Climate change in Africa News

[MAP] Rabat -- Morocco and Chile shared their experience in water management, with a particular focus on best practices for coping with water stress, at a thematic session on climate change and international mobility held in Rabat on Tuesday.

[IPS] Madrid -- Planet Earth is drying up, relentlessly. Over three-quarters of all lands have become permanently drier in the last three decades. This is not jut a statistic but a stark scientific fact. But while such an 'existential crisis' affects nearly every region, guess where -and who- are the most hit?

[IPS] Windhoek & Bulawayo -- Biological diversity is on the decline worldwide, and current approaches to address its loss have been piecemeal and ineffective in tackling the crisis facing nature--this is despite estimates that over half of global GDP (USD 58 trillion of economic activity in 2023) is generated in sectors that are moderately to highly dependent on nature, a new report by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) finds.

[Vanguard] With recent worldwide heatwaves across the globe exceeding temperature records and exposing the impact of climate change, some of the hottest countries, from tropical savannas to scorching deserts, are currently experiencing extreme heat throughout the year.

[Ethiopian Herald] Drought and famine occur in our country at least every 10 years. Establishing the trend and/or frequency of such natural environmental disasters is helpful in preparing for future prevention of similar catastrophes. Based on climate data obtained from trees, scientists say that drought has been plaguing our country since at least the 18th century.

[The Point] Developed nations have agreed to help channel "at least" $300bn a year into developing countries by 2035 to support their efforts to deal with climate change.

[IPS] Riyadh & Hyderabad -- The 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP 16) concluded early hours of Saturday with a renewed focus on building drought resilience globally. However, the COP also failed to agree on bringing a legally binding drought protocol. Like the biodiversity and climate change COPs held earlier in the year, COP16 also failed to finish in time and ended by postponing several key decisions to COP17 scheduled to be held in 2026.

[The Conversation Africa] Dolphins have an irresistible charm for people. They are extremely playful at all ages and often play alone, surfing the waves, leaping into the air, performing flips and striking the water with their tail flukes.

[UN News] UN humanitarians expressed alarm on Monday at the rising numbers of civilian casualties in and around the besieged Sudanese city of El Fasher, in northern Darfur.

[RFI] France is rushing aid to help the Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte by ship and military aircraft after the island was devastated by Cyclone Chido - the worst storm to hit the region in nearly a century.

[AIM] Maputo -- Several districts of the northern Mozambican provinces of Cabo Delgado and Nampula were hit on Sunday by torrential rain and heavy winds as a result of the passage of intense tropical cyclone Chido.

[The Herald] Zimpapers Sports Hub

[savethechildren_uk] Up to 650,000 children [1] and their families are in danger after Cyclone Chido tore through northern Mozambique, Save the Children has warned.

[IPS] Dakar, Senegal -- From increased pests and diseases to lower crop yields and extreme weather events, the adverse impacts of climate change on agriculture in Africa cannot be overstated.

[Daily Trust] Hazy harmattan weather blanketed Kano on Sunday, prompting many residents to stay indoors thereby disrupting daily activities.

[Foroyaa] The ongoing tensions surrounding Sukuta-Salagi Forest took a new turn on Saturday as community members and environmentalists defied police intervention to address their concerns over government-sanctioned activities threatening the forest's future.

[350Africa.org] On Sunday, 8th December, East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP)-impacted communities gathered in Kikuube district in Uganda to hold a press conference and peaceful demonstration in response to the recent claim by the Government of Uganda indicating that financing for the destructive East African Crude Oil Pipeline would come through from numerous Chinese state-owned entities by the end of December 2024.

[UNCCD] After two weeks of intense negotiations on how to tackle land degradation, desertification and drought, the largest and most inclusive United Nations land conference wrapped up in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

[allAfrica] Tropical Cyclone Chido made landfall around 6am on Sunday, December 15, on the coast of Mozambique as a category 4 cyclone, about 35-40km south of Pemba city in Cabo Delgado Province, located in the northern region. The cyclone remained an intense tropical storm, characterized by destructive winds reaching 260km per hour, heavy rainfall of 250mm within 24 hours, and extremely dangerous sea conditions that posed a significant risk of coastal submersion.

[OCHA] Highlights