Felix Finkbeiner. Credit: Mantoe Phakathi/IPS

By Mantoe Phakathi

CANCÚN, Dec 9, 2010 (IPS/TerraViva) – While delegates, ministers and politicans struggle towards agreement on a climate change treaty in the conference rooms of the Moon Palace, a group of children are getting on with it outside, planting trees to save the planet. Continue Reading

Climate-driven changes in the water cycle will affect large regions of the world. Credit: Friedrich Böhringer/creative commons license

By Stephen Leahy

CANCÚN, Dec 8, 2010 (IPS/TerraViva) – As the world heats up, continents are drying up, with severe droughts forecast in the future. But negotiators at the climate summit here seem to have forgotten about water in their endless discussions over forests, carbon trading and finances. Continue Reading

Jatropha berries. Credit: John Bwakali/IPS

Par Mantoe Phakathi

MBABANE, 7 déc (IPS/TerraViva) – “Nous allons à Cancún pas mieux lotis que nous l’étions à Copenhague”, a déclaré Thuli Makama, la directrice des Amis de la terre – Swaziland, pendant qu’elle se préparait à se rendre aux négociations sur le climat au Mexique. Continue Reading

Irrigation near Kakamas, South Africa: sustainable use of water is especially critical in a warming world. Credit: Patrick Burnett/IPS

By Stephen Leahy

MEXICO CITY, Dec 7, 2010 (IPS/TerraViva) Africa will be amongst the hardest hit regions of the world as the climate heats up, threatening the continent’s food security, experts agree. If global temperatures rise 2.0 degrees C, southern Africa will warm an additional 1.5 degrees to a 3.5-degree increase on average. Continue Reading

Mokoro canoes on the Okavango Delta. Credit: Wikicommons

By Mantoe Phakathi

CANCÚN, Dec 7, 2010, (IPS/TerraViva) – One more thing to add to the checklist of requirement for a sound global agreement on climate change: water. Continue Reading

Farmers have a role to play in reducing emissions. Credit: Kristin Palitza/IPS

By Mantoe Phakathi*

CANCÚN, Dec 5, 2010, (IPS/TerraViva) – Global agriculture contributes in the region of 17 percent to the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, but according to the World Bank, climate smart agriculture techniques can both reduce emissions and meet the challenge of producing enough food for a growing world population. Continue Reading

By Mantoe Phakathi

CANCÚN, Dec 4, 2010 (IPS/TerraViva) – Gender inequalities magnify the impacts of climate change on women worldwide. Activists with the network Gender CC – Women for Climate Justice say that financing a response to climate change must take this into account and be responsive to the needs of women. Continue Reading

By Daniela Estrada*

SANTIAGO, Dec 2, 2010 (IPS/TerraViva) – The wide-ranging knowledge about climate variation possessed by native people and other small farmers, such as the people in one region of Colombia, is almost a perfect match to scientific measurements recorded on high-tech instruments. Continue Reading

Jatropha berries. Credit: John Bwakali/IPS

By Mantoe Phakathi

MBABANE, Dec 1, 2010 (IPS/TerraViva) – “We’re going to Cancun no better off than we were in Copenhagen,” said Thuli Makama, the director of Friends of the Earth Swaziland, as she prepared to leave for the climate negotiations in Mexico. Continue Reading

Mabira Forest, Uganda. Credit: S A Perez/Wikicommons/

By Rosebell Kagumire*

KAMPALA, Nov 30, 2010 (IPS/TerraViva) – Uganda has lost more than two million hectares of forest since 1990, mostly converted to farmland by a growing population of smallholders. Carbon finance through the REDD programme is often presented as one way to arrest this destruction, but only if the benefits clearly translate to the grassroots. Continue Reading