News Archives - Green Africa News

Gambian Climate Activist to Advise UN Boss on Climate Crisis

20Mar

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Climate, News

Gambian Climate Activist to Advise UN Boss on Climate Crisis

Photo © United Nations Gambian climate campaigner Fatou Jeng is among seven youth leaders appointed to advise the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on speeding up action on global climate change. Fatou is part of the new cohort of the Secretary General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change which will serve for the next two years. She was selected from a pool of candidates nominated by youth- and climate-focused non-governmental and civil society organizations worldwide. Fatou founded Clean Earth Gambia, a youth-led, local climate organization that has mobilized thousands of Gambian youth to help marginalized and vulnerable communities build resilience to climate change. She is also a member of the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC) where she s...

Mauritius Signs $163 million Solar Power Deal

12Mar

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clean energy, News

Mauritius Signs $163 million Solar Power Deal

An example of a solar farm. ©Wikimedia Commons The Indian Ocean Island of Mauritius has inked a $163 million deal with renewable power producer Qair to supply 60 Mega Watts of solar power. This puts the country closer to its target of generating 60 percent of electricity from renewables by 2030. In the country's most significant investment in the energy sector over the last 15 years, Qair plans to commission four new solar power plants and battery storage systems by next year. “This flexible and scalable technology allows for the integration of renewable energy into the grid by shifting solar power generation to the evening peak demand, where traditional solar power plants do not produce, ” said Olivier Gaering, Managing Director at Qair Mauritius, “They are also designed to pro...

The Republic of Congo Expands Biodiversity-Rich Park

24Feb

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biodiversity, News

The Republic of Congo Expands Biodiversity-Rich Park

Paki Paki, habituated blackback gorilla in Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park © S.Ramsay_WCS.jpg The Republic of Congo has expanded the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park to include the Djéké Triangle, a 95-square-kilometer area of forests rich in biodiversity and carbon. The park, created in 1993, now covers 4334 km2. Djéké comprises unlogged forests sheltering Critically Endangered western lowland gorillas and other species. It is also the source of food, livelihood and other benefits for local communities. This gazettement follows 25 years of scientific research on gorillas and two years of community consultations by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). On February 10, 2023, the Congolese Government ratified the park’s management plan, which aims to benefit nature and the people...

Africa Climate Fund Receives $3 Million Boost

21Feb

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Climate, News

Africa Climate Fund Receives $3 Million Boost

Coastal City Adaptation Project, in Quelimane city, Mozambique to improve preparation for floods, erosion, sea level rise and other weather and climate-related events. ©PDUSGov/ Wikimedia Commons The Africa Climate Change Fund (ACCF) has grown to $28.8 million following a $3 million (€3 million) contribution by Ireland ($2 million) and Austria ($1 million). Established in 2014 by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the trust fund supports African countries to build resilience to the worsening impacts of climate change and to transition to sustainable low-carbon growth. With the latest cash injection, Ireland and Austria join Germany, Italy, Flanders, Quebec, Canada and Global Center on Adaptation as ACCF donors. “Austria contributed to the ACCF to support t...

Review of Global Food Systems Transformation Set for July

20Feb

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News, sustainable food systems

Review of Global Food Systems Transformation Set for July

Women from the Mbini Self-Help Group showing off the fields. ©McKay Savage/ Wikimedia Commons Countries will review progress towards strengthening the sustainability, resilience and productivity of global food systems at a three-day meeting in Rome this July. The UN Food Systems Stocktaking Moment, scheduled for 24 – 26 July, will be the first follow-up to the Food Systems Summit the UN Secretary-General António Guterres convened in September 2021 to discuss changing how the world produces, consumes and thinks about food. The virtual meeting brought together 50,000 people, including 77 world leaders. Italy will host the July meeting in collaboration with United Nations agencies, including the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Fund for...

Rwanda’s Revenue-Sharing Model Boosts Support for Biodiversity Conservation

15Feb

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biodiversity, News

Rwanda’s Revenue-Sharing Model Boosts Support for Biodiversity Conservation

A mountain gorilla in Central Africa. Photo © Caterina Sanders/Unsplash A new study of Rwanda’s programme of sharing tourism revenue from national parks with communities shows it has strengthened support for wildlife conservation but needs reforms to boost its impact. Published in the journal Frontiers in Sustainable Tourism, the first longitudinal analysis (2005-2020) of the Tourism Revenue Sharing Programme (TRSP) across the country’s three main national parks established that 84% of community respondents felt it has increased their support for conservation. So did the majority of local leaders (89%), and partner organizations such as NGOs (82%). Similarly, the study found 80% of the community respondents across all the NPs were ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with ...

Ghana Receives $4.8 Million for Curbing Forest Loss

10Feb

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Climate, News

Ghana Receives $4.8 Million for Curbing Forest Loss

A farmer in Ghana prunes his cacao tree. Sustainable cocoa production is key to reducing deforestation. Photo © Richard Markham/Bioversity International Ghana has become the second country in Africa after Mozambique to receive payments from a World Bank fund for reducing carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, commonly known as REDD+. The World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) paid Ghana $4,862,280 for reducing 972,456 tons of emissions for the first monitoring period under the program (June to December 2019). “This payment is the first of four under the country’s Emission Reductions Payment Agreement (ERPA) with the World Bank to demonstrate potential for leveraging results-based payments for carbon credits...

Best African Countries for Indoor Vertical Farming

9Feb

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News, sustainable food systems

Best African Countries for Indoor Vertical Farming

Indoor farm in Japan. Photo © Satoshi KINOKUNI/ Wikimedia Commons A new paper has identified nine African countries most suitable for indoor vertical farming, a climate-resilient and resource-efficient method of boosting food production. The study published in the journal 'Nature' found South Africa, Seychelles, Mauritius, Cape Verde, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Nigeria to be “very favorable” for vertical farms. These farms use stacked shelves, artificial lighting and soilless cultivation to deliver food all year round. They can consume up to 95% less water, and produce 100 times more per square foot of land than traditional farms. They employ no or reduced pesticides and chemicals. They can be built within or next to cities, delivering fresh and local food with less ...

Report: How Africa Can Beat Plastic Pollution

7Feb

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News, pollution & waste

Report: How Africa Can Beat Plastic Pollution

Photo © Calvin Sihongo/Unsplash A new report has called on African countries to develop dedicated policies for plastic waste management to effectively combat plastic pollution. The report, titled Plastic Waste Management in Africa and issued by the India-based Centre of Science and Environment, notes that in most African nations, plastic is only a small subset of waste management legislation or regulations, thus impeding action. Of the 15 African countries the report studied, only Nigeria has a dedicated policy for plastic waste. “A dedicated policy on plastic waste goes a long way in addressing issues such as defining key terminologies to avoid ambiguity; identifying stakeholders and assigning specific responsibilities to them; setting a timeline to achieve a ta...

New Study: African Forest Elephants Critical to Climate Action

6Feb

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biodiversity, News

New Study: African Forest Elephants Critical to Climate Action

Photo: © Frank af Petersens, Save the Elephants A new study highlights how African forest elephants enhance carbon storage in tropical forests, underscoring their value in the global fight against the climate crisis. Published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study suggests that elephants contribute to the abundance of huge, carbon-dense trees within tropical forests. They prefer fruits from large trees, whose seeds they then disperse through their nutrient-rich dung. They also support the growth of large trees to thrive by eating competing trees and shrubs with low carbon density whose leaves they find more palatable and digestible. "These results demonstrate the importance of megaherbivores for maintaining diverse, high-carbon t...