapted into the UN climate talks, Africa's frontline negotiators now want a payment plan to feature in the final resolutions of the discussions. At its briefing, the African Group of Negotiators (AGN) said its pushing to insert a compromise deal in the COP27 outcome document to help the states worst hit by climate change to blunt the fallout. "We are concerned about the lack of progress on various issues of importance to our group particularly on finance, adaptation and loss and damage," said Eng. Collins Nzovu, Minister of Green Economy and Environment of Zambia, Chair of the AGN. Eng. Collins Nzovu, Minister of Green Economy and Environment of Zambia, Chair of the AGN at COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh. Photo : Seth Onyango, bird story agency "However, with few days remaining, we believe we can still deliver on all work streams, including adaptation, loss and damage, mitigation and means of implementation. But getting delegates to settle on a package of loss and damage facility is proving problematic, with rich nations asserting an existing mechanism (a 2001 Adaptation Fund) to address the issue. However, African diplomats argued that the fund has, like many other efforts, failed to deliver measurable results. Nzovu notes an intensive technical work has been done throughout the year and last week on the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) and urged parties to work constructively to reach an agreement on a framework to enable achieving and assessing progress towards the goal. "Adaptation is a matter of survival for Africa and COP27 should deliver on scaling up adaptation action and support including GGA", Nzovu said. "We hope we can agree on an effective and well-resourced Santiago Network for Loss and damage to catalyse technical assistance to developing countries and establish a loss and damage finance facility with a clear roadmap for its full operationalisation." It comes even as seven rich economies pledged new funding for the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) during the COP27 climate summit, and several others backed the funds' ambitious goals for meeting the most urgent adaptation needs. Announcing a total of UU$105.6 million in new funding, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Walloon Region of Belgium, stressed the need for even more support for the Global Environment Facility funds targeting the immediate climate adaptation needs of low-lying and low-income states. Additionally, states, including Belgium, Canada, France, the United States, and the European Commission, signalled political support for the two funds. Some expressed an intention to contribute further in the coming months. "Small Island Developing States cannot afford to wait when it comes to building climate resilience and dealing with extremes. We are highly appreciative that the Global Environment Facility's Special Climate Change Fund has a new funding window focused on supporting the unique adaptation needs of SIDS," said Conrod C. Hunte of the Mission of Antigua and Barbuda to the United Nations, who is Lead Negotiator of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). "We also welcome the strong political support from donors for the SCCF, but this needs to be translated into real funding commitments without delay." The LDCF is the only dedicated source of climate adaptation finance for the 46 Least Developed Countries, which have generated the least carbon emissions yet face some of the highest risks from a warming planet. The SCCF, which finances innovative approaches to scaling up climate adaptation in developing countries, has a special funding window for Small Island Developing States seeking support. Earlier this year, the Global Environment Facility member countries endorsed a new strategy for both funds so they can provide more targeted, dedicated support for climate-vulnerable countries as they work to build a more resilient future and implement their National Adaptation Plans. The Global Environment Facility programming strategy for the next four years anticipates that the Least Developed Countries Fund will provide between US$1 billion and US$1.3 billion for LDCs and that the Special Climate Change Fund will provide between US$200 million to US$400 million for Small Island Developing States and other climate-vulnerable developing states. bird story agency

  • Climate technology programme for Africa launched at COP27

    The five-year programme will accelerate the innovation, development, and deployment of transformative climate technologies. Seth Onyango, bird story agency A new programme to help African states plan and scale new decarbonisation solutions and blunt the devastating effects of climate change has been launched at COP27. The programme will propel new capital flow in climate tech to help nations harness and build renewable energy systems to power their economies. Senior officials from several governments, the UN Environment Program (UNEP) and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), launched the initiative that runs until 2027. The Technology Executive Committee (TEC) and Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) – the two bodies of the Technology Mechanism under the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement – launched their joint work programme to accelerate the deployment of transformative climate technologies that are urgently required to tackle climate change. "The launch of this joint work programme is an important opportunity for us to step up rapidly efforts to deploy technology to address through mitigation and adaptation", said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP. The new joint work programme of the Technology Mechanism covers work from 2023-2027 and foresees specific joint activities to be implemented by the TEC and CTCN. This includes tech roadmaps, work on gender and technology, technology and NDCs and digitalisation, and common areas of work for the two bodies, including national systems of innovation, industry, and the water-energy-food nexus. "Time is running out to achieve the key goals of the Paris Agreement. The rapid scaling up and effective transfer of climate technologies are imperative to limit the global average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius and to build resilience to climate change. A reinvigorated Technology Mechanism is needed to unlock appropriate climate technologies everywhere in the world, and that is what this new work programme is designed to achieve," said Simon Stiell, UNFCCC Executive Secretary. Climate tech is an important ingredient in fast-tracking Africa's transition from high-pollution industries to adopting clean sources and promoting an energy transition in line with the 1.5-degree goal. Climate technology programme for Africa launched at COP27 The climate tech industry in Africa is rapidly growing, churning more start-ups and attracting investment, although financing is still way below the required levels. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report (IPCC AR6) and the contributions from Working Group III (IPCC WG III) on Mitigation of Climate Change spotlight technology as an enabler to accelerate mitigation and drive effective adaptation solutions. It shows that limiting global warming will require significant transitions in primary sectors and areas, including energy, and cities, pointing to several key areas with high potential for emission reductions, such as cities/urban areas, industry, agriculture, forestry, and land use change. This joint work programme is a significant milestone for the Technology Mechanism and signals a new era of work for climate technology under the Convention and the Paris Agreement. It is guided by science, aligned with the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement, and focused on high-potential sectors and high-impact actions. On November 15th, the United States said it would avail US$ million to support the implementation of the Joint Work Programme. U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry is upbeat that the Technology Mechanism will galvanise action in this decisive decade through smart technology solutions for climate resilience and mitigation. "With this contribution, the United States is supporting a new, strategic approach to cooperation on technology and innovation in developing countries and fulfilling a key pledge made at COP26. We are committed to ensuring that the Parties cooperate effectively to accelerate action at the scale and pace needed through research, development, demonstration, and deployment of climate technologies." bird story agency

  • The women of Wasini coax life back into the mangrove forests

    A women-led initiative to reclaim their heritage and protect their island from mangrove logging is having an outsized impact. By Jackson Okata, bird story agency Wasini women group members planting mangroove tree cuttings on the island. Photo : Coast Development Authority For the first-time visitor to Wasini Island, the dark-green, leafy canopy formed by mangrove trees is striking. This was not the case a few years ago. The mangrove canopy was virtually non-existent, after being depleted through illegal logging. Leila Mohammed, a tour guide on the small island, said the destruction of the mangrove forest almost “killed the island”. Members of the Wasini women group harvest mangroove cutting for replanting on the island. Photo : Coast Development Authority “The island was left bare, there was no fish in the waters, corals began bleaching and dying and tourists stopped coming,” she said. Located 53 miles south of Kenya’s second largest City of Mombasa, Wasini Island has an estimated population of 3,000 people. The current mangrove forest canopy on the island is about 1,236 acres. In 2018, alarmed by the wanton destruction of the natural environment - and their livelihoods with it - island women came together to form the Wasini Women’s Group and launched a counter-offensive - replanting the mangroves to restore the rapidly diminishing forest. The 600-member group receives technical support from the Coast Development Authority (CDA), Kenya Forest Service (KFS), Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (Kemfri) and the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA). Climate and environmental journalist James Wakibia takes a walk along a mangrove trail inside the mangrove forest. Photo Credits : James Wakibia The project was developed with two focal areas: rehabilitating sections of the mangrove forest that had been destroyed and conserving and protecting the replanted sections. The chairperson of the group, 42-year-old Swabrah Mohamed Ahmed, said the women had decided to own the forest restoration and conservation initiative because they were the ones bearing the brunt of its destruction. “The logging of mangroves directly affected the breeding of marine life and hence our lives as a fisher community were hit because fish stocks in the ocean went on a rapid decline,” she said. “It also left the corals exposed and this contributed to the bleaching. Tourists stopped coming because of the destruction and this affected women and families in a big way.” Initially, a rapacious onslaught on the mangroves by loggers for building material and cooking fuel, had not hit the community. Logging of the mangroves was regarded just like any other economic activity. Local villagers had harvested it for generations for domestic use – but had always allowed it to regenerate naturally. Mangrove tree seedlings ready for transplantation on Wasini island. Photo Credits : James Wakibia Increasing demand for building and farming space in the area piled pressure on the forest and there was little awareness of its importance to the area’s diversity. “There was nobody to watch over the mangroves and the community had little knowledge of the importance of the forest,” said Mohamed Jilo, a boat operator on the island. Halima Gure, another member of the women’s group defending their natural heritage, said replanting mangroves and restoring the forest had stemmed coral bleaching that had also affected the breeding of marine life “With the knowledge, we gained from KFS, CDA, Nema and Kemfri training, we knew that reclaiming the forest was a solution to the many environmental and climate change problems the island was facing,” she said. The women of Wasini began by setting up mangrove tree nurseries and mapping out destroyed sections of the forest. Tree nurseries are managed by the community after receiving training from KFS. After mapping, the women split into smaller groups with each group being allocated a section of the forest to restore by planting out the tree seedlings. The groups now ensure that all new mangrove seedlings planted in their sections grow to maturity. Swabrah said that so far, they had been able to plant an estimated 200,000 mangrove seedlings, with a survival rate of 95 per cent. Like socio-economic activities globally, the project was slowed by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. However, like elsewhere, the hiatus gave the island’s natural environment room to recover. Among the women are trained forest scouts who are tasked with keeping watch over the forest to keep off illegal loggers. And with the mangrove forest regaining its glory, tourists are also back on the island and the community is reaping the benefits. Rahma Salim, another of the women in the project said the rehabilitated mangrove forest had now a big tourist attraction on the island and an income-generating source for them. “Those visiting the mangroves pay some fee which goes to the women group. This is a source of income for us,” she noted. A 500-metre-long boardwalk now leads into the mangrove forest and stands out as a new attraction on an island that for decades has been synonymous with fishing and tourism. The looped wooden platform leads into the extensive and beautiful mangrove forest and allows tourists to savour the colours and diversity of the rich ecosystem on the island. The island’s mangrove trails have also become a big tourist attraction. CDA managing director, Mohamed Keinan, said mangrove restoration has revitalised both the environment and social and economic standing of the island. “Apart from the impact on marine life and biodiversity, the project has had an impact on food security and economic uplifting of the women and youth,” he said. “With the forest back, marine life has been resuscitated and fish stocks are on the rise.” 230 women from the group are now formally employed as tour guides, forest protectors and conservationists Villagers are becoming aware that apart from providing food, a breeding ground and shelter for marine species, mangroves also protect coastlines from erosion and storm surges – a role that had often gone unrecognised. “Mangroves help in reducing effects of rising sea levels by elevating the coastline,” explained James Kairu, a marine scientist at Kemfri who went on to say that mangroves also help in protecting the coastline by sustaining sea life and combating climate change. That is a role that is more and more apparent, not only on a global but also on a local level, with climate change being blamed for a spate of natural disasters across East Africa, including Somalia, where the logging of mangroves has also been rampant. With carbon dioxide a key contributor to global warming and the growing climate crisis, the role of forests worldwide in sequestering carbon is under the spotlight. The United Nations Environmental Protection Agency (UNEP) estimates that globally, mangrove forests sequester within their roots, trunks, and soil as much as 22.8 million tons of carbon annually. According to Kinyanjui Koimbori, an agro-climatologist and climate change and energy researcher, mangroves can play a crucial role in sequestration. “The unique thing about mangroves is that they can store 10 times the amount of carbon stored by other forests,’’ he said. “The effect of mangrove carbon sequestration on Wasini Island is evident with the flourishing marine life. Without the mangroves, marine life would have been wiped out from the entire island.” With the success story of the Wasini mangrove project, the Coastal Development Authority is also using it as a blueprint for wider mangrove restoration along the Kenyan coast and the program has been adopted on the neighbouring Pate Island. Given the potential for sequestration and environmental rehabilitation along the East African coast, the actual impact of the Wasini Women’s Group may only be apparent many years into the future. bird story agency

  • Kigali goes cleaner, greener

    Rwanda’s capital walks the path of car-free zones and eco-parks designed to encourage outdoor sports and urban tourism as it chases “green city” status. By Ange de la Victoire Dusabemungu, bird story agency Seated at the base of three hills – Mount Kigali, Jali and Bumbogo – Kigali City is vested with wide sidewalks, spotless roads, trees and plenty of green spaces. It is a city whose peaceful facade is part of a healing process that remains vitally important three decades after the genocide that scarred its populace. Accentuated by modern highrise, the city’s outlook is best appreciated from one of the hills, from where the city’s growing number of “eco-parks” is readily evident. The Nyandungu Urban Wetland Eco-Tourism Park in Kigali, Rwanda. Photo : Ange de la Victoire Dusabemungu According to Faustin Munyazikwiye, the Deputy Director General of the Rwanda Environment Management Authority, the city’s latest project, which includes the creation of green and car-free zones, encourages sporting and urban tourism. The city has zeroed on its ecological hotspots. “The government of Rwanda, indeed, in the bid of promoting environmental sustainability, has taken a decision of prioritising rehabilitation of critical ecosystems, including wetlands, forests, and other critical and endangered ecosystems,” he explained. The city is being carefully and purposefully guided by a vision of the future – one of a “new age” of modern, commercial, recreational and innovative African urban centers. Inspired at least in part by what Ghanaian author Sangu Delle describes in his book Making Futures: Young Entrepreneurs in a Dynamic Africa, Kigali aspires to be a city of moguls-in-the-making, of socialpreneurs, creatives and techies; another crucial element in the country’s physical and psychological recovery. And very clearly, the way forward is green. This has meant removing dwellings in the city’s five wetlands – Kibumba, Nyabugogo, Rugenge-Rwintare, Rwampara and Gikondo – in a move the environmental authority and city planners say will “improve access to basic services, enhance resilience and strengthen urban planning and management” for the city. The Nyandungu Urban Wetland Eco-Tourism Park in Kigali, Rwanda. Photo : Ange de la Victoire Dusabemungu “We are offering a recreational hub or recreational environment where people can start enjoying nature. We are not destroying the environment or critical ecosystems,” Munyazikwiye said at the launch of the initiative. One of the landmarks of the rehabilitation of the wetlands is the Nyandungu Eco-Tourism Park. Formerly housing an informal settlement, it is now a key urban tourism spot “For the sake of restoring the environment, we want to see the economic benefits, we want to see biodiversity benefits, and above all want the social interaction between the people and nature,” said the Deputy Director General of REMA, who added that the work which started in 2016 had cost some 5 billion Rwandan francs (US$ 4.5 million). The restoration of the Nyandungu wetland and the creation of an eco-tourism park involved planting 17,000 trees comprising 55 indigenous species. The 121-hectare park features a medicinal garden, five catchment ponds, three recreation ponds, an information centre, a restaurant as well as 10km of walkways and bike lanes. It also sports a “Pope’s Garden” in honour of Pope John Paul II who visited the country in 1990, four years before the genocide. Kigali’s car-free zones The city is today a jumping-off point for tourists visiting tea plantations and parks up-country, including the world famous Virunga National Park with its mountain gorillas, is kept clean by an army of women in reflective yellow jackets. Signposts point the way to international hotels like the Marriott, Sheraton, Radisson and Serena. Roads are lined on either side by flowers and palms and the traffic flows smoothly. It takes just 30 minutes to get to the city center from Kigali International Airport using an E-moto or any other cab service. And what strikes you is the cleanliness and fresh air that greets you as you enter the city, which is kept clean by an army of women dressed in yellow reflective jackets. There is a litter bin at every turn. “Put your litter in here!’ notices instruct passers-by. Grace Muhawenimana is a cleaner in the neighbourhood of Kimihurura. She starts work at 6.30 am, helping ensure the city remains spotless. "There are people who may think lowly of my job, but I am proud of what I do. This is what supports our families and keeps our city clean," she said. The Nyandungu Urban Wetland Eco-Tourism Park in Kigali, Rwanda. Photo : Ange de la Victoire Dusabemungu In monthly clean-ups across the city of 1.2 million people, President Paul Kagame who espouses the age-old communal spirit of Umuganda (helping each other), personally participates. Now a Green City Kigali project is seeking to develop a model community in a 600-ha area. Situated in the Kinyinya Hill area of Gasabo District the model village will provide affordable housing for target groups in a sustainable and culturally compatible, climate-resilient urban community. The area will “establish new standards that can be replicated elsewhere in Rwanda and beyond–setting a trajectory towards a Net Zero future” according to the city’s planners. The development is seen as the start of a planned US$5 billion Green City Kigali initiative, part of the long-term vision of making Rwanda a green economy that generates sustained economic growth while ensuring social well-being and mitigating environmental risks. The planners are keen to ensure that all new infrastructure – including roads, housing and commercial buildings conform to climate-resilient, urban standards. “Rwanda is committed to promoting sustainable cities and the Green City Kigali will demonstrate that it’s possible to build a sustainable, large-scale urban development,“ said Teddy Mugabo, Chief Executive Officer of Rwanda Green Fund, the main body that collects and sources funds for city’s Green Programmes, during the unveiling of FCB Studios, the company designing a16-hectare mixed-use pilot in the northwest section of the Kinyinya Hill development. According to Mugabo, the country is committed to the green agenda. “It will undoubtedly serve as a catalyst for change, not only in Rwanda but also in the region. We are delighted to be working with FCBStudios on the design of the Green City Kigali master plan and detailed designs for the pilot phase. We can’t wait to get started!” she said. bird story agency

  • 'A just transition, not just a transition': Africa's ultimatum on fossil fuels

    "A just transition, and not just a transition" is Africa's declaration at COP27 as states vowed not to dissever their economies from fossils unless alternatives exist. Seth Onyango, bird story As the UN climate talks in Sharm el-Sheikh enter the homestretch, African lobbyists and dealmakers are pushing for a fair shake of the continent's energy systems from fossils- but not at the expense of economic development. The PanAfrican Parliament, the legislative body of the African Union (AU), has vowed to block any attempts at a rushed phasing down of fossils without giving the continent an alternative energy source. PanAfrican Parliament President Fortune Charumbira said that Africa's tough stance was to secure energy security for millions across the continent. PanAfrican Parliament President Fortune Charumbiraat COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh. Photo : Seth Onyango, bird story agency "The issue of fossil fuel phase down cannot come without other major commitments being delivered. In short, there are winners and losers. There are promises to support those countries that lose out in implementing some of these decisions," he said. Charumbira added that the AU will host a meeting in May 2023 to deliberate on the various issues of energy transition and loss damage in Africa ahead of COP28 in Dubai. "We have to be realistic, it is one thing to talk at COP27 and another for a specific country to then take the consequences of these decisions. So fossils fuels will remain a reality in terms of use until we have financed the alternative to fossils." Pan-African Parliament vice-president Lucia Passos echoed Charumbira's sentiments asserting that there can be no transition in Africa which doesn't factor in the needs of its vast populations. "If you don't help solve the problem, then you can't dictate how we eat, do agriculture, light our homes and power our industries," she said on the sidelines of the Parliament press briefing. On the other hand, Uganda is blunter, arguing it should be facilitated to sustainably explore oil and gas resources. In his opening address at COP27, president and Egypt's foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, set the tone for Africa's energy transition, saying it should include the economies' capacities and resources. Shoukry stressed the importance of scaling up climate ambitions according to states' capacities, casting a spotlight on the content's stranded carbon resources on the back of increasing energy demand. "The current level of ambition is not up to the Paris goals…For the sake of an efficient implementation of pledges and commitments, we need more efficient and wider participation by all relevant parties," he stated at the opening of COP27. "We have constantly called for moving from negotiations and pledges to an era of implementation as a priority as well as the acceleration of the implementation of what we have agreed upon with the UNFCCC promoted in the parties accord and the work programme while stating the importance of scaling up ambitions and aligning them to country's capacities and resources." Shoukry's push for a vertical transition is geared to ensure Africa's green energy pivot does not come at a huge economic cost for the continent. The COP27 president parties can help unlock innovative financing schemes that will help low-income states add large quantities of renewable energy while rapidly building out grid and distribution infrastructure. But for Africa to abandon their massive fossil resources, states want heavily polluting states to green financing and tech transfer to help the continent leapfrog dirty fuels. Currently, Africa contributed under 4 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions between 1990 and 2017 despite constituting 17 per cent of the world's population, making it the least polluter. bird story agency

bottom of page