Egypt to host African Ministerial Conference on the Environment

By Arison TAMFU

Egyptian capital, Cairo gets set to host a high-level conference on environment dubbed African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) from March 1 to 7 which will provide guidance with respect to key regional policies and initiatives related to the environment and sustainable development. AMCEN holds its ordinary sessions once every two or three years.  The session will consist of a meeting of the expert group, to be held from 2 to 4 March, and a ministerial segment, to be held on 5 and 6 March. The opening ceremony for the ministerial segment will take place on the afternoon of Wednesday, 4 March 2015.

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IPCC agrees on Acting Chair after R.K. Pachauri steps down

NAIROBI, Feb 24 – The Bureau of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) agreed on Tuesday, in accordance with its procedures, to designate Vice-Chair Ismail El Gizouli as Acting IPCC Chair. The designation of Gizouli follows the decision by Rajendra K Pachauri, PhD, to step down as Chairman of the IPCC effective today.

The decision to name Gizouli was taken at a Session of the Bureau ahead of the 41st Session of the IPCC, which is being held on 24-27 February 2015.

BRIQUETTES COULD SAVE THE ZAMBIAN FOREST

By CHRISTETER MACHA-CHIZHYUKA

 Industrial advancement in the production of briquettes in a quest to find answers to end or reduce deforestation could just bring relief for Zambia’s besieged forests.

 

Companies such as Green Cycle Ltd and others have come up with technologies to produce briquettes which are 100% environmentally friendly, biodegradable and packaged in eco-friendly packaging.

This commitment dates back to 2007 in which Mr. Nasri Safieddine commercially pioneered briquettes as an alternative solid fuel to lumpwood charcoal, in a joint venture with the National Institute for Scientific Research-NISR.

Substantive negotiations to begin in June for new climate agreement

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Geneva, 16 Feb (Meena Raman) - Parties at the Geneva climate change meeting under the UNFCCC’s Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP), will begin substantive negotiations for a new climate agreement in June, on the basis of a negotiating text that was agreed to on Friday, 13 Feb.

UN Climate Talks Advance

Need for clear outcome on pre-2020 climate action    Geneva, Switzerland -- The first negotiation session of UN talks on climate closed with an increasing focus on the need for immediate action on climate change. The talks produced the first draft of a possible "Paris Agreement" which will be negotiated throughout the year, before being finally agreed in the French capital in December. The final day of talks were heated over exchanges about 'carbon markets' and as hundreds of organisations from across the world warned of risks to the right to food if misguided policies on land use and climate are applied.

GRANTS, AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS

 1.A. H. BOERMA AWARD

 

The FAO is calling journalists or group of journalists to apply for A. H. Boerma Award. The A. H. Boerma award is for the journalists who have brought food security and rural development issues in developing countries to the attention of civil society.The award constitutes of an inscribed medal and a description of winner’s achievements. The winner will also get a cash prize of $10,000 USD. The award ceremony will be held at FAO headquarters, Rome. The winner will travel to Rome to receive the award.

Cameroon food crop farmers pay cost of erratic rains and bad roads.

By Elias Ntungwe Ngalame 

Raoul Ndongo, 55, a cassava farmer in Meyomessala in the South region of Cameroon is standing at the door of his dilapidated two-roomed house he shares with his wife and their four young children, brooding about the upsetting experience of dwindling sales of his crop in the last few years caused by bad weather.

 Inside the house, the laughter and chatter of the kids is audible enough as they jump up and down together on the one bed they sleep in at night, virtually ignorant of the weighty problems their father was going through. Erratic rains have not only reduced his cassava  output but has seriously deteriorated the state of farm- to- market roads in the region making access to the market perilous and significantly downsizing his family income.

Civil society complimentary, not substitute to climate dialogue process – French Government

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - The French Government has recognized the crucial role played by civil society as key stakeholder in the ongoing dialogue process for a post-2020 climate change agreement.

Speaking at an event held in the sidelines of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Nicolas Dasnois, from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development pointed out that views from all stakeholders should be considered if the world is to deliver an ambitious and all-inclusive deal for climate change.