- Negotiators and experts from Africa, the continent said to be most vulnerable to global warming, have converged in Ethiopia for their last United Nations-backed meeting before the December’s summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, where nations are set to conclude negotiations on a new climate change agreement.
According to the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Africa has a limited capacity to adapt to global warming. The region’s key economic sectors are vulnerable to climate change, and this vulnerability is compounded by existing challenges including poverty, disasters and conflicts.
The week-long meeting which kicked off in Addis Ababa today is a joint initiative of the African Union (AU) and the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (ACMEN), along with ECA and UNEP.
Participants are expected to update the common negotiating position at the Copenhagen talks for Africa, which hopes for an inclusive, fair and effective pact to come out of the summit in the Danish capital. Any agreement must both recognise the continent’s need for adaptation support and understand that the solution to climate change must take its development obstacles into account.
Failure to reach an equitable agreement in Copenhagen will have dire consequences for Africa, warned ECA, which also underscored the need for the South-South transfer of knowledge to combat climate change.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.