WWF climate scientist Regine Günther. Credit: Kristin Palitza/IPS

Kristin Palitza spoke to REGINE GÜNTHER, climate protection and energy policy chief at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), about the dangers climate change poses to security and livelihoods.

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 9 (IPS) - Despite the high risk, it remains difficult to convince politicians to take immediate action to prevent further climate change and make available the necessary funds to do so. Scientists have warned repeatedly of the effects of climate change: If governments will not act fast, they will cause an irreversible catastrophe.

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Tinus de Jager reports from COP 17 in Durban that the African negotiators have a clear idea of what they want from the climate talks.

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 7 (IPS) Civil Society organisations are adamant that women are the ones who will be hardest hit by climate change because of the role they play in society as providers for their families. 

Dorah Marema, coordinator of Gender and Climate Change in Southern Africa. Credit: Zukiswa Zimela/IPS

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Khanyisa Sinqe – Zithethele Community Newspaper*

Women from the Eastern Cape at the Rural Women's Assembly. Credit: Khanyisa Sinqe/TerraViva

The women – including farm workers, farm owners, and farm dwellers from inside South Africa, and as far away as Zimbabwe and Malawi, Kenya and Senegal – were not accredited participants in the air-conditioned venue in the city centre.

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Nalifu Yussif sostiene cestas bolga en la COP 17, que se realiza en Durban, Sudáfrica, del 29 de noviembre al 9 de diciembre. Crédito: Isaiah Esipisu/IPS.

Por Isaiah Esipisu

DURBAN, Sudáfrica, 5 dic (IPS) Talata Nsor, originaria de la norteña comunidad ghanesa de Bolgatanga, lleva buena parte de sus 54 años de vida tejiendo las cestas típicas de la zona. Pero en los últimos tiempos se le hace muy difícil conseguir la materia prima.

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Nalifu Yussif holds a few Bolga baskets at the ongoing COP 17 in Durban, South Africa. Materials for making these hand woven baskets are becoming more difficult to source due to climate change. Credit: Isaiah Esipisu/IPS

By Isaiah Esipisu

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 5 (IPS) – Talata Nsor, a 54-year-old woman from Bolgatanga community in Northern Ghana, has been weaving the cultural Bolga baskets, which are named after her community, her entire life.

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By Andre Marais – Amandla Magazine,
Henrietta Mongalo – Ngulunews Community Paper,
and Happy Pretty Ntsanwisi – Nthavela Newspaper

photos by Khanyisa Sinqe – Zithethele Community Newspaper*

DURBAN, Dec 4 – (TerraViva) “Unite against climate change” was the order of the day on Dec. 3, when Greenpeace successfully coordinated a march through the streets of Durban. Several thousand people took part, including both South African activists and campaigners from around the world who have come to Durban to make their voices heard on the issue of responding to global warming. Continue Reading

By Kristin Palitza
DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 3 (IPS) – Chanting loudly, thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets to the venue of the 17th United Nations Climate Change Summit to demand that their voices be heard for “immediate and drastic” carbon emission reductions to save the planet.

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Zambian dairy farmer, Effatah Jele, does not believe in farming luck. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS

By Busani Bafana

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 1 (IPS) – Zambian dairy farmer, Effatah Jele, does not believe in farming luck but in pragmatism because of climate change.

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MIchelle Bachelet, directrice exécutive de l'ONU-Femmes. Credit: Sriyantha Walpola/IPS

Rousbeh Legatis s’entretient avec MICHELLE BACHELET, directrice exécutive de l’ONU-Femmes

NATIONS UNIES, 28 Nov (IPS) – Impliquer les femmes dans la prise de décisions et la gestion des ressources est une nécessité fondamentale pour toute mesure efficace visant à faire face aux conséquences multiformes, menaçant la vie, des changements climatiques, affirme la directrice exécutive de l’ONU-Femmes. Continue Reading