International: Africa
Climate justice coalition files criminal complaint against South Africa
19 Apr 2022
A group of climate change organisations have filed criminal complaints against the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and a number of prominent cabinet ministers, accusing the government officials of “unlawful negligence” by failing to take “practical action to address the climate crisis.”
Climate change intensified deadly storms in Africa in early 2022
12 Apr 2022
Climate change amped up the rains that pounded southeastern Africa and killed hundreds of people during two powerful storms in early 2022.
Nestlé looks to dairy supply chain to achieve net-zero
4 Apr 2022
Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, is supporting farmers in its supply chain to farm more sustainably and help reduce the carbon footprint of the value-added products that it produces.
Ukraine war accelerates climate emergencies in Horn of Africa
29 Mar 2022
In some parts of the region, famine is now not just a threat, it is waiting, says UNICEF's regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa Mohamed Fall.
Climate smart’ policies could increase southern Africa’s crops by up to 500%
25 Mar 2022
The climate crisis is threatening food stocks in sub-Saharan Africa, but a comprehensive approach to food, farming and resources could increase crop production by more than 500% in some countries in the region, according to new research by more than 200 experts.
African experts call for climate-proofing farming systems to overcome hunger
7 Mar 2022
The eradication of hunger and malnutrition in Africa will only be realized once governments leverage nature-based interventions to strengthen the resilience of farming systems in the face of climatic stresses, experts said on Friday.
Timber giant quietly converts Congo logging sites to carbon schemes
4 Mar 2022
A major European logging firm may have illegally converted more than a dozen of its timber concessions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo into so-called conservation concessions, a new investigation can reveal.
Kenyan farmers test insurance to ward off climate-driven hunger
1 Mar 2022
When drought ravaged her sorghum and bean crops five years ago, Kenyan farmer Ngina Kyalo did not need to stand in line for food handouts, as in previous years when the rains failed.
African nations forced to spend on climate adaptation
28 Feb 2022
African countries are having to spend up to five percent of their annual economic output to shield themselves against the impacts of climate change, even though they emit the least greenhouse gases in the world, a report released Saturday said.
'A journey with no end': Angola's climate refugees
25 Feb 2022
SOUTHWEST ANGOLA has been experiencing its worst drought for the past 40 years. It has forced thousands of people to flock to neighbouring Namibia after failed harvests and rising food prices worsened food shortages across the region.
‘2.4C is a death sentence’: Vanessa Nakate’s fight for the forgotten countries of the climate crisis
14 Dec 2021
She started a youth strike in Uganda – then just kept going. She discusses climate justice, reparations, imperialism and why the global north must take responsibility
Climate threats are multiplying in the Horn of Africa
10 Dec 2021
Jutting out from the second-largest continent, the Horn of Africa is one of the world’s regions most vulnerable to climate change. The four countries on the peninsula—Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia—are warming more quickly than the global average, with dangerous implications for unrest and conflict within and across their borders.
African Union urged to bring political clout to Egypt climate talks
9 Dec 2021
Africa has been trying for years to get its special needs and circumstances officially recognised in UN climate talks, without success. The bloc left Glasgow last month disenchanted once again.
The ‘idea’: Uncovering the peatlands of the Congo Basin
9 Dec 2021
The notion seemed straightforward: A massive swamp in the Congo Basin relatively unknown to most of the world, apart from a few human communities and a bewildering array of wildlife, could be the ideal spot for a carbon-rich soil known as peat.
Nigeria commits to annual carbon budgets to reach net zero under climate law
23 Nov 2021
Nigeria has become the first major developing country to commit to set annual carbon budgets to plot its path to cutting emissions to net zero.
What role can nuclear energy play in Africa’s climate transition?
22 Nov 2021
African states should not be denied the opportunity to use nuclear energy, but it should be a solution of last resort, argues arms control expert Olamide Samuel.
Mozambique first country to receive World Bank forestry emission reducation payment
18 Oct 2021
Mozambique has become the first country to receive payments from a World Bank trust fund for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation—commonly known as REDD+.
Is a ‘climate action famine’ inevitable after Cop26?
8 Oct 2021
At-risk African countries must put pressure on those with the most resources to tackle the climate crisis – and they must do it now, argues Hannah Ryder the CEO of Development Reimagined.
Voices from global south muted by climate science
7 Oct 2021
Climate change academics from some of the regions worst hit by warming are struggling to be published, according to a new analysis.
Zimbabwe and South Africa pledge big cuts to emissions
28 Sep 2021
South Africa and Zimbabwe have both announced ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions in the lead-up to COP-26.
Opinion: The West owes Africa $100bn (at least) for climate recovery
27 Sep 2021
This week, as about 100 world leaders gather to attend the 76th session of the UN general assembly, a call for rich countries to urgently scale up assistance to help Africa address the twin challenges of climate catastrophe and the effects of Covid-19 pandemic is required.
Zimbabwe opens new coal mines
31 Aug 2021
Zimbabwe's government says more coal mining will create jobs and give the country's power supply a much-needed boost, but critics warn the environmental cost is too high.
Africa's mountain forests store more carbon than previously thought
27 Aug 2021
Tropical forests may be local to the tropics, yet they all have global benefits. In addition to serving as refuges of the planet’s stunning, if shrinking, biodiversity, these forests store large amounts of carbon, which helps offset our emissions and mitigate climate change.
Kenyan health experts say climate change fuelling disease burden
20 Aug 2021
Kenya is witnessing a spike in both infectious and non-communicable diseases as the climate crisis escalates in the country, experts said at a virtual forum in Nairobi.
Madagascar famine solely due to climate change
22 Jul 2021
Madagascar's famine is the first in modern history to be solely caused by global warming, according to Time Magazine.
Climate action must take into account women’s right to land
25 Jun 2021
Climate action plans have to include measures to redress women disproportionately affected by deforestation and plantation expansion, argues Human Rights researcher Juliana Nnoko-Mewanu.
Uganda's charcoal boom threat to health
18 Jun 2021
Growing demand for charcoal for cooking in Uganda is causing large scale environmental degradation and threatening public health and the environment.
Earliest known war driven by climate change
28 May 2021
A new study suggests the earliest known evidence of organised warfare - the 13,000 years old remains of a massacre in Jebel Sahaba, Egypt - was the result of climate change.
Kenya to set up an ETS
13 May 2021
Kenya aims to set up an emissions trading system that will allow companies and other bodies to buy emissions allowances, the finance minister said on Tuesday, as the country strives to limit the release of greenhouse gases.
Great Green Wall promises better lives to African farmers
7 May 2021
Africa’s Great Green Wall, a climate crisis initiative that offers hope for some of the continent’s most beleaguered farmers, is back on a steady trajectory after securing $14 billion in new funding for the next decade
Blanket bans on fossil-fuel will entrench poverty
23 Apr 2021
Africa needs reliable energy infrastructure, not rich-world hypocrisy, argues Vijaya Ramachandran in Nature.
Shell offsets emissions with efficient stoves in Africa
19 Apr 2021
Sustainable energy services provider C-Quest Capital has signed a deal with Shell Eastern Trading to fund the generation of more than 60 million carbon credits using clean cookstoves in Africa.
Is 'frugal innovation' Africa's ticket to green development?
16 Apr 2021
Cash-short Africa will need "frugal innovation" based on simple, local solutions to deal with serious and growing problems, from climate change to a surging youth population and a lack of jobs, African entrepreneurs and officials say.
Zimbabwean teen leads fight for climate
7 Apr 2021
Zimbabwean teenager Nkosilathi Nyathi has introduced solar power to his school and his now campaigning globally to fight climate change.
Oil pipeline tests the climate commitment of international banks
24 Mar 2021
Plans by Total to exploit and export Ugandan oil through a 1443 kilometre pipeline traversing east Africa to the Tanzanian coast are hanging in the balance as investors are under growing pressure to move away from fossil fuels.
Changing rainfall could mean more locusts
18 Nov 2020
Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and South Sudan are trying to contain the worst locust invasion in more than 70 years.
KENYA CALL: My land is now owned by lions
29 Jun 2020
PARSOLOI KUPAI'S home, situated on the edge of Ol Kinyei conservancy near the Maasai Mara game reserve, is no different from any other Maasai homestead – oval-shaped huts with an almost flat roof and walls plastered with a mixture of water, mud and cow dung.
Congo drilling could release vast amount of CO2
2 Mar 2020
Drilling in one of the greatest carbon sinks on the planet could release greenhouse gases equivalent to Japan’s annual emissions.
Africa poised to lead way in global green revolution
12 Nov 2019
Africa is poised to lead the world’s cleanest economic revolution by using renewable energy sources to power a massive spread of urbanisation, says a new report.
Amazonians knew tricks of saving forests
27 Aug 2019
The Amazon’s trees, soils and mysterious earthworks tell the story of the millions who lived there before European arrival and suggest a way of life that can sustain large populations while still conserving biodiversity.
No pot of gold for locals as China mines Sierra Leone
26 Aug 2019
Like many African countries, Sierra Leone has courted foreign companies which pay governments big fees for mining rights, while locals often feel they have no say nor benefit.
China Oil threatens major African nature reserve
7 Aug 2019
One of the largest nature reserves on continental Africa might soon be destroyed by the China National Petroleum Corporation in the name of oil exploration.
Ethiopia gets busy and plants 350 million trees in one day
2 Aug 2019
Ethiopia has set a new world mark by planting more than 350 million trees in just one day.
Cattle out, camels in as farms forced to fight climate change
15 Jul 2019
Farmers are switching from cattle to camels as some parts of Africa are getting hotter and drier.
Drought forces Namibia to sell wild animals to highest bidder
18 Jun 2019
Drought-hit Namibia has authorised the sale of at least 1000 wild animals – including elephants and giraffes – to limit loss of life and to raise money for conservation.
African city heat set to grow intolerably
13 Jun 2019
The entire African continent faces lethal weather conditions for many of its people.
South Africa signs carbon tax into law
29 May 2019
In a first for a developing country, South Africa will put a price on pollution, but campaigners say it is not high enough.
How the lion lost its mojo
2 Apr 2019
The legacy of colonial hunting has made the king of beasts genetically feebler and more vulnerable.
Energy and oil majors turn to rural Africa
19 Mar 2019
Armed with solar panels, lanterns and mini-grids, European energy giants hope to capture the data of hundreds of millions of new, increasingly wealthy customers in rural Africa.
South Africa set to introduce carbon tax
22 Feb 2019
South Africa is on course to put a price on carbon pollution, after the National Assembly this week passed a long-awaited Carbon Tax Bill.
Warmer seas fuel dangerous ‘weather bomb’ in New South Wales
3 Jul 2025
If the storm shapes up as predicted, we can expect to see damage to houses and trees as well as significant beach erosion – especially in heavily populated areas exposed to the storm’s southern flank.
Clean energy's political test looms now that Trump bill is law
Today 11:00am
The US 2026 midterms will test clean energy's uncertain political salience as advocates attempt to tether it to economic matters that voters prioritise.
Regions in China take steps to ensure power supply amid heatwave-driven record demand
Today 11:00am
China is battling intense heatwaves across multiple regions in recent days, with temperatures surpassing 40C in some areas, triggering yellow heat warnings and high-temperature health risk warnings.
EU countries seek more cuts to deforestation rules
Wed 9 Jul 2025
From December, the world-first deforestation law will require operators placing goods including soy, beef and palm oil, onto the EU market to provide proof their products did not cause deforestation.
UK: Thousands lobby MPs to demand climate action
Today 11:00am
More than 5,000 people from across the UK arrived in Westminster on Wednesday to meet their MPs and demand urgent climate action to protect their communities.
Is Mark Carney turning his back on climate action?
23 Jun 2025
The G7 summit in Alberta, hosted by Prime Minister Mark Carney, has ended with only passing mention of fighting climate change, including a statement on wildfires that is silent on the pressing need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Türkiye's Parliament adopts first-ever climate law
Wed 9 Jul 2025
Promising a wide range of provisions and increased vigilance against climate change, the new law is to provide action plans on a national and local scale, while bolstering Türkiye’s 2053 climate goals and protecting the country from environmental disasters.
Nearly a third of Tuvaluans have applied for climate migration visa
27 Jun 2025
With their country threatened by sea level rise, the people of Tuvalu have been offered an escape route through an agreement with Australia, and many are contemplating leaving their home.
Melting glaciers and ice caps could unleash wave of volcanic eruptions, study says
Wed 9 Jul 2025
Research in Chile suggests the climate crisis makes eruptions more likely and explosive, and warns of Antarctica risk.
In Latin America, the energy transition stirs a rise in human rights lawsuits
Tue 8 Jul 2025
A new report shows that more than half of the 95 energy transition-related lawsuits recorded globally since 2009 took place in Latin America and the Caribbean.
UN development conference backs innovative ways to boost climate finance
Mon 7 Jul 2025
Leaders push for better financial systems at the Financing for Development summit to help poor nations cope with climate and economic shocks.
