January 16
Africa: An Ancient System That Could Bring Water to Dry Areas
Some of Africa's dry areas face serious water shortages due to minimal rainfall. An ancient system of drawing water from aquifers, the "qanat system", could help. Gaathier Mahed,… Read more »
January 15
Ghana: Ghana Is Behind the Curve On Climate Change Laws - Expert Suggests a Way to Get Corporations On Board
Ghana has introduced some climate change policies and general environmental regulations but has yet to pass a Climate Change Act. This leaves the country without effective legal… Read more »
December 26, 2023
Africa: Unusual Ancient Elephant Tracks Had Our Team of Fossil Experts Stumped - How We Solved the Mystery
Over the past 15 years, through our scientific study of tracks and traces, we have identified more than 350 fossil vertebrate tracksites from South Africa's Cape south coast. Most… Read more »
December 17, 2023
Africa: Trade Rules and Climate Change - Africa Stands to Lose From Proposed WTO Policy Tools
The World Trade Organisation launched its Trade Policy Tools for Climate Action during the COP28 conference. International economic law expert Olabisi D. Akinkugbe discusses… Read more »
December 13, 2023
Africa: The COP28 Climate Agreement Is a Step Backwards On Fossil Fuels
The COP28 climate summit in Dubai has adjourned. The result is "The UAE consensus" on fossil fuels. Read more »
December 15, 2023
North Africa: The Sahara Desert Used to Be a Green Savannah - New Research Explains Why
Algeria's Tassili N'Ajjer plateau is Africa's largest national park. Among its vast sandstone formations is perhaps the world's largest art museum. Over 15,000 etchings and… Read more »
December 12, 2023
Africa: How to Assess the Carbon Footprint of a War
We know that war is bad for the environment, with toxic chemicals left polluting the soil and water for decades after fighting ceases. Much less obvious are the carbon emissions… Read more »
December 13, 2023
Africa: African Countries At COP28 - Several Big Wins and a United Voice
African countries entered the recent COP28 negotiations on climate change in high spirits. Before this conference, in September, African government leaders, policymakers, activists… Read more »
Africa: Climate Change Risks Triggering a Spike in Infectious Disease Outbreaks - Three Reasons Why
Climate change is our planet's most immediate existential threat, and will likely only worsen for the foreseeable future. Read more »
Africa: COP28's Commitment to Transforming Farming and Food Systems Is an Insult to Africans
Globally, food systems are unsustainable: 80% of the production of food is powered by fossil fuels. The food system is responsible for over one-third of global greenhouse gas… Read more »
December 08, 2023
Africa: Frozen Methane Under the Seabed Is Thawing As Oceans Warm - and Things Are Worse Than We Thought
Buried beneath the oceans surrounding continents is a naturally occurring frozen form of methane and water. Sometimes dubbed ''fire-ice'' as you can literally set light to it,… Read more »
Africa: The Disagreement Between Two Climate Scientists That Will Decide Our Future
Getting to net zero emissions by mid-century is conventionally understood as humanity's best hope for keeping Earth's surface temperature (already 1.2°C above its… Read more »
Africa: From the Paris Agreement to COP28, How Oil and Gas Giants Try to Influence the Global Climate Agenda
There is ''no science'' behind demands to phase out fossil fuels, according to the current COP president. This level of cynicism at the top of the annual climate summit makes it… Read more »
December 07, 2023
Africa: Climate 'Tipping Points' Can Be Positive Too - Our Report Sets Out How to Engineer a Domino Effect of Rapid Changes
A young boy is forced to sit at a dinner table with grown-ups talking endlessly about grown-up stuff. He's bored. He finds it hard at first, to push with his feet against the table… Read more »
December 06, 2023
Africa: Climate Tipping Points Are Nearer Than You Think - Our New Report Warns of Catastrophic Risk
It's now almost inevitable that 2023 will be the warmest year ever recorded by humans, probably the warmest for at least 125,000 years. Read more »
Africa: Don't Applaud the Climate Summit's Loss and Damage Fund Deal Just Yet - It Might Not Warrant That Standing Ovation
Shortly after the opening ceremony of the 2023 United Nations climate negotiations in Dubai, delegates of nations around the world rose in a standing ovation to celebrate a… Read more »
Africa: How Agriculture Can Make The Most of One of The World's Biggest Carbon Sink, Soil
It's right under our feet. We barely notice as we go about our lives, yet it is nothing less than the largest carbon repository among all of Earth's ecosystems. This distinction is… Read more »
December 07, 2023
South Africa: 46% of South Africa Water Contaminated, Treatment Works on Brink of Collapse
A new report by South Africa's Department of Water and Sanitation paints a grim picture of the quality of the country's drinking water, and its water infrastructure. The Blue Drop… Read more »
December 04, 2023
Africa: COP28 - With a 'Loss and Damage' Fund in Place, Protecting Climate Refugees Is More Urgent Than Ever
It has taken decades, but the complex and increasingly urgent issue of "climate mobility" has gradually become central to international climate negotiations. Read more »
November 30, 2023
Africa: COP28 - Why We Need to Break Our Addiction to Combustion
Headlines across the world this year focused on fires, including both wildfires and the use of military firepower, in various places. Read more »
Africa: COP28 Climate Summit Just Approved a 'Loss and Damage' Fund. What Does This Mean?
Day one of the COP28 climate summit saw the first big breakthrough: agreement on a "loss and damage" fund to compensate poor states for the effects of climate change. Read more »
December 05, 2023
South Africa: Golden Mole That Swims Through Sand Is Rediscovered in South Africa After 86 Years
The De Winton's golden mole was last seen in 1937 on the north-western coast of South Africa, and later declared officially lost. This iridescent blind mole with hearing… Read more »
December 04, 2023
Africa: Getting Climate Funds to Conflict Zones - A Case for Working With Armed Groups and Local Communities
Conflict-ridden and fragile countries are among the most vulnerable to climate change and least prepared to deal with it. They are largely excluded from climate adaptation… Read more »
November 30, 2023
Africa: Building African Cities That Cope With Climate Shocks - Experts Outline What It Will Take
The international climate change negotiations began almost three decades ago when many were still hesitant to accept that human activities were changing the planet. Now the… Read more »
November 29, 2023
Africa: COP28 - How Bad Is Climate Change Already and What Do We Need to Do Next to Tackle It?
As the latest UN climate change summit (COP28) gets underway in Dubai, conversations around limiting global warming to 1.5°C will confront a harsh reality. Global temperatures… Read more »