climate change

The first Climate Science Symposium of Zimbabwe which sought to create a platform for stakeholders to share knowledge and experience on climate change-related issues at the local, regional and international level ended on 22 June 2013.

The three-day symposium, which was held under the theme ‘Life in a changing environment’, brought together weather experts, academics, non-governmental organisations, government and other community-based organisations to discuss a wide range of issues on climate change.

Environmental organisation, Greenpeace Africa, joined other organisations in marking World Environment Day on 5 June 2013.

The organisation states that for it, every day is World Environment Day since continent faces many challenges and suffers from some serious environmental problems, including climate change, deforestation, water pollution, coal mining, nuclear waste, overfishing and industrial agriculture, etc.

The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) says that about 10 Angolan provinces have been severely hit by drought.

UNICEF’s representative in Angola Koenraad Vanormelingen, estimates that hundreds of thousands of families are affected, adding that, "We are concerned with the situation which started last year and has affected 533 000 children in the Southern African nation.”

Black carbon, the soot produced by burning fossil fuels and biomass, is a more potent atmospheric pollutant than previously thought, according to a four-year international study released by the United Nations.

The study, which has been published in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, notes that emitted by diesel engines, brick kilns and wood-fired stoves, black carbon is second only to carbon dioxide as the most powerful climate pollutant.

Countries have entered a second week of United Nations climate talks in Doha deeply divided on key issues even as fresh warnings were issued that rising greenhouse gas levels are putting our planet in peril.

After six days of intense negotiations, observers say nations are far from agreement on extending the Kyoto Protocol on curbing emissions of Earth-warming gases, mainly carbon dioxide (CO2) produced from burning fossil fuels.

As governments meet for climate talks in Doha, Qatar, Greenpeace has warned that the world must wake up to the reality that climate change is already gripping the planet.
 
The organisation, which also called on leaders to take urgent action to avoid catastrophic global warming, states that this year has already seen devastating storms, droughts and floods causing significant loss of life.
 
It also demands that a second commitment period be agreed on in Doha and has called for greater urgency and ambition to reduce emissions.
 

African civil society organisations are calling on developed countries to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to keep Africa safe from the impact of global warming and climate change.
 
Coordinator for the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), Mithika Mwenda, points out that, "Africa bears the burden of climate change which is not of its making."
 

South Africa's International Relations and Co-operation, Minister Maite Nkoane-Mashabane, has appealed for global action if a catastrophe on climate change is to be averted.
 
Nkoane-Mashabane addressed the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change in Doha today. She officially handed over the presidency of COP18 to Qatar.
 
She further stated that, "The latest science tells us that urgent action is needed if we are to avoid a global catastrophe in the next generation. We cannot waiver in resolve in our rise to this challenge."
 

The United Nations' Environment Programme (UNEP) says the greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 could be between 8 billion and 13 billion tonnes above what is needed to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius.

An annual report prepared by UNEP and the European Climate Foundation, studied a range of estimates to assess whether current pledges for emissions cuts are enough to limit the worst effects of climate change.

The report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) says the concentration of heat-trapping greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is up about 20 percent since 2000.

The report, which was released just days ahead of a major climate conference, reminded world governments that their efforts to fight climate change are far from enough to meet their stated goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit).