By Sam Otieno Nairobi, Kenya, May 17 (IPS) – Promoting the widespread use of innovative technologies will be critical to combat the hostile effects of climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and many African countries are already leading the…
Category: Adaptation
EU reforms its emissions trading system
The European Council formally approved the reform of the EU emissions trading system (ETS) for the period after 2020. The revised ETS directive is a significant step towards the EU reaching its target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at…
Ex-NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg offers $4.5m for Paris deal
Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he will pay $4.5m (£3.2m) to cover the lapsed US financial commitment to the Paris climate accord.
Will agroecology be the solution to mitigate climate change?
Danielle Nierenberg On April 3-5, 2018, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will convene the Second International Symposium on Agroecology. The Symposium, titled “Scaling up Agroecology to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” will bring together leaders in governmental,…
IRENA to help make low-carbon 2022 Winter Olympics in China
International Renewable Energy Agency to support Zhangjiakou, in Hebei Province, become China’s first energy transition pilot city Zhangjiakou (China) 24 March — The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has today signed a co-operation agreement with the People’s Government of Hebei…
Natural shot in Bangladesh’s battle against climate change
Zulker Naeen Reducing dependence on fossil fuels requires a long time to decrease emissions. A rapid transformation of the existing energy systems and infrastructure is also a slow process. But, natural climate solutions are already available if we want to…
Cities have bigger opportunity to reduce global emissions
Edmonton, Canada 06 March — New C40 research released at the IPCC Cities Climate Science conference takes a different look at city emissions, based on the goods and services consumed by urban citizens, including food, clothing, electronics, construction and air…
Green Climate Fund approves $1 billion for funding 23 units
Songdo, 5 March (Indrajit Bose) — The Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) agreed on a process for the replenishment of its resources after much wrangling. It also adopted a host of decisions and approved over USD 1 billion…
Hasina invites Dutch PM to launch BD Delta Plan 2100
Dhaka, Feb 19 – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has invited her Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte to visit Bangladesh for launching the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 here this year.
Cauvery verdict: ‘No state can claim exclusive right to a river’
Cauvery Water Dispute: The 765-km long Cauvery river, also called the Ganga of the south, is considered the lifeline for Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. New Delhi/Bengaluru: In a landmark verdict that casts a long shadow on southern politics, Tamil Nadu’s…
19 innovations to increase food output without draining earth
Brittany Scalise Whenever you bite into a piece of food, do you think about where it comes from? How did it get from the ground to your table? Who are the farmers and entrepreneurs who cultivated and sourced it? It’s…
Inefficient air-conditioning leaves Asean freezing in the tropics
A new whitepaper on cooling in Southeast Asia finds low public awareness around the importance of energy-efficient cooling for reducing pollution and fighting climate change, and its implications for a more sustainable future for the region.
Policy support gap for “climate-smart” agriculture
By Busani Bafana Jo’burg, Jan (IPS) – Conditioned that ploughing is the sure way to produce crops, Zimbabwean farmer Handrixious Zvomarima surprised himself by trying a different method. He planted cowpea seeds directly without tilling the land. It worked.
Five including 3 elderly women die in BD severe cold
Dhaka, Jan 6 – At least two elderly women died in Thakurgaon on Saturday besides three others in Kurigram overnight as the northern districts bore the brunt of a cold wave crossing over of the country.
The myth of a fossil fuel phase-out
Samuel Furfari Brussels – How the world uses energy is a hot topic for a warming planet, and fears of pollution and resource strain have produced a virtual arms race of energy-efficiency strategies. From the European Union to China, economies…
Carbon pricing takes off
Catherine McKenna and Feike Sijbesma Bonn – The hurricanes that pummeled the Caribbean, Texas, and Florida this year left highways submerged, homes and businesses demolished, and lives lost. The floodwaters have since receded, but the images of upheaval remain etched…
Natural solutions to climate change
Justin Adams Oxford – In response to climate change, land is key. Today, agriculture, forestry, and other land uses account for roughly a quarter of global greenhouse-gas emissions. But adopting sustainable land management strategies could provide more than one-third of…
‘Combating climate change? Combat land degradation.’
By Stella Paul Bonn, Germany, Nov 24 (IPS) – Land restoration is not a “glamorous subject even when you give all the numbers,” admits Monique Barbut, the Executive Secretary of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification UNCCD). But she also…
COP23 parties agree on way forward on pre-2020 action
Bonn, 16 Nov (Meena Raman)- Parties to the UNFCCC have arrived on a way forward on pre-2020 climate action. In a closed-door informal consultation held on the morning of 15 Nov, COP22 Presidency representative Ambassador Aziz Mekouar from Morocco presented…
Fighting the creeping catastrophe of climate change
By Lourdes Tibig and Denise Margaret Matias Bonn, Germany, Nov 8 (IPS) – November 8 marks the fourth anniversary of Haiyan’s landfall in the Philippines. The super typhoon was the strongest ever to make landfall.
Dhaka to mobilise fund for fighting climate change
Bangladesh will raise its voice at the Conference of the Parties (COP-23) to mount pressure on the global communities to make them extend financial and technical supports to the developing countries for coping with the negative impacts of global climate…
National GHG pledges bring only one-third of Paris deal reductions
The eighth edition of UN Environment’s Emissions Gap report, released ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, finds that national pledges only bring approximately one-third of the reduction in emissions required by 2030 to meet climate targets, with…
US likely to live up to Paris accord: UN environment chief
Geneva, Oct 31 (AP/UNB) – The head of the U.N. environment program said Tuesday the United States is likely to live up to the Paris climate deal despite President Donald Trump’s planned pullout, because “all the big American companies” are…
In defence of the 1.5°C climate change threshold
Loren Legarda Manila – The Earth today is more than 1°C hotter than it was in pre-industrial times, and the terrible symptoms of its fever are already showing. This year alone, back-to-back hurricanes have devastated Caribbean islands, monsoon flooding has…
Aid network’s ‘innovation labs’ to prepare 4 countries for disasters
A global network of aid agencies has launched four new “innovation labs” in Bangladesh, Jordan, Kenya and the Philippines, aimed at finding fresh ways to help local communities prepare for disasters.
Unep-Rabobank $1 billion program for sustainable food supply
Hong Kong, China – Oct 17 – Rabobank, the world’s leading food and agricultural bank, has announced its global activation program, ‘Kickstart Food’, to accelerate the transition to a sustainable food supply. One of the first steps in this program…
$500m Green Climate Fund for REDD-plus results-based pay
Delhi, 17 October (Indrajit Bose) — The Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) has decided to allocate up to USD 500 million for a request for proposals (RFP) for the pilot programme for ‘reducing emissions from deforestation and forest…
Loudspeakers reinforce quake alert system in Mexico City
Mexico City, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) – Mexico City will reinforce its earthquake alert system by installing between 800 and 1,000 new speakers on the streets, after the 7.1 earthquake which hit the capital on Sep. 19 and killed 228 people,…
A world without exhaust pipes
Monica Araya The growing popularity of electric vehicles is set to curb one of the largest sources of global pollution. But a consumption bias continues to impede many buyers’ embrace of the technology, and until it is addressed, electric mobility…
Making an economic case for climate action
By Tharanga Yakupitiyage UN, Oct 2 (IPS) – Having faced a year of record temperatures and devastating hurricanes, the United States stands more to lose if it doesn’t take steps to reduce the risk and impact of climate change, according…