African Climes

The year 2023 has been a busy one in climate change. Climate effects have continued being felt worldwide in various forms and their impacts on human society and economic growth persists. The natural world is also impacted, though wildlife and ecosystems are unable to speak for themselves. Human dependence on nature for survival is now directly influenced by climate change. So, what happened in 2023? In terms of climate policy, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released a report showing that low emissions sources will account for majority of growth in global electricity demand up to 2025 and that the share of renewables will rise to 35% in 2025. The EU parliament banned the sale of new petrol and diesel (fossil fuels) cars in the bloc from 2035 and set a target of 55% drop from 2021 carbon emission levels for new vehicles sold from 2030. In March, the IPCC released the final synthesis report of the AR6 [1] . The document notes that every fraction of warming significantly inc...

Climate change is already affecting water availability, quality, quantity, access and security. Rising greenhouse concentrations are raising atmospheric temperatures and a hotter atmosphere has a higher capacity to absorb moisture. High temperatures result to increased evapotranspiration and this has two effects. First is that it dries up the areas over which water is evaporating, and it results to heavy rainstorms when this water distills as rain over other areas. Droughts and floods are common effects of climate change and they are predicted to increase globally as we surely inch towards the 1.5 degrees mark above preindustrial times. What this means is that water security - the state of having good quality water in abundance over short or long term durations - is directly impacted. Water security is needed in both natural ecosystems and the human world. Water quality is also determined by climate change as floodwaters can easily be contaminated by waste, poisoning fresh water so...

  The 28 th conference of parties to the UNFCCC will be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from November 30 th to December 12 th . The COP presidency has outlined four thematic areas which are transitioning to clean energy; centering nature, people, lives and livelihoods; delivering on finance and mobilizing inclusivity. This yearly international meeting deliberates on climate policy globally and sets the pace for action. It involves practically everyone – governments (parties to the UNFCCC), business and corporations, civil society, media, financial institutions, youth, women, indigenous peoples, regional governments and UN agencies. Image courtesy                 The most important issues in focus this year will first of all be the global stocktake (GST). This is a process enshrined in the Paris agreement which seeks to assess climate progress in view of attaining the goals of the 2015 agreement. What have we done, where are we and w...

One of the global development goals agreed on universally is gender equality. Climate change is an issue of paramount global importance and clean water and sanitation is a human rights issue in many parts of the world. Gender, water and climate change are issues that are inextricably tied together. They are number 5, 6 and 13 of the Sustainable Development Goals.  Women are affected by climate change differently from men. And climate change is primarily felt through water. Most of climate change effects are water related. One of the ways that climate change affects women in the lens of water is in agriculture. A good percentage of the world’s agriculture is small holder, subsistence in nature and done in a rural setup. Majority of farmers in rural areas especially in Africa are women while most of agriculture is rain-fed. It relies on rainfall and precipitation patterns are increasingly being affected by climate change. Droughts, inadequate rainfall and heatwaves cause wate...

 A just transition is a broad concept that encompasses the shift of the world from climate harming and environmentally polluting practices to ways that are good for the environment while being socially fair and just, and promoting economic prosperity. It is basically pegged on sustainable development – social equity, environmentally healthy and economically viable. The shift towards green economies will affect the world economically and basically sectors and people who have relied on fossil fuels for decades to earn a livelihood and for economic development. Therefore this transition needs to be just – to take into account the rights of workers and to be carried out in such a way that economies are able to adjust accordingly without taking too   much of a hit. This includes also social dialogue which is holding consultative forums with ordinary citizens and frontline communities on climate positive development and explaining the benefits of abandoning the use of fossil...