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DRC’s minerals have been systematically plundered for centuries; now, its cobalt is coveted by the world for green energy transition. Will this finally bring transformation or more misery to the local communities? Jean-Claude Katende Congo’s natural resources have been plundered at a terrible cost to its people since the murderous colonial rule of Belgium and Leopold II that began in the 19th century. For nearly 150 years, extreme violence and corruption have cast a shadow over the extraction of our rubber, ivory, gold, timber and diamonds. The agents of this damage have been both domestic and foreign. Meanwhile, most Congolese people have not seen our natural wealth’s social and economic benefits and instead languish in poverty. Now the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC’s) minerals are being coveted as a means of helping propel the world towards a clean energy future. The world urgently needs to decarbonise to halt climate chaos and ensure our planet remains liveable. To do this, there will need to be an estimated sixfold increase in the production of minerals such as cobalt, lithium, nickel and copper, which are required to help produce, transport, store and use electricity produced by cleaner sources such as wind and sun. The DRC – and other parts of Africa – which hold vast reserves of these transition minerals, will be key players. A springboard for development? Cobalt is one of the world’s most sought-after minerals – it is a critical component in lithium-ion batteries, which powers electric vehicles (EVs). The DRC is by far the world’s biggest cobalt producer. In 2020, just four mines in the DRC produced 41% of the global cobalt supply, while Africa holds 19% of the global reserves of metals required to make a standard battery-powered electric vehicle. Transition minerals could transform the Democratic Republic of Congo, but local communities must be consulted [Graphics: Hope Mukami] The current boom in transition minerals is only going to accelerate. The World Bank has found that the production of minerals such as cobalt could increase by nearly 500% to meet the demand for cleaner energy technologies - and the DRC’s untapped deposits of raw minerals are worth more than US $24 trillion, according to research by Michigan State University. If used well, this wealth could be the springboard to developing our country and giving our citizens the social services they desperately need: clean water, electricity, good roads, schools, health care and economic security. But at the moment, this is far from happening. Mineral exploitation still benefits the ruling class and corporations at the expense of ordinary citizens. Extraction is still plagued by corruption, poor governance, human rights and environmental violations. If this continues, it will not bring fundamental transformation to the DRC or Africa: just more of the misery that has so long accompanied exploiting our natural resources. Widespread abuses This is already happening. In Lualaba and Haut-Katanga - the two southern provinces which are the heartland of the DRC’s cobalt and copper mining industries - human rights abuses and environmental destruction are rife. At the same time, local people have been largely excluded from the profits and employment opportunities generated by the influx of international mining companies. The US Department of Labour has estimated that around 35,000 children work in the DRC’s cobalt mines, mostly in artisanal and small-scale mines. Here, people who mining companies do not officially employ gather minerals in often deplorable conditions and sell them to middlemen on open markets. Artisanal miners and other residents have suffered violence and even death at the hands of security forces for encroaching on industrial mining sites. Yet there is growing pressure from around the world for this to change - and to ensure that the scramble to extract minerals used in cleaner energy technologies does not replicate past errors by trampling on human rights and destroying local environments. Momentum for change This month, 250 civil society organisations from 62 different countries called on world leaders attending the COP27 climate summit in Egypt to initiate a real shift in how minerals are extracted and used and to look at solutions that will reduce dependence on mining. These organisations, which include the Publish What You Pay (PWYP) DRC coalition, work in various fields - from the environment to human rights and anti-corruption - and represent marginalised groups, such as local communities, women and young people. Central to our demands is that communities worldwide affected by mining are meaningfully consulted and participate in any decisions affecting their lives, that they have the right to withhold their consent to mining, and that minerals are only extracted under the most rigorous international human rights and environmental standards. We also need to ensure that frontline communities see benefits from mining. Revenues must be allocated to sustainable development projects that enable economic diversification. In the DRC, the collection and distribution of revenues should be digitised, and the capacity of local agents in charge of implementing local community development plans should be strengthened. Anti-corruption and strengthened governance as prerequisites It is vital that the transition minerals market is well-regulated, transparent, just and equitable. But to make this a reality, there will have to be a fierce fight against corruption and embezzlement, led by a more robust, proactive and impartial justice system. An essential way of purging corruption and strengthening governance in the sector is through the comprehensive disclosure of mining contracts. As an Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative member, the DRC must do so. We must write a new chapter in the history of natural resource extraction in the DRC and Africa more widely: one which enables our societies to be positively transformed by transition minerals and the fight to end the climate crisis that we on the continent did so little to create. Jean-Claude Katende is a human rights defender and a long-time advocate for transparency and good governance of the extractive industries. He is the National Coordinator of PWYP DRC, Chair of the African Association of Human Rights (ASADHO) and Vice-President of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). bird story agency

Startups in Tanzania are busy attracting investment for operations along a 1,424 km coastline as they look to build on opportunities in the blue economy, support biodiversity and build resilience to climate change. Seth Onyango, bird story agency In June, the Tanzanian government stressed that the blue economy agenda would be its top priority in order to leverage untapped economic opportunities available at sea and in other Tanzanian water bodies. Since then, Africa's red-hot venture capital scene has not delivered on funding for climate action projects in the sector but a number of startups are working hard to change that. Key to their hopes is the rollout of matchmaking platforms for investors and entrepreneurs working in the ocean, or blue economy sector. In September, EU-led BlueInvest Africa convened a business-to-business (B2B) meeting in Seychelles in a bid to unlock crucial financing for blue economy startups. That included three startups from Tanzania. Eco-Act, a Tanzanian startup firm manufacturing plastic products from recycled plastic waste, is in the VC market for funds to purchase machines in a bid to ramp up production. ENdep Limited, an energy services company that provides customized end-to-end solutions, is also seeking funding to scale, while NovFeed wants to scale bacteria-based protein feed for the aquaculture industry. "Tanzania is endowed with the Indian Ocean and three major inland lakes. Therefore, the blue economy is of utmost relevance in uplifting the economic livelihoods of her citizens. It is my expectation that the BlueInvest Africa event will open doors to meet investors and technology partners crucial for realizing the full potential of (the) blue economy in Tanzania," said ENdep chief executive officer, Rugola Mtandu. Tanzania's green startups tap blue economy investors. Graphic : Hope Mukami ENdep creates a solar-powered plant providing fish refrigeration storage to support women and young fish traders. Cooling is offered as a service to smallholders, suppliers and aggregators to preserve food quality and reduce post-harvest loss, at an affordable price. ENdep also offers affordable rental of solar cold rooms. Meanwhile, the chief executive of a third startup, NovFeed is looking to help the aquaculture industry grow sustainably. Diana Orembe's groundbreaking experience with the production of bacteria-based protein for feed, particularly aquaculture is tipped to help reduce the carbon footprint of food waste. "We take food waste that would normally go to the dumpsite and add our well-characterised and safe-for-human-consumption bacteria," she explained. "We put these inputs into our proprietary biology and equipment system, through the bacteria fermentation process and end up with a high performance and cost-effective protein ingredient for feed, notably aquaculture." According to Orembe, this helps local solutions to the challenges facing fish farmers in Tanzania and potentially the region. NovFeed produces cost-effective fish feed based on indigenous, locally produced, and sustainable ingredients and will seek investments to boost production. Orembe was inspired to start NovFeed while studying microbiology, where she saw how microbes could be used as a source of food for fish. This comes as the EU plans to launch a USD140 million intervention in Tanzania aimed at contributing to a climate-resilient blue economy in Tanzanian coastal areas - particularly around Zanzibar and the country's Indian Ocean Exclusive Economic Zone - for the benefit of the economy and local communities, and for the preservation of the environment. The support is expected to stimulate an industry which despite its significant potential, has not received enough policy attention. Meanwhile, BlueInvest is also pushing for Blue Bonds, to create a fund worth US$ 15 million over 10 years to support projects to improve the sustainability of fisheries. Seychelles is the first country in the world to use this fundraising mechanism for fisheries activities. In Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous island state off the coast of mainland Tanzania, ocean-based activities contribute over 29 per cent to GDP and employ 33 per cent of its labour force, while tourism accounts for another 30 per cent of its GDP. Additionally, 98 per cent of Zanzibar’s foreign trade is maritime-based. Already, Brussels and Dodoma have partnered to support projects in sustainable agriculture in coastal areas and in Zanzibar, as well as the development of renewable energies, sustainable cities, investments and community-based activities promoting livelihood and climate change adaptation. Worldwide, trillions of dollars are being spent to stimulate the economies of coastal communities, offering an opportunity to ensure that the focus is on sustainable activities, such as protecting coastlines using mangroves instead of concrete structures and improving waste-water management to cut ocean pollution and boost marine tourism. New financial mechanisms are also being tested by the global environmental organisation, The Nature Conservancy, to try and boost sustainable solutions, including insurance for natural infrastructure like coral reefs which help protect coastlines from storm surges, and blue bonds for ocean conservation. bird story agency

Africa leads world's purge of single-use plastics. Graphic : Hope Mukami Greenpeace estimates that 34 out of 54 countries in Africa have implemented laws and made ordinances that prohibit or compel minimal use of non-recyclable plastic. The bans involve plastic bags, thin plastic and non-biodegradable plastic. Other relative legislation targets the abolition of plastic sachets and bottles. The shift to non-plastic and recyclable products has created an opportunity for domestic startups and enterprises to make money from recycling and to put existing plastic waste to good use. Eritrea was the first African country to outlaw plastic bags, in 2005, according to Greenpeace. Other African countries followed suit. ends

With traditions that have endured for centuries, the Maasai have always been, amongst other things, environmentally low-impact. As traditions evolve, a Maasai woman is ensuring that climate-friendly practices, new and old, are retained. by Thuku Kariuki, bird story agency Times change. And so, too, has Selina Nkoile. Growing up, Nkoile lived in a traditional Masaai community. Today, her modern ranch is a testament to 21st Century lifestyles, its multi-coloured, connected dwellings brightening the bush in rural Kenya. One thing that has not changed, however, is her dedication to a climate-conscious lifestyle. Traditional Masaai communities are extraordinarily environmentally-friendly. Buildings are biodegradable, built with daub (moistened, clay-ish soil) and interwoven branches or saplings. When communities move to follow their cattle, the homes erode and vanish. Dwellings in the homestead, or manyatta, contain sleeping areas, kitchens, and all the facilities the community needs. Grandmothers sleep next to their children and grandchildren. The homestead is designed to be efficient and is set up in a way that makes it easy to protect the family's cow herd from predators. Nkoila’s homestead may look different to a traditional Maasai manyatta, but in essence, she has simply married the traditional with the modern; the ranch harnesses green energy and modern agricultural practices are employed in the gardens, all the while drawing from Kenya’s environment in a way that satisfies the needs of her family and her community. Bomanoma a ranch in Narok, a rural area about 140 kilometres from Kenya’s capital city Nairobi. Photo Courtesy : Bomanoma It makes sense, then, that Nkoila and her husband Brian Ash named their home, Bomanoma. Described as "Africa's ultimate eco-lodge, organic farm, and digital nomad oasis" the ranch in Narok, a rural area about 140 kilometres from Kenya’s capital city Nairobi, is open to tourists as well as to those who share the couple’s desire to live in harmony with nature while making the most of modern, sustainable practices. It’s a sprawling ranch, with numerous rooms for sleeping and relaxing, several for official business and a large area used for farming. Ash, who hails from Colorado in the United States, first visited Kenya as a volunteer and later started a business in the East African country. He and Nkoila married in 2021 and the couple lives at Bomanoma with their first-born child, Zuri Naeku. “Most of us were already reserved for marriage, including me before I went to school,” Nkoila said, describing her early childhood. “So, when I went to school, I learned so much, and I got so many skills and experiences. I got exposed, so I was not only limited to my village, but also to the rest of the world. I could dream as big as I can. But most importantly, school taught me about my environment – it is where I planted my first tree.” That early passion for her environment has been poured into the self-sustaining Bomanoma. The ranch feeds itself, emits little carbon and generates almost no noise. It is an oasis of model living for her community and others with similar ideas, whether that is net-zero lifestyle or simply, to plant trees. It is also a source of inspiration. "Bomanoma has been able to influence people," explained Nkoila. Bomanoma a ranch in Narok, a rural area about 140 kilometres from Kenya’s capital city Nairobi. Photo Courtesy : Bomanoma "My neighbours, a few of them, will always come for the seedlings. I always encourage them. Whenever we have a three-day permaculture introductory course, I… always invite the locals.” Their garden includes trees that can be used for building structures, for firewood, shade, and fruit as they mature. A “wild area” includes sage plants, the leaves of which have traditionally been used by the Maasai for deodorant and natural tissue paper. The ranch also grows cassava, kale, lettuce, parsley and pigeon peas. No harmful chemicals are used as Nkoila feels strongly about not disturbing the land’s biodiversity. Water supply is a challenge; no water is pumped in by the government or other suppliers. The estate catches its own rainwater for drinking, washing and nourishing the garden and trees. A vertical system of elevated irrigation stations allows water to flow down to the crops and trees. A water tank in Bomanoma a ranch in Narok, a rural area about 140 kilometres from Kenya’s capital city Nairobi. Photo Courtesy : Bomanoma Energy is produced by solar panels that power lights, small machines for cooking and laptop computers. It’s not entirely off the grid: in a nod to modernity and connection, Wi-Fi is available. While hanging on to some Maasai traditions, Nkoila, ever practical, sees that some things must change. “Long time ago we would keep hundreds of cows. But right now, hundreds of cows will only put pressure on (the) land and pressure on people looking for a place to take all these cows when it’s dry and they cannot get enough grass at home. So, even trying to reduce the number of animals, and using a sustainable management system, and seeing how to incorporate agriculture…it is really helpful,” she said. As far as a net-zero lifestyle is concerned, however, Nkoila is happy to remain as traditional as ever. bird story agency

29-year-old David Samikwa leads a youth organization trying to keep an ancient forest from disappearing. bird story agency staff 65km east of Blantyre, a national icon rises sharply from Phalombe plains, close to the tea-growing Mulanje district; at 3002 metres tall, free-standing Mt. Mulanje is Malawi’s highest peak. The mountain and its surrounds - with numerous tea estates and a once-thick mountain forest — has been home 27-year-old David Samikwa's home for as long as he can remember. Mt. Mulanje close to the tea growing Mulanje district in Malawi. Photo Courtesy : David Samikwa “My parents have been working in the tea estates. We have been raised here, taken to school here and even if we move out occasionally for tertiary studies, Mulanje is the place we know best,” he said. But that place has changed considerably. “I went to an estate primary school and not a single day passed without a hare crossing my path, or a hyena laughing deep in the forest or without spotting a snake basking in the woods, especially during our mid-morning breaks,” he recalled. The once dark-thick forest has been thinned, leaving the mountain's slopes visibly bare. In many areas, tea plantation workers have cut down trees to plant maize. “The community has eaten into the forest so bad. The animals are not there anymore and everything is different” Samikwa explained. “The main problem is energy demands. In Malawi, only 15 percent of the population is connected to the national grid leaving the majority to depend on wood and charcoal for cooking,” he said. The youth activist is now determined to reverse the trend. He is one of the founders - and now, secretary-general, of Tikambe Youth Organization, a community non-profit that is planting trees, training youth groups on briquette making, organizing clean-up campaigns and driving climate and environmental awareness in Malawi. Seedlings ready to be planted. Photo Courtesy : David Samikwa Tikambe was established in 2013 as a drama group that performed on-stage drama to increase information and awareness on HIV/AIDS. It has since diversified and now focuses on climate action. “We work very closely with the Forest Service and with National Youth Council of Malawi,” he explained. The group, which has planted close to 20,000 trees since 2020 (and boasts a survival rate of 90 percent), recently expanded its briquette-making activities to reach more communities. Mt. Mulanje close to the tea growing Mulanje district in Malawi. Photo Courtesy : David Samikwa “So far we have trained three youth clubs which are actively doing biogas but with briquettes, we have reached out to more than 15 youth groups,” he said. While Tikambe focuses most of its activities on the southern part of Malawi where the majority of the country’s forests are concentrated, Samikwa and his group also undertake campaigns in cities and districts across the nation. “We have active youth cleaning groups in Zomba City, Blantyre City and in different smaller districts,” he explained. Samikwa believes education and awareness levels have been the major impediment to climate action, particularly around Mulanje. “Even the 15 percent of the population accessing electricity are experiencing long hours of blackouts, some of which go up to 19 hours. They have no option but run to the nearest tree. We want them to have an option, they need the briquettes,” he explained. “My goal and that of our group is to pump out as much climate information to the people at the grassroots so that the transition to clean energy and the process of safeguarding our forests is undertaken by the majority and these are at the bottom,” he added. According to the young activist, climate-related messaging needs to go "mainstream" to solve the information gap and bring real change. bird story agency

Inside Kenya’s Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, hundreds of former illegal loggers have turned to butterfly farming - helping protect an important carbon sink and one of the last remaining patches of a once-continuous East Africa coastal forest. By Evelyn Makena, bird story agency Before becoming a butterfly farmer, Dickson Mbogo made a living by selling charcoal from trees he cut in the forest. “In my search for food and an income, I was destroying the forest,” he said. Now, after getting involved in butterfly farming, Mbogo’s weekly routine involves visiting sections of Kenya's eastern Arabuko-Sokoke Forest to capture butterflies using trapping nets. Home to some of the world’s endangered animals and plants, the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Reserve is the most extensive indigenous forest on the east African coast. Once part of an extensive coastal forest that ran from southern Somalia to northern Mozambique, the forest is visible for miles along Kenya's north coast highway. It is home to several threatened bird species, including Clarke’s weaver bird and the Sokoke scops owl, as well as endemic animals like the Aders’s duiker, the golden-rumped elephant shrew and the bushy-tailed mongoose. It is also home to elephants and other members of the "big five". The forest also hosts almost 300 butterfly species. For local communities living adjacent to the forest, these butterflies are now the source of a sustainable livelihood, enhancing the conservation of a forest previously threatened by illegal logging. Hussein Abdulahi Aden, a research scientist and project manager at Kipepeo. Photo : Evelyn Makena At home, Mbogo places the butterflies in a netted cage that houses different varieties of trees for the butterflies to feed on and lay eggs. “Butterflies can lay up to 300 eggs. After a few days, eggs hatch to caterpillars and feed on specific food plants until they develop into pupae,” explained Mbogo. After the pupae stage, farmers take the insects to Kipepeo Center in Gede town, a few kilometers from their homes. “Here, the insects are sorted according to species, graded, carefully wrapped in cotton for protection and packaged in boxes. They are then exported to markets in the United Kingdom,” said Hussein Abdulahi Aden, Project Manager of the Kipepeo Butterfly Project. Butterfly pupae at Kipepeo Center at Gede. Photo : Evelyn Makena From an initial 141 members when the project started, 872 farmers have now found a livelihood from rearing and selling butterflies. Farmers are paid for every pupa delivered, depending on the species type. Pupae can attract between Ksh. 90 - 225, (US$0.75 - 1.8) with farmers making collective earnings of up to Ksh.15 - 20 million (US$124,000 - 166,000) per year. According to Aden, the Kipepeo project was started in 1993 by the National Museums of Kenya and other stakeholders to reduce pressure on the forest while offering an alternative source of income to locals. Initially, the project was met with resistance from the community. “For a community used to subsistence farming of maize, cashew nuts and coconuts, the idea of butterfly farming was strange and perceived as mystical. There was also fear that this was a government project aimed at evicting them from their farms,” Aden explained. But other community members followed suit as the pioneer farmers began reaping the project’s benefits. Farmers are organized into 26 groups near the 42,000-hectare forest, with the majority concentrated on the eastern side along the Mombasa-Malindi Highway. Among the butterfly species reared are the colourful African Swallowtail, Silver Stripped Charaxes and Taita Blue-banded Swallowtail. There are also other less colourful species, like the African Migrant. The project buys all the pupae brought by the farmers. When supply is higher than the demand, the surplus is released to the Kipepeo Butterfly Exhibition House at Gede to educate the public on the insects. Some are released back into the forest for the continuity of species - ensuring that the forest is not only protected from the charcoal burners but is also well pollinated. For Mbogo, who belongs to the Mkongani group of growers, where he is the vice-chair, butterfly farming has seen him earn Ksh.40,000 (US$330) or more, in a good month. From these earnings, the 42-year-old has managed to buy a plot, build a house and educate three of his siblings. Hussein Abdulahi Aden, a research scientist and project manager at Kipepeo. Photo : Evelyn Makena “One recently completed high school, another one is a nurse, and another one is a student at Mt. Kenya University, all thanks to butterfly farming,” he beams. Besides earning an income, Mbogo has also established a 50-tree woodlot on his land, helping boost the area’s tree cover. Kipepeo supplies farmers with seedlings to plant in their homes for fuel, fruits and butterfly food trees to reduce reliance on the forest. Additionally, during World Environment Day, marked on 5th June, Kipepeo members participate in tree planting in the Arabuko forest, with each person planting the number of trees equal to their age. In many ways, Kipepeo project members have become champions of conservation within the community. Sofia Saidi, a member of the Mkongani group, said that members report any suspicious activities they may come across in the forest to the relevant authorities, including Kenya Forest Service and Kenya Wildlife Service. The project has also trained volunteer community scouts who patrol the forest and deter illegal activities. The Kipepeo project has also been crucial in improving food security in the community. Specific butterfly species play a vital role in pollination. According to Aden, a survey conducted within a five-kilometre radius of the forest boundary found that farms closer to the forest had better yields, indicating the impact of the butterflies on plant reproduction. bird story agency

The lending market for African bonds received a major boost at COP27 with the inaugural injection of US$100 million into the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility. Steve Umidha, bird story agency Sustainability investors may look to snap up deals in the lending market for African bonds following an injection of US$100 million into the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility (LSF) by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and Citi, one year after the specialised financing instrument was mooted at COP26 in Glasgow. The LSF, which could reach up to US$30 billion in five years, is a UN-backed short-term lending market designed to compress liquidity premiums and improve sovereign access to international bond markets for African countries through a repo market for the region. It seeks to encourage the issuing of sustainability-linked bonds by African governments, offering investors favourable terms for using them as collateral in repo transactions as an alternative but cheaper funding source to bridge the continent’s financing gap in coping with climate change. Dr Vera Songwe, the Chairperson of the LSF’s Board, confirmed that new clients were being signed on to the platform; However, she would not offer further details, only adding that two large American and European fixed-income investors would soon be coming to the table. “This is an important edifice for emerging markets generally and we hope we can grow the facility to support many more countries, especially in these challenging times. It is a privilege to be supported in that endeavour by such leading international financial institutions,” Songwe said. If Africa is to mitigate against and adapt to the realities of climate change, it needs huge investments in sectors like renewable energy production, sustainable transport, and climate-smart agriculture. The LSF is expected to play a critical role in meeting those goals. It hopes to attract more than 120 eligible African sovereign Eurobonds with maturities extending up to one year. According to World Bank estimations, the global issuance of green, social and sustainable (GSS) bonds reached more than US$1.1 trillion in 2021 and is expected to surpass US$1.5 trillion in 2022. However, sovereign sustainable bond issuance is still quite limited, representing only 11 per cent of the total in 2021. There are only four sovereign issuers of GSS bonds in Africa. Egypt was the first, followed by South Africa, Morocco and Nigeria. Other countries are beginning to enter the market. Ghana, for instance, launched a dedicated green bond platform called the Green Exchange in February this year “to enable companies to issue billions of US dollars in green bonds and for investors to trade the debt in a secondary market”. In July 2021, Benin sold a €500m 14-year SDG bond, indicating that smaller economies on the continent are considering such bonds as a source of financing. East Africa’s largest economy, Kenya, has conceptualised a Sovereign Green Bond framework to secure alternative green and sustainable funding sources to finance its environmental goal. bird story agency

In small corners, in small ways, we can build back our environment to secure it for our futures and the beautiful beasts with whom we share this fair Earth. We don't need to speak it. Or if we do, do so gently. Charles Onyango-Obbo for bird Agency My ancestral home is in Tororo County, eastern Uganda. Tororo, its main town, is famous for its misty rock. Many years ago, our parents retired to the countryside, a few kilometres outside the town. The family would gather with them at the end of every year for the Christmas holiday. It was 2007, and they both had been diagnosed with cancer, so we had the celebrations under a cloud. The vestiges of time had not yet piled up around my waist, so I went for a long contemplative run. I decided to jog along a disused railway line about five kilometres out. The railway line used to cut through a forest. We have vivid memories of the forest. When we were kids and visited with the grandparents during the school holiday, the highlight would be going out to the woods to follow one of our uncles. He had a hunting gun licence. He would bring his gun with him for the holidays and hunt for guinea fowl. Then, we thought it was cool. The bang. The smell of gunpowder. Chasing down the birds he had shot. Now, we know better. Charles Onyango-Obbo- How to talk about Tororo trees [Graphic: Hope Mukami] The fact that the forest was no longer there at all slowed me. I decided to walk instead and take in the environment. Where there was once was forest, there were now gardens. In some places, there was nothing at all. I remembered that there used to be many guava and tamarind trees along the way. They were all gone. The family has a few acres of land. I resolved to do a rewilding experiment on a tiny corner: to grow back the shrubs, flowers, and trees and try to lure some butterflies and other wildlife back. If it succeeded, then I would scale it up. The area can sometimes be hot at year's end, especially for people used to living in temperate climates. I, therefore, decided to create a small walkway with a tree canopy and rewild around it. The canopy, if it took, would be a permanent cool sanctuary from the heat. The new trees would be planted to link up with the existing ones, and space would be made to plant shrubs and flowers. We undertook a big pruning exercise to create that space and bring direct sunlight through existing trees. We pruned even unloved ones like thorn trees. The village thought I had run mad. The pruning went on for over a week. I left my hired hands to continue the work and returned to Nairobi, Kenya, where I was based. I returned about three months later. It was a wonderful sight. New trees and shrubs had been planted everywhere. The most striking view was a high pile of wood outside a store in the homestead. I was uneasy and teased my father that he had illegally logged someone's forest. That is when he realised I hadn't figured out its source and told me, "All that wood came from the branches that were pruned." It was enough to last for years. The most telling comment about my experiment came from one of the local leaders who told me the people in the village thought I was a bad and selfish man. I asked why. He said it was because I knew they could prune their trees instead of cutting them and still get enough fuel for wood. (This is the main source of energy for cooking for more than 60% of households in sub-Saharan Africa.) I had, he said, watched them all but crash the local environment and had done nothing. I told him I didn't know better. I had stumbled on this solution by accident; when we were pruning, it didn't for a second occur to me that the branches would add to a big pile of firewood. Many people in government could be blamed for the failure, but I chose to focus on the teachable moment. It was a lesson about how to talk to everyday people about the small things they can do and contribute to saving Mother Nature. Telling these folks to plant trees because, if we have many of them, they can help suck carbon dioxide from the air and cool our planet would have been a waste of time. Doing the small things they can see and learn from gets their attention. Two friends in different corners of Uganda wrestled with the matter in a not-dissimilar way. One is from the mountainous Sebei region, which has produced a new generation of world-beating Ugandan marathoners like Jacob Kiplimo and Stephen Kiprotich. He bought seedlings and went around the villages near his home, mainly encouraging women to plant trees. He would go to the wells where they were drawing water and bribe them with small packets of biscuits and sweet words to come to the tree-planting meetings at his home. They came, but the exercise was a flop. It turned out that ownership rights were a problem. The women planted the trees, but on land owned by their husbands. The cows and goats, owned mainly by the men, would eat the sprouting trees, and the women could do nothing. The power balance and incentives didn't favour trees. He has very many trees, so he contrived a trick. He did a cull and sold the trees to timber traders and schools that needed them for fuelwood but didn't collect the money immediately. He organised a meeting of the women he had recruited to grow trees and asked the various people he had sold the culled trees to come and collect them on the same day - and bring his money in cash. On the day, several trucks came to collect the wood, and he would pause the meeting and collect a bag of money. He threw a party for the women. Several small sacks were full of money on his veranda when they left. It was the largest mound of cash the women had ever seen. They all asked him the same question: "You mean you can make this much money growing and selling trees." He didn't need to answer – and didn't have to call another tree-planting meeting or distribute free seedlings again. The women found their seedlings and now have more trees than he thought they would ever grow. He didn't speak. His actions – and money – did all the talking. Further out, near the capital Kampala, in the district of Mukono, another friend took a nobler road. He and his wife bought a large piece of land in an area that was once forested but had been denuded and was almost barren. They spent years patiently reforesting and even fencing it. On Google Earth today, you can see their forest. It's a dense green patch in a sea of light green. They got a botanist who photographed and catalogued every tree. When they were done with that, they got zoologists to do the same with the wildlife, including snakes and did a census. They are a bit crazy like that. They learned the trees' names in the local Luganda language, in English, and their technical names. They decided a little of that would help do what they wanted – tell the story of the trees, why they mattered, and why people should care enough to reforest. What followed next was the true genus. They figured that in centuries gone by, the people related to these trees more intimately: for medicine, possibly food, animal feed, or shelter. They commissioned research into this historical usage. Virtually all the trees now have their names in Luganda and English, plus a story of what they meant in the communities' lives in the past. The latter is the story will tell. Back in Tororo, the little rewilding project has come of age. On a good day, several butterflies flap their wings about. There is a thick tree canopy now. It is very cool all year round. With grass walkways in the middle, it retains water for a longer time during the rains after other areas outside have dried. It also captures some nutrients from the run-off. With the shade and rich soils, the canopy has been invaded by pigs. They have almost entirely dug up the neat grass walkaways, searching for worms and other edibles underneath and lying contented and unapologetic in the shade after lunch. It's heartbreaking and costly, and the pigs have upended years of hard work. However, a small light bulb also came on. The lesson has yet to be lost on the villagers either. In small corners, in small ways, we can build back our environment to secure it for our futures and the beautiful beasts with whom we share this fair Earth. We don't need to speak it. Or if we speak, do so gently. We gain a lot more by just doing our little bit. bird story agency

Women in vulnerable communities are more sensitive to the climate crisis but are starkly underrepresented at COP27. Gender activists are rallying for more women's participation in climate talks Kate Okorie, bird story agency Women in vulnerable communities bear the brunt of the climate crisis; without concerted intervention and support, the situation will only worsen. That's why it's especially galling that the number of women attending the United Nations high-level meeting on climate change, the Conference of the Parties, is declining. Carbon Brief figures suggest that 63% of the estimated 35,000 delegates are men; the other 37% are women. It's a situation that worries and angers activists. "Women are the most disproportionately impacted by climate change, but it is really sad to see that every year, the participation of women in negotiations remains very low," says Fatou Jeng, Policy Operations lead for Women and Gender in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Youth Constituency (YOUNGO) and the founder of Clean Earth Gambia. Since 2017, Jeng has been instrumental in drafting gender and climate change policies. She is convinced that addressing the issue of gender inequality will pave the way to efficiently tackle the climate crisis. The Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative's worldwide vulnerability ranking found that nine of the ten countries most threatened by climate change are in sub-Saharan Africa. Already strained agricultural, water, health and food systems are under ever more pressure. Chido Mpemba, the African Union's Special Envoy on Youth, said in an interview with UN Women: "Climate change mostly affects those who depend mainly on natural resources and whose livelihoods are climate-sensitive, many of which are marginalised communities, including women in agriculture." There is ample evidence that African women and girls can play a key role in leading climate action within their communities when given the necessary tools and education. COP27 gender disparity: "Have more women present in negotiations" Xoli Fuyani, the founder of Black Girls Rising in South Africa, said: "We need inclusive and meaningful engagement and mentorship of women, especially from a young age." Fuyani's work centres on gender justice, empowerment of women and education. She says her work capacitates and gives resources to "women and girls at the grassroots". Education is critical – a review by Project Drawdown ranked the education of women and girls sixth of 100 sustainable climate solutions. One of Fuyani's students is twelve-year-old Yola Mgogwana, a notable advocate for environmental justice in South Africa, who engages the government in climate discussions and supports protests against the country's coal expansion projects. "Although Yola came from an impoverished area, she did not let her circumstance keep her in the background," Fuyani said. Her organisation provides scholarships to girls like Yola to attend good schools where they can master the English language, build their public speaking ability and learn how to read policies. Hamira Kobusingye, a Ugandan climate justice activist with the Rise Up Movement, says the effects of empowering women at the grassroots were visible in communities where it happened. "In our communities, we have seen the outcome of empowering women at the grassroots; it is only fair that the men who largely occupy these leadership positions should open the door for more female participation," she argued. Elsewhere on the continent, Jeng's Clean Earth Gambia recently launched a five-month climate leadership programme in The Gambia to train 25 young women to understand the UNFCCC process and build the skills needed to communicate climate-related issues. This is part of her plans to ensure more female voices speaking for women at the highest level: "We cannot come to the decision-making and have men speak about women's challenges. It is important to have more women present in this negotiation process." Meanwhile, the call for greater gender parity at future COPs is growing louder. Priscilla Achakpa, the president of the Women Environmental Programme, says that countries must "accredit more women and make provisions for funding". Her organisation funded 23 African women from various communities to attend COP27. "It is important for these women to come here and share their stories themselves," she explained. bird story agency

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

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

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