International: Africa

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.

E-car demand fuels rise in Congo child labour
7 Nov 2018
Demand for electric vehicles is fuelling a rise in child labour in cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, experts said this week, urging companies to take action as the industry expands.

Dreaded tsetse flies wilt in Africa’s growing heat
5 Nov 2018
Global warming might have done one good thing for the Zambezi Valley: it may have done for the tsetse flies, with conditions soon too hot for them to breed there any longer.

New tree named ... in time for its headstone
18 Sep 2018
A tree species discovered in Cameroon nearly 70 years ago has been named -just in time to etch that name on its headstone.

Rich countries pushing dirty energy in Africa
25 Jul 2018
WEALTHY governments have been accused of promoting fossil fuel development in Africa at the expense of clean energy.

South Africa sets draft climate laws
19 Jun 2018
South Africa will set carbon targets for each sector of the economy every five years, under a draft climate law out for public consultation.

Giant baobabs die suddenly after thousands of years
14 Jun 2018
Climate change is the suspect in the abrupt deaths in the past decade of some of Africa’s 2500-year-old baobab trees.

DRASTIC PLASTIC: Kenya grounds the flying toilet
27 Apr 2018
KENYA'S tough plastics laws appear to be working. Waterways are clearer, the food chain is less contaminated – and there are fewer “flying toilets”.

Six rangers die in gorilla sanctuary ambush
12 Apr 2018
Six rangers have been ambushed and killed in a Democratic Republic of the Congo park that is home to silverback gorillas.

How Cape Town did what California couldn't do
4 Apr 2018
A six-car police convoy skidded to a halt outside a Cape Town house where a trickle of hose water splashed on to a flower.

MONSTER ON THE MOVE: The Sahara desert is getting bigger
3 Apr 2018
The Sahara dessert is getting bigger, turning green vegetation dry and soil once used for farming into barren ground in areas that can least afford to lose it.

UN forest project doing more harm than good
16 Mar 2018
The harm a UN forest project in Africa is doing to local people is greater than the good it is managing to achieve for them, researchers say.

Illegal cocoa farming destroys African forests
24 Jan 2018
Côte d’Ivoire’s brown gold has gradually destroyed the country’s national parks and protected forests.

Victory for forests as nations vow to stop death by chocolate
10 Nov 2017
Ghana and the Ivory Coast are formulating plans to immediately put a stop to all new deforestation after an investigation found that the cocoa industry was destroying their rainforests.

Morocco to invest millions in solar projects
4 Oct 2017
Morocco is getting ready to launch a €200 million ($NZ326m) programme to spark investment in solar power projects in the agricultural sector by 2021.

Chocolate industry drives rainforest disaster in Africa
15 Sep 2017
The world’s chocolate industry is driving deforestation on a devastating scale in West Africa.

Kenya gets tough on plastic bags: four years or $40,000
29 Aug 2017
Kenyans producing, selling or even using plastic bags will risk imprisonment of up to four years or fines of $40,000.

Kenya’s disappearing glaciers spread violence below
3 Aug 2017
Those who rely on Mount Kenya’s glaciers for water have turned against one another as the rivers fed by the mountain dry up.