By Chukwumerije Okereke We are now a couple of weeks away from the United Nations’ Conference of the Parties 26 (COP26) in Glasgow, where critical decisions that will shape the future of climate governance will be made. As the continent least responsible for, and yet most vulnerable to climate change, African governments cannot afford to be…
Climate change must be our greatest priority in disaster risk reduction space Africa must build resilience proactively if it is to change the disaster risk architecture With COP26 around the corner, our focus should be on the devastating impact of climate change as we mark International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction today, observed annually…
Africa risks continued exposure to climate extremes unless it makes serious efforts to enhance and remodel its early warning systems, experts caution. “The message for Africa is simple — increasing ambition for action is an urgent imperative,” Dr. Richard Munang, the Africa Regional Climate Change Coordinator at the UN Environment Program (UNEP), told the Alliance for Science….
By Joyce Mukucha The new report by United Nations has underscored an urgent need for economies in the Asia-Pacific region to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including to maintain their trade competitiveness as carbon taxes at borders threaten to rise. The Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2021 was jointly launched on Monday by the UN…
On October 14 and 15, Hivos’ African Crossroads will organize its fourth edition. The theme of this year’s gathering is ECOEXISTENCE. At the end of Crossroads 2021, participants will emerge with an actionable (collective) manifesto that aims to shape the trajectory of climate justice on the African continent for the years to come. African Crossroads…
With one accord in a landmark historical moment, the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) on Friday declared that access to a healthy, clean and sustainable environment is a universal human right and stated that it can also positively contribute to a global fight against climate change and its disastrous impacts. According to World Health…
Following the water crisis situation which is becoming a global challenge, a new report published recently by the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and partners emphasised the need for improved water management, monitoring, and forecasting in combating the dire situation. In 2018, the report indicated, some 3.6 billion people globally had inadequate access to water…
Gene editing continues to show great promise for developing more resilient and climate-smart crops to counter the mounting threat of climate change and its adverse effects on global food security, new research shows. With its vast potential to alleviate food insecurity and improve the livelihoods of vulnerable populations, gene editing as an agricultural production tool…
By Joyce Mukucha The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Friday launched a humanitarian flash appeal for the Kenya drought response as no fewer than 2.5 million people in different communities of the country’ s dry regions categorized as Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) experience food insecurity. The Kenya Drought Flash…
By Kumbirai Mafunda THE Environmental Management Agency (EMA) says it is yet to receive an environmental impact assessment report from Heijin Mining Company, a Chinese mining company, which is on the verge of displacing several villagers from their ancestral land in Uzumba Maramba-Pfungwe. On 2 September 2021, Tinashe Chinopfukutwa of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights…
Ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference also known as COP26 which is scheduled to be held in the city of Glasgow, Scotland between 31 October and 12 November 2021, the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres urged ministers to make concerted efforts to reduce emissions, finance climate action and support mitigation. Speaking during a…
Celebrating the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste this Wednesday, the Food Agriculture Organisation (FAO) together with other organisations emphasised the need to embrace Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12 which seeks to ensure sustainable production and consumption patterns, including a specific target to halve per capita global food waste by 2030. FAO…
By Knowledge Kutadzaushe A partnership between UNICEF and Mercy Corps has come in handy to address perennial water challenges in Rusape Town Council through the provision of solar-powered boreholes. The borehole installation project is being done in Rusape Town Council as a way of stabilizing and normalising the water supply in four wards under the…
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, in his address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) last week, said enhanced multilateralism and unity of purpose remain critical in mitigating the COVID-19 global health emergency. The President’s remarks came when the Seventy Sixth Session was being convened against the backdrop of the persistent COVID 19 pandemic but he said…
In preparation for COP26, two information sessions were held on September 21 on the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism. The Declaration, developed by a collaborative group of leading organizations, is an urgent call for all stakeholders to commit to a decade of climate action in tourism. The signatories of the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action…
Community Water Alliance (CWA), Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA), and Cleveland Action Alliance (CAA) have lamented the current destruction of the Cleveland Dam Wetland Catchment area due to construction activities of houses and buildings on the site. The organisations highlighted that it was worrisome that the construction of houses on the wetland was happening as…
By Joyce Mukucha In an effort aimed at creating a clean, safe, and hygienic environment, this week community health clubs embarked on a massive cleanup campaign clearing illegal dumpsites in Mbare at Tsiga market. According to a Facebook post by Community Water Alliance (CWA), the newly established Community Health Clubs in Mbare as agents of…
By Joyce Mukucha As Zimbabwe joined the rest of the world in celebrating World Ozone Day on Thursday, the Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism, and Hospitality Industry, Mangaliso Ndlovu said it was imperative for Zimbabwe to acknowledge and embrace the Montreal Protocol and its Kigali Amendment to phase out man-made chemicals used mostly in refrigeration…
By Joyce Mukucha The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has handed over five project vehicles to the Ministry of Lands, Agricultural, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement under the Green Climate Fund Building resilience of vulnerable agricultural livelihoods in the Southern Zimbabwe project. Speaking on behalf of her superior during the handover ceremony in Harare on…
The African Risk Capacity (ARC) and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote the integration of gender equality in disaster risk management. Under the MoU, signed by the Heads of both institutions, the Parties will jointly engage in high-level…
By Joyce Mukucha A new report by the World Bank (WB) has revealed that climate change is an increasingly powerful driver of migration which could force 216 million people across six world regions to move within their countries by 2050. “Climate change is a powerful driver of internal migration because of its impacts on people’s…
By Joyce Mukucha The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) is conducting a two-day crisis reporting workshop for journalists to equip them with necessary media skills that enable them to provide local communities, especially those traumatized by disasters with accurate, balanced, and reliable information. The Crisis Reporting Workshop underway in Harare is running under the theme,…
COP26 in Glasgow is just a few weeks away. Market Access and Trade Policy Officer at the British Embassy in Harare, David Gate sat down energy markets export Lion Mashiri to talk about promoting green growth in Zimbabwe. Here’s the full interview: DAVID GATE: Through water and agriculture programmes like the Rural WASH or the…
In the quest to address disasters and pandemics that strike and negatively affect the livelihoods of vulnerable groups, especially children and people with disabilities, World Vision in conjunction with Welthungerhilfe, Christian Blind Mission and various Government of Zimbabwe departments has launched a project to strengthen community-led actions on education and disaster preparedness in five districts…
Millions of people suffer from food insecurity around the globe. With the help of Earth-observing satellites, the NASA-USAID SERVIR project is hoping to reduce that number. Food security – the consistent availability and affordability of food – is a basic human need, yet it remains elusive for billions of people around the world. The United Nations’…
The African Risk Capacity (ARC) Group and the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to build climate resilience in the agriculture sector by facilitating investments in risk management into government planning and high-level advocacy. This will be supported by a joint assessment of the landscape for developing risk transfer…
By Joyce Mukucha The United Nations (UN) weather experts last week confirmed that COVID-related lockdowns brought cleaner air to many cities of various nations. The experts further highlighted that though improvement in air quality was witnessed in different parts of the world, it was not enough to combat the climate CHANGE posed by global warming….
By Amkela Sidange (Environmental Education and Publicity Manager for EMA) The country is already in the veld fire season following the onset of the statutory fire season on the 31st of July which will be ending on the 31st of October. During this period the biomass is dry, it’s windy, and therefore conducive for wild,…
Zimbabwe is forecast to receive normal to above-normal rains in the October-November-December (OND) period as well in the last half of the 2021 -2022 cropping season – January – February – March (JMF) (2022) phase, the Zimbabwe National Climate Outlook Forum (2021) has revealed. The country is demarcated into three (3) zones according to the…
By Joyce Mukucha The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres on Monday communicated that the global phase-out of leaded fuel represents a milestone for multilateralism, marking the end of a 20-year campaign to eliminate a major threat to the health of people and the planet. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) spearheaded the initiative to put…
By Philip Mataranyika Connecting the dots… Volume 10 My bones shall rise… The girl children of the Makoni people have always played an important role both at the household and clan level, from the days of our great patriarch and ancestor, Gunguwo, to the current generation. The roles assigned to them transcend everyday routine duties…
Less than two months to the Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, Africa has already made its demands known. According to the Tanguy Gahouma-Bekale-led African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change, the team will use the October 31-November 12 conferences to press their counterparts from the developed countries to place the…
The Government of India has contributed almost USD one million to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Zimbabwe to help affected populations tackle climate shocks. The contribution, provided through the India-UN Development Partnership Fund, will be used to assist more than 5200 smallholder farmers in Chiredzi and Mangwe districts. Working alongside partners,…
By The Campaign for Nature Africa’s prosperity depends on preserving its vast natural wealth, yet the continent’s natural capital stocks are dwindling rapidly, concludes a new report released on 24 August 2021 by the German government. The report, one of the most comprehensive assessments to date of the strong links between Africa’s development and nature protection,…
By Marlvin Ngiza As the hot dry season fast approaches, citizens have been urged to exercise extreme care in protecting wetlands and adhere to all environmental policies in order to minimize harm to the natural resource. Environmentalist Noreen Rumbidzai Matonga said people should stop cultivating on or close to wetlands. She also encouraged citizens to…
The Freedom of Rights Under Sovereign (FORUS) and the United Nations in Zimbabwe on the occasion of the commemoration of the World Humanitarian Day today emphasised the need of taking everyone on board, thus leaving no one behind in as far as responding to climate change is concerned. According to the United Nations in…
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has been distinguished as the only large development bank that spent more on climate finance to enable communities to adjust to the inevitability of climate change. The AfDB crossed the threshold of committing 32 percent of its facilities to climate financing and edging toward achieving 40 percent, its peers like…
Protecting forests and changing agricultural practices are essential, cost-effective actions to prevent pandemics Boston, Mass. – As the world struggles to contain COVID-19, a group of leading, scientific experts from the U.S., Latin America, Africa, and South Asia released a report today outlining the strong scientific foundations for taking actions to stop the next pandemic…
On World Elephant Day this year, on August 12th, Holly Budge, founder and leader of international non-profit, How Many Elephants, was among the impressive line-up of speakers at the global online event – ‘Elephants – from conflict to coexistence.’ Hosted by the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF), over 20 speakers spanning four…
Climate-resilient agriculture of the future: largest aquaponics facility in Southern Africa commenced operations most recently with a foreign direct investor as a financial sponsor – water-saving year-round farming practice is 10x times more productive than open-field agriculture. Annual harvest capacity of up to 200 tons of nutritious, local, and organically cultivated multi-crop veggie and fresh-water…
The recently released 2021 Southern African Development Community (SADC) Synthesis Report on the State of Food and Nutrition Security has revealed widespread regional food insecurity. Below, Spiked Online Media shares the Executive Summary of the report: Southern Africa suffers from widespread food and nutrition insecurity. This year, in the ten SADC Member States that submitted…
Scientists are observing changes in the Earth’s climate in every region and across the whole climate system, according to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report, released yesterday. Many of the changes observed in the climate are unprecedented in thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years, and some of the changes already…
By Charles Dhewa Animals, birds, and trees may not speak English, Chewa, Shona, Ndebele, KiSwahili, or any other language but they certainly speak several languages which human beings are yet to master. Co-existing with microclimates and forests for generations has exposed many African communities to the secret knowledge and languages of nature. As more people…
The agricultural impact of climate change would be a little more straightforward if it occurred in a world where crops were free of their microbes. Research published today has found that in this hypothetical landscape, rising global temperatures will boost global agricultural productivity, partly by opening up new arable lands near the poles that were…
By the World Bank STORY HIGHLIGHTS A new report by the World Bank and the Government of Zimbabwe shows that more public spending in agriculture has not translated into more productivity The report warns that without Climate-Smart Agriculture Investments, Zimbabwe’s staple food crop, maize, is expected to see a 33% yield reduction by 2030 Strengthening…
