By Lee Middleton
 
OCEAN VIEW, South Africa, Dec 13 (IPS) – Having observed changes in the sea and the life cycles of the rock lobsters that their livelihoods depend on, a group of fisherwomen from the Western Cape, South Africa are calling on government to adjust fishing seasons to adapt to what they claim are climate [...]

By Isaiah Esipisu*

Peter Nyaga surveys his four-year-old eucalyptus woodlot. / Isaiah Esipisu/IPS

NAIROBI, Dec 12 (IPS) – On a steep slope of land in Thangathi village in Central Province, Kenya, Peter Nyaga surveys his four-year-old eucalyptus woodlot. He calculates the value of every tree on his two-hectare piece of land at maturity in three years.

At [...]

By Stephen Leahy
 

The United Nations climate negotiations ended with the world’s nations still to agree on a new global treaty to reduce carbon emissions. / Tinus de Jager/IPS

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 11 (IPS) – The world is increasingly committed to dangerous levels of global warming with yet another failure by nations of the world to [...]

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 Isaiah Esipisu*
DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 9 (IPS) – For the Laibon community, a sub-tribe of Kenya’s Maasai ethnic group, the 33,000-hectare Loita Forest in the country’s Rift Valley Province is more than just a forest. It is a shrine.

Olonana Ole Pulei’s community is a sub-tribe of Kenya’s Maasai ethnic group. Credit: Isaiah Esipisu/IPS

“It is [...]

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 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 Andrew Green

Workers on Bugala Island work to clear the rainforest to make way for an expanding palm tree plantation. / Will Boase/IPS

SSESE ISLANDS, Uganda, Dec 7 (IPS) – From a distance, Bugala Island in Lake Victoria is a patchwork of green and brown. The pattern is a result of dense forest retreating in [...]

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

Solar geysers are just one requirement for "green" accommodation. / Kristin Palitza/IPS

CAPE TOWN, Dec 6 (IPS) – Counting on responsible travellers who increasingly seek environmentally friendly alternatives for their holidays, South Africa's tourism sector wants to conserve its biggest asset – nature – while fighting climate change at the same time.

Fair [...]

By Joshua Kyalimpa
 

Access to water is an urgent issue here in the Southern Africa region. / Mantoe Phakathi/IPS

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 5 (IPS) – Efforts to establish water as an agenda item in its own right in climate change negotiations are gaining momentum in Durban, South Africa. Water experts say doing this will lead to [...]

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, [...]