By Stephen Leahy

Protesters rally in Durban on Dec. 3, 2011. / IPS Africa

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 9 (IPS) – No one is happy late Friday at the very contentious U.N. climate talks that went into extra time on Saturday. As the lights flicker on a rainy night here, the partial power failure echoes the [...]

Kristin Palitza spoke to REGINE GÜNTHER, climate protection and energy policy chief at the World Wide Fund for Nature.
 

WWF climate scientist Regina Guenther. / Kristin Palitza/IPS

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 [...]

By Kristin Palitza

Almost nobody believes that a second, comprehensive commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol is still possible. / Zukiswa Zimela/IPS

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 8 (IPS) – The last hours of the 17th United Nations climate change summit in Durban have begun. Since the arrival of almost 150 ministers and heads of state on [...]

By Stephen Leahy

Reducing carbon emissions will not result in limiting global warming to less than two degrees Celsius. / Zukiswa Zimela

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 8 (IPS) – Countries at the United Nations climate change negotiations have publicly acknowledged their current pledges to reduce carbon emissions will not result in limiting global warming to [...]

By Kanya D’Almeida

Philippi residents grow organic produce for sale to upmarket restaurants in Cape Town as well as for their own table. / Kristin Palitza/IPS

WASHINGTON, Dec 7 (IPS) – The forests in Africa absorb over 1.2 billion tonnes of carbon annually. With these diverse and natural forests, grasslands and prairie lands disappearing under investment schemes [...]

By Kristin Palitza

U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said there is a pool of possible financing options for the Green Climate Fund. / Kristin Palitza/IPS

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 7 (IPS) – Carbon pricing will be the core mechanism to finance the Green Climate Fund and with it climate change adaptation projects in developing countries.

"If you can [...]

By Kanya D'Almeida

A member of the Mundari tribe stands amongst cattle in Terekeka, South Sudan. / Jared Ferrie/IPS

WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (IPS) – While the United Nations climate talks in Durban enter their fifth day of political feet-dragging, researchers and peasants around the world are busy connecting the dots between so- called "green climate solutions", [...]

By Kristin Palitza

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres (l) and COP 17 President Maite Mkoana- Mashabane (r) spoke at the opening of the high-level talks. / Zukiswa Zimela/IPS

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 6 (IPS) – The goal of a comprehensive and binding agreement may be beyond the reach of the 17th United Nations climate change [...]

By Kristin Palitza
 

Electric cars reduce urban air pollution. / Zukiswa Zimela/IPS

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 6 (IPS) – Sweden, the United Kingdom and Germany are the top countries to fight climate change, according to the 2012 Climate Change Performance Index, whose results were published at the United Nations climate change summit today.
 

Sweden, the country with the [...]

By Stephen Leahy

Immediate funding for adaptation and mitigation will help countries to confront climate change. / Tinus de Jager/IPS

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 6 (IPS) – The United States has become the major stumbling block to progress at the mid point of negotiations over a new international climate regime say civil society and many [...]

By Kristin Palitza

Emerging economies face developmental challenges but are also significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. / Zukiswa Zimela/IPS

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 5 (IPS) – Emerging economies China, South Africa and Brazil have indicated their openness to legally-binding carbon emission reduction targets from 2020 during the United Nations climate change summit in Durban, [...]

By Tim Ash Vie *

Climate change wreaks damage on infrastructure, ecosystems, livelihoods and lives in developing countries. / Zukiswa Zimela/IPS

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 1 (IPS) – As climate talks get underway in Durban, South Africa this week, progress on a Green Climate Fund is one of the hottest, most contentious tickets in town. [...]

By Kristin Palitza
 

Burial ground … Protesters from the Sierra Club declare carbon dead outside the United Nations climate change conference. / Zukiswa Zimela/IPS

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 1 (IPS) – Just a few days into the United Nations climate change negotiations, deep divides on the conference’s key issues have arisen. Serious doubts about the adoption [...]

By Miriam Gathigah
BUSAN, South Korea, Dec 1 (IPS) – Gender champions have lauded the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness for providing gender equality and the empowerment of women a special session, but there is dissatisfaction with Thursday’s Busan outcome document.

Although the document alluded to gender equality, experts feel that the scope is narrow [...]

By Joshua Kyalimpa
 

Deaths from natural disasters occur much more in developing countries. / Andrew Green/IPS

DURBAN, South Africa, Nov 30 (IPS) – Managing the impact of increased disasters due to climate change will only be possible if such efforts are led by local communities, say non-governmental organisations working in climate change.
 

“We cannot use the excuse of [...]