Search NaijaAgroNet

Showing posts with label Climate change. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Climate change. Show all posts

Friday, February 9, 2024

Climate change: CAAF24 unveils speakers for pre-event webinar - NaijaAgroNet

... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

The Climate Action Africa (CAA) has unveiled key speakers at forthcoming CAAF24 pre-event webinar with focus on Climate Finance in Africa, reports NaijaAgroNet.
Climate change: CAAF24 unveils speakers for pre-event webinar - NaijaAgroNet
The Co-Founder and Executive Director of CAA, Grace Oluchi Mbah, shared this in a press statement available to NaijaAgroNet and urged registration before the event scheduled for February 29, 2024.

Monday, October 8, 2018

Climate change: Oxfam says planet on fire, urges African governments on swift action - NaijaAgroNet

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released a report detailing progress and pathways to liming global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, with Oxfam International lamenting that the rising temperatures on the continent will push millions into poverty and hunger, unless governments take swift action, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Responding to the report, Mr. Apollos Nwafor, Pan Africa Director of Oxfam International said the climate change has set the planet on fire, as millions are already feeling the impacts, and the IPCC just showed that things can get much worse.

"Settling for 2 degrees would be a death sentence for people in many parts of Africa. The faster governments embrace the renewable energy revolution and move to protect communities at risk, the more lives and livelihoods that will be spared.

“A hotter Africa is a hungrier Africa. Today at only 1.1 degrees of warming globally, crops and livestock across the region are being hit and hunger is rising, with poor small scale women farmers, living in rural areas suffering the most. It only gets worse from here.

“To do nothing more and simply follow the commitments made in the Paris Agreement condemns the world to 3 degrees of warming. The damage to our planet and humanity would be exponentially worse and irreparable.

“None of this is inevitable. What gives us hope is that some of the poorest and lowest emitting countries are now leading the climate fight. We've moved from an era of 'you first' to 'follow me' - it's time for the rich world to do just that.

“Oxfam calls for increased, responsible and accountable climate finance from rich countries that supports small scale farmers, especially women to realize their right to food security and climate justice.

“While time is short, there is still a chance of keeping to 1.5 degrees of warming. We must reject any false solution like Large Scale Land Based Investments that means kicking small scale farmers off their land to make way for carbon farming and focus instead on stopping our use of fossil fuels, starting with an end to building new coal power stations worldwide,” he said.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Climate change: Africa witnesses hottest temperature ever - NaijaAgroNet

The Africa has witnessed the hottest temperature ever, as the climate change seems to catch up with the most-black continent, reports NaijaAgroNet.
According to the Earth Day Network, Africa witnessed the hottest temperature ever reliably measured on Earth when Ouargla, Algeria hit 124.3 degrees.
NaijaAgroNet gathered that while no single temperature can be attributed to global warming, collectively these heat records are consistent with the kind of extremes we expect to see in a warming world.
That was why Earth Day Network said, its doubling-down on commitment to help cut carbon emissions and demand that our leaders support binding global climate change agreements now before it’s too late.

“Everything we do, from planting trees to cleaning up plastic pollution to protecting endangered animal habitats; aims to keep our climate stable and stave off the impacts of climate change,” they said.
Nenye Dom/GEE
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

Friday, February 2, 2018

Climate change: Yong Kim begins 3-day working visit in Dakar


NaijaAgroNet:

The President of World Bank Group, Mr. JimYong Kim is now in the capital of Senegal, Dakar for a three-day working visit on issues concerning climate change, reports NaijaAgroNet.
This, NaijaAgroNet gathered, was in conjunction with the visit of President Emmanuel Macron of France.
NaijaAgroNet also gathered that the visit follows the One Planet Summit which both Kim and Macron co-hosted in Paris in December 2017, and seeks to demonstrate commitment to joint action on adaptation to climate change.
President Macron and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim will also travel with President Macky Sall of Senegal to Saint-Louis, a historic town under threat from coastal erosion.
“I want to congratulate the Government of Senegal for its leadership on climate change mitigation and adaptation. I am looking forward to visiting Saint-Louis, where efforts to stop coastal erosion are a great example of how the Government can work with the international community to initiate collective action for the region. The World Bank Group is committed to helping Senegal, West Africa, and countries around the world address the effects of climate change,” Kim said.
During his visit, the World Bank Group President will hold bilateral meetings with President Sall and President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré of Burkina Faso. He will also attend a high-level session on global education challenges.
Kim will reiterate the World Bank’s commitment to strong partnership with Senegal and with France in support of African development.
He will also seek the government’s leadership in improving educational outcomes and creating quality educational opportunities for all. “Human capital is essential for sustained long-term growth and rising living standards,”Kim said. “Transformational change in education will allow Senegalese to capitalize on technological change and leapfrog into the 21st century economy.”
 Isaac Oyimah/GEE


... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

Friday, September 29, 2017

PAUWES graduates 48 on energy, water, climate change

The Pan African University Institute for Water and Energy Sciences including Climate Change (PAUWES) celebrated the second graduating class of its both tracks of two Master programmes  with 47 students from across the African continent, report NaijaAgroNet.

The graduating students, NaijaAgroNet gathered have received their diplomas during a ceremony at the University of Tlemcen.

Director, PAUWES at University of Tlemcen, Prof. Abdellatif Zerga, said this year’s graduating students join the next generation of African engineers and policymakers committed to addressing the issues critical to Africa’s sustainable development. They have not only successfully completed their coursework requirements, but have conducted practice-oriented research for their master theses based on a multitude of case studies that address the water, energy, and climate-related challenges Africa faces.

NaijaAgroNet reports that in order to gain a transcontinental perspective of those same challenges, our students have also completed international internships in the private and public sectors at renowned research institutions cross Africa and beyond. Besides focusing on their studies, the students of the Class of 2017—with the support of PAUWES—launched the first student-lead clubs, the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Club and the Community of Practice (CoP), which have contributed to the overall sense of community and leadership that our institute strives to promote.

This cohort of graduating students, NaijaAgroNet reports, represents and fulfills one of the key objectives of the Pan African University (PAU) and PAUWES, which is to foster an African learning environment of the most qualified and motivated scholars while revitalizing and nurturing the quality of African higher education.

Not only are an array African Union member states and eleven female students represented in the Class of 2017, but this diverse cohort of students have had the opportunity to study alongside an international faculty of over 100 professors and researchers from across Africa and the world.

Supported by PAUWES, the University of Tlemcen and our key thematic partner—Germany, we are confident that students of the Class of 2017 are well positioned to become leaders in public administration, policy-making, research, technology, private enterprise, and civil society.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Climate Change, challenge for our generation – UN Deputy SecGen

The Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ms. Amina J. Mohammed, has said that climate change is the utmost challenge for this generation, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Speaking at on Monday during the 9th Annual New York City Climate Week, Mrs. Mohammed, reiterating that climate change is a challenge “for our generation.”

She noted that the destruction wrought by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma and the massive floods in India, Nepal and across South Asia reflect the growing vulnerability of people and economies to the growing intensity and frequency of extreme weather events.

“You know the challenge and you know the answer lies with you. I commend your efforts,” she said, adding that as the Secretary-General said in May, the sustainability train is moving.

“And you are providing the fuel – not the dirty fuel of the past, but the clean power of the future. The engine is no longer huffing and puffing smoke.  But it is not moving fast enough,” she said.

She lamented not everyone is on board yet, Mohammed canvassed for raising of ambition.
“We are ready to work with you, engage with you and support your efforts,” she said.

Further, she said,  the Paris Agreement was a monumental achievement, but agreements are just pieces of paper if those who need to implement them don’t follow through.


“You have the power to define the pace and extent of implementation. Your commitment to a low-carbon, resilient future is making a difference,” she declared.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Climate change: Water scarcity bane of small farmers

One critical front for action for the small holder farmers at this climate change period has been identified as water management, according to Graziano da Silva, the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), reports NaijaAgroNet.

He revealed that millions of the world's small-scale farmers are already wrestling with water scarcity, which will likely intensify as a result of climate change.

The FAO boss, who spoke as one of the panelists at the World Government Summit in Dubai, said this was why at the last UN climate change conference FAO and partners launched a global framework on water scarcity in agriculture that aims to support developing countries in bringing stronger policies and programmes for the sustainable use of water in agriculture online.

Participating in the panel discussion "Climate in Action: Feeding the Future" along with Graziano da Silva were Tshering Tobgay, Prime Minister of Bhutan, Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment of the United Arab Emirates, and Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

NaijaAgroNet recalls that the World Government Summit (WGS) is a platform that brings together leaders and policy makers to showcase future trends in government services, leadership, innovation and economic policies.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology
Pix; Graziano da Silva, the Director-General, FAO.

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

70 countries lack meteorological services to check climate change

An estimated 70 countries across the globe are yet to establish a functional meteorological service in their domains, NaijaAgroNet can authoritatively report.

Disclosing this on Monday, while addressing delegates to the 2017 World Government Summit in Dubai, Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Mr. José Graziano da Silva lamented this development, saying this was the major reason his office has special partnership in this regard with the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

This, he said, underlines the fact that some 70 countries do not have established meteorological services as an example.

FAO, therefore, he said, is working with the World Meteorological Organization to develop low-cost, farmer friendly services to address this need.

“To withstand the vagaries of a harsher, less predictable climate, small farmers will also need better access to other sorts of technologies and to markets, information and finance -- as well as better land tenure and improved agriculture infrastructure,” Graziano da Silva said.

He emphasized on the importance of prevention which is worth a pound of cure, arguing that adaptation to climate change makes economic sense.


“… The benefits of adaptation are much bigger than the costs," he declared, stressing that the importance of national efforts like the United Arab Emirates (UAE's) strategy on food diversification, security and climate change. 

Uj. N. Dom/GEE
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology
Pix: Dr Joseph Romanus Mukabana - Directotr Offices for Africa & Least Develped Countries WMO

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

FAO urges support for small farmers’ adaption to climate change

Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has urged more support for small farmers to enable them adapt to climate change, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Failure to act now, FOA said will affect food systems being more resilient to climate change, thus "seriously compromise" food production in many regions and could doom to failure international efforts to end hunger and extreme poverty by 2030.

Director-General, FAO, Mr. José Graziano da Silva gave this caution on Monday, at a roundtable on climate change during the World Government Summit in Dubai, saying that agriculture holds the key to solving two of the greatest problems now facing humanity: eradicating poverty and hunger, and contributing to maintaining the stable climatic conditions in which civilization can thrive.

He stressed in particular the need to support smallholder farmers in the developing world adapt to climate change.

"The vast majority of the extremely poor and hungry depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. They are the most vulnerable to the impacts of global warming and an unstable climate," he said.

Innovative approaches, he said, exist that could help them improve yields and build their resilience, he said, such as green manuring, greater use of nitrogen-fixing cover crops, improving sustainable soil management, agroforestry techniques, and integrating animal production into cropping systems.


"But farmers face major barriers, such as the lack of access to credit and markets, lack of knowledge and information, insecurity about land tenure, and high transaction costs of moving away from existing practices," the Director-General noted.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE 
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

'Heathrow expansion, danger to Paris deal on Climate Change’

Climate change and energy policy expert, Prof. Alice Larkin has kicked against the United Kingdom (UK) plan to expand the popular Heathrow Airport in the capital city of London, citing climate change concerns, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Larkin, who is a professor of Climate Change and Energy Policy at  the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, School of Mechanical, Civil and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Manchester, was reacting to the plan proclaimed Tuesday by UK government.

NaijaAgroNet notes that at a cabinet committee on Tuesday, the government approved plans to build a third runway at Heathrow, thus expanding UK airport capacity. Although, there will be a public consultation on the effects of the expansion before the government makes a final decision as part of a national policy statement on aviation, Professor Larkin urged the government to pay attention to climate change scientists.

She pointed out that in the 2000s, research fed into a heated debate on airport expansion in the UK and based on some of the work, arguments were made against further airport expansion, on the grounds that this would be at odds with climate change commitments.

“Just a few years on, with an additional 180 Giga Tonnes of CO2 accumulating in the atmosphere, global climate change policy objectives have been strengthened, and air travel is still dominated by the privileged few,” she said.

Larkin also lamented that the approval of a third runway at Heathrow that will expand capacity and support further passenger growth, stressing that it would be reasonable then to ask some questions.
“Has there been a new, groundbreaking technical solution to decarbonise the aviation sector? Can an increase in air travel somehow sit comfortably alongside the Paris Agreement’s goals? Did we just get the maths wrong the first time around? Sadly, the answer to all of these questions is a resounding ‘no’” she argued.

As said by her, there have been improvements in aircraft fuel efficiency, which have been incremental, pointing out that alternative fuels continued to be researched, their mainstream global penetration to propel civil aircraft remains decades away and not just for technical reasons.

She emphasised that the only real saving grace from the climate perspective is that growth in UK-related passenger numbers has been lower than previously forecast. This has been partly due to the global economic downturn and also, in-part, due to a constraint on airport expansion. In other words, we’ve been somewhat successful in limiting high levels of CO2 growth from the UK’s international flights by maintaining the existing level of airport capacity.

Larkin posited that all this suggests that climate change science is being overlooked to an even greater extent than it was before, in favour of poorly evidenced arguments in support of expanded airport capacity to increase economic growth.

“What is particularly shocking about this turn of events, is that this is happening just days before the Paris Agreement comes into force.  The unavoidable reality is that the highly constrained carbon budget that is consistent with the Paris Agreement requires all sectors to urgently reduce CO2 emissions and accelerate away from using fossil fuels. Of course some sectors will achieve this sooner than others, but no sector can be excluded.

Technically and operationally, she said, options for decarbonising the aviation sector within a timeframe consistent with the Paris goals remain few and far between, which means that demand-side measures that constrain further growth, and have been constraining growth in the past, must receive much greater attention.

She maintained that policy measures aimed at increasing capacity and supporting further growth in air travel, such as the third runway at Heathrow, are at odds with the Paris Agreement. Such developments risk future stranded assets, and are inconsistent with tackling climate change. Researchers will need to raise their voices to new levels given this week’s decisions.

NaijaAgroNet further notes that the upcoming call from the Environmental Audit Committee for evidence of the impacts of the third runway is a welcome opportunity on the horizon, but the government has to be willing to sit up and pay attention to the evidence of climate change scientists and prove their commitment to the Paris Agreement.

Remmy Nweke/ED, Ops
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

Saturday, October 22, 2016

American climate change youths plot Trump’s downfall

The Young Americans may be spoiling for way as they are galvanizing global climate change advocates against Mr. Donald Trump, alleging the presidential candidate for the Republican party wants to destroy the Paris Climate Change deal, reports NaijaAgroNet.

To this end, they are muscling up global youth campaign using the Short Messaging Service (SMS) otherwise known as ‘texting’ to make sure they fail Mr. Trump by simply texting.

Confirming this resolve, in an online petition via Avaaz, the lead advocate, Emma Ruby-Sachs, insisting that Mr. Trump is trying to destroy the global deal on Paris climate change, hence he deserves global campaign against him.

“Trump wants to tear up the Paris climate deal, and that's just the start of his horrifying plans! But now there's a way we can all help stop him, just by texting,” Ruby-Sachs said. 

NaijaAgroNet recalls that Avaaz is a 44-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people shape global decision-making. Avaaz means "voice" or "song" in many languages has memberships in every nation of the world; whereas its team is spread across 18 countries on 6 continents and operates in 17 languages. 


Isaac Oyimah/GEE

... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

Saturday, November 7, 2015

ACPC, AYICC youth consultation for COP21




The Gambia's minister of Youth and Sports, Alieu K Jammeh, has said that Africa Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) and the Africa Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC) organized Conference will create space for a youth consultation in the run up to COP2, NaijaAgroNet reports.

COP21, a United Nations’ Conference, NaijaAgroNet reports, is a sustainable innovation forum 2015 to be held on December 7 and 8 in Paris, France to brainstorm on issues arising from climate change.

Jammeh was addressing the 1st Africa Youth Conference on Climate Change held in Zimbabwe, Monday, on the theme: 'African youth responses to climate change and food security, action from the frontlines'.

"We all know that Africa, our continent, is the world's youngest continent with two-thirds of the population falling below 24 years old and increasing; in fact expected to double by 2045. There is huge potential in these numbers because with big numbers, as proven in certain dynamics, they can propel economic success," he stated.

 He told the gathering that it is the people of Africa that will have to take the lead in shaping the future that they desire for themselves and generations unborn so that Africa can become the giant that it should be; a giant of economic prosperity, socio-cultural advancement, and political tolerance, all within an ecosystem that guarantees their continuous existence on earth in harmony with nature, NaijaAgroNet learnt.

"In addition, the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report states that Africa could face a triple whammy of extreme weather, crop failures and disease if temperatures rise are unchecked."

"As the theme for this conference aptly links food security with climate change, we are called upon to look at agriculture again and ensure that agriculture, being the biggest economic sector of most of our countries, is revitalised and made attractive to our teeming youthful population. By getting agriculture fixed and functioning well, two issues of employment creation and improving food security for our people would have been addressed automatically," the minister opined.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE
 
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Quinoa set to serve as major food



 
Due to its high nutritional, agronomic and economic values, Quinoa is set to be a major food for future generations and an important alternative crop considering the challenges caused by climate change, NaijaAgroNet reports.

The Director of the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ (FAO) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Division of Nuclear Techniques in FAO, Qu Liang, made disclosure in a public statement on FAO website.


He  said in the battle to help developing countries overcome threats from declining food production caused by climate change, NaijaAgroNet gathered, one species of edible grain-like crop has caught international attention because of its unique nutritional value. New and improved varieties of quinoa, historically grown in the highlands of South America, will be made available to farmers in mutations adapted to challenging environments in Bolivia and Peru.


Also speaking, Principal Professor and Head, Cereals and Native Grains Research programme, National Agrarian University of La Molina in Peru, L. Gomez-Pando, pointed out that increased genetic diversity is the result of the use of nuclear techniques in collaboration with the IAEA and FAO, said the


“There are 64 mutant lines of quinoa selected by yield potential and quality for the market. These mutant lines will be further evaluated and the best lines will be released as new varieties in 2015–2016,” Gomez-Pando said.


NaijaAgroNet learnt that Quinoa has exceptional nutritional composition, with higher protein content than brown rice, barley and millet. Besides being gluten free, quinoa is an excellent source of dietary fibre and has elevated levels of phosphorus, magnesium, iron and calcium. It is also rich in vitamins.


Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE
 ... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

Monday, July 27, 2015

Agriculture most vulnerable to climate change----Expert


 
The Senior Programme Specialist, International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Edith Ofwona said agriculture which is the backbone of African continent is the sector mostly affected by climate change, NaijaAgroNet reports.
“The biggest challenge,” she disclosed “is how to work with communities not only to cope with short-term impacts but actually to be able to adapt and be resilient over time. We should come up with practical solutions that are affordable and built on the knowledge that communities have.”
Ofwonaro, NaijaAgroNet gathered, took this position at the international scientific conference on ‘Our Common Future under Climate Change’ which was held recently in Paris, which marks commencement of programmes to usher in the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21), also to be held in Paris in six months’ time, to pave the way for a global agreement to keep the rise in the earth’s temperature under 2°C.
Experts said temperature rise on the continent will likely exceed 2°C by 2100 with land temperatures rising faster than the global land average. Scientific assessments, NaijaAgroNet learnt, agree that Africa will also face more climate changes in the future, with extreme weather events increasing in terms of frequency, intensity and duration.
“Most sub-Saharan countries have high levels of climate vulnerability,” said an independent specialist and one of the lead authors of the 5th Assessment Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), South Africa, Penny Urquhart, “Over the years, people became good at adapting to those changes but what we are seeing is increasing risks associated with climate change as this becomes more and more pressing.
He said data monitoring systems are still poor and sparse over the region, “we do know there is an increase in temperature,” she stated adding  that if the global average temperature increases by 2°C by the end of the century, this will be experienced as if it had increased by 4°C in Southern Africa, stated Urquhart.
According to the South African expert, vulnerability to climate variation is very context-specific and depends on people’s exposure to the impacts, so it is hard to estimate the number of people affected by global warming on the continent.
Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE
 
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology