Korean Economist named new IPCC Chair

Hoesung Lee, new IPCC Chair

By Atâyi Babs 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) elected Hoesung Lee of the Republic of Korea as its new Chair on Tuesday.

Hoesung Lee was elected by 78 votes to 56 in a run-off with Jean-Pascal van Ypersele. 

A total of six candidates including Ogunlade Davidson (Sierra Leone), Hoesung Lee (Republic of Korea), Nebojsa Nakicenovic (Austria and Montenegro), Thomas Stocker (Switzerland), Jean-Pascal van Ypersele (Belgium) were nominated for the position. 

The election took place in Dubrovnik, Croatia, where the IPCC is holding its 42nd Session. Elections for other positions on the IPCC Bureau, including the Co-Chairs of the IPCC Working Groups, will take place over 6-8 October. 

The election of the new Bureau, which will have 34 members including the Chair, opens the way for work to start on the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report, expected to be completed in 5-7 years. 

PRESS STATEMENT

Action Aid Reacts to New OECD Report on Climate Finance

A new OECD report released today, Climate Finance in 2013-14 and the USD 100 billion goal, claims that rich countries provided over $60 billion in climate finance to poor countries in 20141 and that "significant progress" is being made towards the goal of $100 billion by 2020.

The primary objective of climate finance is to benefit developing countries and support their climate action. Yet the large majority of the OECD's $60 billion estimate are in the form of export credits, the full value of both concessional and market-rate loans, and private investment. The ultimate beneficiaries of these forms of finance are actors in rich countries - not developing countries, much less poor and vulnerable communities.

Changements climatiques: Le Cameroun prépare la Cop 21

Par Rosine Nkonla Azanmene

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (PAMACC News) - En prélude au rendez-vous de Paris en fin d’année 2015, le ministre camerounais de l’environnement, de la Protection de la nature et du développement durable, Hélé Pierre, a présidé à Yaoundé en partenariat avec l’AFD, un atelier national de validation technique des travaux relatifs à la contribution  du Cameroun dans le cadre de la Convention cadre des Nations Unies sur les changements climatiques. 

Le Cameroun doit pouvoir diminuer de 32% ses émissions de gaz à effet de serre, d’ici fin 2015. 

Reboisement dans la region de l’Extrême Nord du Cameroun - La solution qui vient de la jeunesse

Par Rosine Nkonla Azanmene

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (PAMACC News) - Près de 300 jeunes recrutés dans le cadre du « Programme Spécial pour l’Emploi Urbain » (USEP), s’emploient au reboisement de l’extrême nord. La région du pays la plus exposée aux menaces de sécheresse et de désertification, du fait de sa position géographique en zone sahélienne 

Tous les matins, plusieurs jeunes dont l’âge varie entre 18 et 35 ans, sont à pied d’œuvre pour conduire les activités de la phase pilote du Programme Spécial pour l’Emploi Urbain. 

The place of agriculture in Ghana’s climate adaptation actions

By Kofi Adu Domfeh

KUMASI, Ghana (PAMACC Newas) - Ghana’s agricultural sector, the largest employer of the economy, has been the hardest hit this year by unfavorable weather.

Farmers across the country have recorded poor crop production because the rains failed them.

Without access to irrigation facilities, the local farmers are at the mercy of the weather to till and manage their farm lands for food production.

A mobile soil testing facility now available in Kenya

By Isaiah Esipisu

KUSAKA, Zambia (PAMACC News) - Farmers anywhere in Kenya can now collect at least 50 soil samples from different farms, and order a mobile soil testing laboratory to come to their site, thanks to a Dutch company that now provides such services in the country.

“We need to stop treading soil like dirt,” Dr Bashir Jama, the director for Soil Health Program at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) writes in his blog. Soil, according to Dr Jama, is a living thing and it needs to be respected and cared for. “Otherwise it will die,” he says.

Zambia’s INDC targets an estimated 38,000Gg carbon emission reduction

 By Friday Phiri

 LUSAKA, Zambia (PAMACC News) The successful implementation of Zambia’s INDC will result in an estimated total emission reduction of 38,000GgCO2eq which translates to 47% (internationally supported efforts) against 2010 as a base year, according to the country’s submitted plan to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change-(UNFCCC).

 

According to the document however, the targeted reduction is conditional and subject to the availability of international support in form of finance, technology and capacity building.

“This emission reduction is conditional and subject to the availability of international support in form of finance, technology and capacity building”, reads the INDC document which has an estimated implementation budget of US$ 50 billion by the year 2030.