International: Africa

More in International: Africa

African scientists call for nature-based solution to climate crisis

1 Nov 2022

Harnessing Africa's vast natural resources, including tropical forests, coastal mangroves and peatlands, offers a cheaper and sustainable pathway to a greener and resilient future for the continent, scientists said on Monday.

Analysis: Africa’s unreported extreme weather in 2022 and climate change

28 Oct 2022

From deadly floods in Nigeria to devastating drought in Somalia, Africa has faced a run of severe – and sometimes unprecedented – extreme weather events since the start of 2022.

Africa headed for climate showdown with rich nations

25 Oct 2022

African leaders say industrialized countries should pay to save the planet rather than expecting them to forego oil and gas development.

South Africa’s EV dream threatens $8.5 billion in climate aid

19 Oct 2022

South Africa wants to spend billions of dollars fostering an electric vehicle industry, complicating efforts to finalize an $8.5 billion climate aid package before next month’s United Nations climate summit.

Climate crisis could increase African country debts by $1 trillion

18 Oct 2022

Sub-Saharan African countries will have to take on almost $1 trillion in debt over the next 10 years unless wealthy countries provide adequate finance to address the climate crisis, according to a new report published on Monday, October 17, 2022, by Debt Justice and Climate Action Network International.

Marine institute eyes share of carbon trading billions

13 Oct 2022

The Kenya Marine Fisheries Research Institute (Kmfri) is planning to launch a carbon credit offset project in Lamu County. The project will emulate Kwale’s Mikoko Pamoja, the first carbon credit project where communities conserve mangroves and earn from offsets.

African countries redefine energy transition, urge more fossil fuel investments ahead of climate negotiations

11 Oct 2022

High-ranking officials in the African Union as well as energy ministers from several African countries have used the Africa Oil Week and Green Energy Africa summit this week to call for more fossil fuel investments and greater energy access ahead of UN climate negotiations to be held in Egypt next month.

When the EU and US score climate points off China, Africa suffers: comment

22 Sep 2022

Africa’s contribution to climate change is historically negligible. Around 15% of the world’s population lives on the continent but contribute less than 3.8% of greenhouse emissions responsible for global warming.

Kenya’s new president promises ambitious climate plan

15 Sep 2022

Kenya's newly elected president William Ruto said that climate change will be key to the government's agenda and made an ambitious pledge to ramp up clean energy and phase out fossil fuels for electricity by 2030.

African nations demand climate change financing ahead of COP27

12 Sep 2022

The African continent emits only some 3% of global CO2 emissions, yet is among the most exposed to climate change.

Forests make a comeback as African governments look to grow their carbon market

12 Sep 2022

In villages dotted across the African continent, locals living in once-heavily forested regions are starting to find their land in high demand.

Electric batteries are fueling the shift from petrol-powered bikes in Kenya

2 Sep 2022

Thousands of e-motorcycles have been provided by startup Roam to riders in Kenya, to initiate the move from petrol to electric.

Can Southern Africa grow without fossil fuels?

25 Aug 2022

If current trends in the energy system continue, wind and solar will outcompete other power sources on cost and rapidly come to dominate the electrical grid in Southern Africa, according to a new study.

Why climate change is Africa’s biggest ‘existential challenge’

24 Aug 2022

Climate change is the biggest “existential challenge” to Africa’s development and is eroding many of its development gains, according to the African Development Bank.

Climate-related drought and flooding in Ethiopia

17 Aug 2022

One part of Ethiopia is facing the worst drought in four decades and another is hit by flooding. Millions of people are at risk as climate change causes too much and too little rain.

Africa getting just 12% of financing needed to adapt to climate change -report

12 Aug 2022

Africa is getting just 12% of the finance it needs to manage the impact of climate change, a report on Thursday said, raising pressure on rich nations to do more in the run up to global climate talks in November.

African climate diplomats reject African Union’s pro-gas stance for Cop27

5 Aug 2022

African climate negotiators have quashed a proposal by the African Union to promote gas as a bridge fuel for the continent at UN talks.

‘Our priority is not to save the planet’: rainforest auctioned for oil drilling

28 Jul 2022

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has announced that it will auction off vast quantities of critical tropical peatlands and rainforests for oil and gas drilling, just months after promising to preserve them at the COP26 climate conference.

Two million to access solar power in rural Nigeria

22 Jul 2022

Husk Power Systems, an off-grid energy services company, aims to provide two million people in rural Nigeria with reliable solar power.

Congo peat swamps store three years of global carbon emissions – imminent oil drilling could release it

22 Jul 2022

Democratic Republic of the Congo’s government is preparing to auction off a series of licenses to drill for oil in the Congo basin. This threatens to damage around 11 million hectares of the world’s second largest rainforest.

Under pressure from climate change, Morocco's oases struggle to support life

19 Jul 2022

In the south of Morocco's High Atlas mountains is one of the few palm tree oases still inhabited in the country.

Climate change amplifies the risk of conflict, study from Africa shows

14 Jul 2022

In October 2021, the city of Guriel in Somalia’s Galguduud region became the epicenter of fierce fighting between the national army and a paramilitary group that left more than 100 people dead and displaced another 100,000.

Kenyan bourse brings carbon exchange to East Africa

14 Jul 2022

Climate change mitigation efforts in Kenya have received new impetus after the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), inked a deal with the AirCarbon Exchange (ACX) and the Nairobi International Finance Centre (NIFC) to set up Kenya’s first carbon offset exchange.

Gabon to sell €275m worth of carbon credits before COP27

5 Jul 2022

For Gabon, forests are rich in with economic opportunity. The country plans to create 187 million carbon credits and sell half of them on the offset market.

Climate change threatens coffee growers in Tanzania

4 Jul 2022

Coffee-growing farmers in Tanzania’s northern Kilimanjaro region are bearing the brunt of climate change, which is affecting their incomes and livelihoods.

Indigenous Ogiek win ‘landmark’ reparations ruling from African Court

28 Jun 2022

The Republic of Kenya must pay the Indigenous Ogiek people reparations for decades of illegal evictions from their ancestral land in the Mau Forest.

Commonwealth adopts historic accord to combat climate change through land use

27 Jun 2022

Commonwealth leaders last week adopted the “Living Lands Charter”, which commits all member countries to safeguarding global land resources while taking coordinated action on climate change, biodiversity loss and sustainable land management.

Can Africa grow without fossil fuels

7 Jun 2022

As the developed world demands emissions cuts, the continent’s leaders are asking whether it is possible to industrialize on green energy alone.

Climate change puts agrivoltaic projects in Northern Africa in the spotlight

31 May 2022

As food and energy security emerge as top priorities in several regions, an innovative use of existing technologies might help serve both: Agrivoltaic projects allow energy production and agricultural activity on the same land, potentially increasing farming productivity.

In Tanzania, carbon offsets preserve forests and a way of life

26 May 2022

Carbon offsets have been criticised for failing to provide carbon savings and ignoring the needs of local communities. But in Tanzania, hunter-gatherer tribes are earning a good return for their carbon credits and protecting their forests from poachers and encroaching agriculture.

Failure to save the Congo Basin forest ‘would mean world loses climate fight’

24 May 2022

Failing to conserve the carbon-rich forests of the Congo Basin would mean the world loses the fight against climate change, officials in Gabon have warned.

Growing African mangrove forests aim to combat climate woes

9 May 2022

In a bid to protect coastal communities from climate change and encourage investment, African nations are increasingly turning to mangrove restoration projects, with Mozambique becoming the latest addition to the growing list of countries with large scale mangrove initiatives.

DR Congo approves auction of oil blocks in one of the world’s largest carbon sinks

5 May 2022

Cabinet ministers in the Democratic Republic of Congo have approved the auction of 16 oil blocks, including in one of the world’s largest carbon sinks and most environmentally sensitive areas.

West African countries pledge $294 billion to fight climate change

4 May 2022

The leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional, political and economic union of west African countries, recently agreed to spend $294 billion over the next 10 years to fight against climate change.

African economies risk suffocation by 'shock' carbon tax

22 Apr 2022

The climate is surely one area where the European Union and African Union should be in step with one another. Curbing global warming and agreeing how to produce clean power would help keep more of the world habitable and prosperous.

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.