Greening Africa's Economy
The Green Economy is based on the premise that social and economic progress must be achieved in ways that will not exhaust the earth’s finite natural resources and that will cope with the concerns over lack of natural resources, environmental devastation, and climate change.
Building Natural Capital – How REDD+ Can Support a Green Economy
Forests and the services that they provide are key to sustainable development and to human well-being, whether in terms of storing carbon, supporting the world’s richest bank of terrestrial biodiversity, regulating water flows, reducing soil erosion, or providing a source of nutrition, timber and valuable genetic resources. The ecosystem service value of tropical forests is estimated at US$6,120 per hectare per year, while the cost of losing forests at the current pace amounts to US$2.5 trillion per year, if all ecosystem services were accounted for. Despite this clear macro-economic case, the total yearly forest loss averages about 13 million hectares per year - representing the surface of one football field of forest being destroyed every three seconds. This continued loss and degradation of forests represents a massive market and policy failure.
Adaptation is Best Response to Climate Change
The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently released a report on climate change many have found deeply troubling. The report reveals documented climatological changes, predicts future changes, and supplies suggestions on how governments should address these future changes. Though the concepts of global warming and climate change can be hotly divisive, all should agree that successful adaptation to adverse climate changes is a vital goal for human civilization.
Global warming could dry out a third of the Earth by 2100
Forget changing rain patterns — warmer temperatures alone could bring drought to a third of Earth’s land area by the end of the century. That’s the gist of a new study from Columbia University’s Earth Observatory: Hotter temperatures will mean more evaporation, drying out the soil and posing a significant risk to global agriculture and food security.
Climate Central has the details:
Climate models using the so-called business-as-usual greenhouse gas emissions scenario, which assumes no effort to curb emissions, found that increased evaporation “not only intensifies drying in areas where precipitation is already reduced, it also drives areas into drought that would otherwise experience little drying or even wetting from precipitation trends alone,” the authors wrote. That would potentially push up to 30 percent of Earth’s land area into drought, compared to the 12 percent precipitation trends alone would affect.
Congo Gets Tough on Wildlife Traffickers
Newswise — The Wildlife Conservation Society reports a major seizure of illegal bushmeat in Congo at Maya Maya International Airport in Brazzaville when authorities recently confiscated approximately 40 animals including monkeys, antelope, and porcupine.
In an unrelated incident, two bushmeat traffickers were arrested transporting 30 carcasses of similar wildlife through the Mila Mila area of Niari. The traffickers are currently awaiting trial.
Climate change will 'lead to battles for food', says head of World Bank
Jim Yong Kim urges campaigners and scientists to work together to form a coherent plan in the fight against climate change
Battles over water and food will erupt within the next five to 10 years as a result of climate change, the president of the World Bank said as he urged those campaigning against global warming to learn the lessons of how protesters and scientists joined forces in the battle against HIV.
Jim Yong Kim said it was possible to cap the rise in global temperatures at 2C but that so far there had been a failure to replicate the "unbelievable" success of the 15-year-long coalition of activists and scientists to develop a treatment for HIV.
The bank's president – a doctor active in the campaign to develop drugs to treat HIV – said he had asked the climate change community: "Do we have a plan that's as good as the plan we had for HIV?" The answer, unfortunately, was no.
16 new species listed into CITES for protection
Sixteen new species were added into the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) at requests of Nicaragua, Pakistan and Russia for their protection against over-exploitation through international trade, said CITES Secretariat here on Wednesday.
The new listings in CITES Appendix III included tree species Mongolian oak and Manchurian ash requested by Russia, Yucatan rosewood by Nicaragua and thirteen species of animals such as blackbuck, nilgai, striped hyaena, kalij pheasant and peafowl pheasant by Pakistan.
The listings of high-value timber species, mammals and birds would enter into force on 24 June, which means that all cross-border shipments of specimens covered by the listing would have to be authorized by the issuance of a document certifying the legal origin of the products covered by the listing.
How health and hygiene go hand in hand with education
As we all know, prevention is better than a cure. So to tackle the problems caused by bad hygiene and sanitation, plus a lack of health awareness, various projects are doing their best to help people learn how to protect themselves.
No-one would like their children to go to a school with no proper sanitation. But in Tanzania many schools do not have proper facilities, resulting in health problems and high drop-out rates. So UNICEF, in collaboration with the state, is providing lavatories along with lessons on staying healthy
In Tanzania nearly five children die every hour due to poor hygiene conditions, according to UNICEF. Inadequate water supply and sanitation facilities are not only a health issue but also affect school attendance and educational performance.
The rapid increase in primary school enrollment since the abolition of school fees for primary education in 2002 has put a heavy burden on existing school infrastructures. National data shows that on average there is only one pit latrine for every 56 children in Tanzania’s primary schools.
Luminous Water Technologies Wins Prestigious 'The Water Digest' - Water Awards 2013-2014 for Second Consecutive Year
Luminous Water Technologies has been awarded with two prestigious 'The Water Digest' – Water Awards for the year 2013-2014. Livpure Touch Plus, flagship product of Luminous Water Technologies wins The Water Digest, Water Awards 2013-2014 in association with UNESCO for ‘Innovative Domestic Water Purifier Best RO+UV+UF ’. Luminous Water Technologies has also been awarded as “The Fastest Growing Water Purifier Company.” The award function was held at Jaypee Vasant Continental. The Water Digest – Water Awards are supported by the Ministry of Water Resources and UNESCO.
Changing climate— Policy innovations important for a resilient global agriculture and food system
The following post by IFPRI Director General Shenggen Fan was originally published on his DG Corner blog on April 3, 2014.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) latest Report, Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability, is a reminder that swift and concrete actions are needed to avert the negative impacts of a changing climate.
Key findings from the report on risks to food security and food production systems include:
No comments:
Post a Comment