Affordable Clean Energy

Image: RES4Africa promotes the deployment of large-scale and decentralized renewable energy solutions in Sub-Saharan African markets to meet local energy needs for growth. Credit: RES4Africa.

Renewed Efforts to Develop Renewable Age Grip East Africa

By Justus Wanzala

NAIROBI (IDN) – Heightened demand for energy, a shift in policy and the emergence of viable entrepreneurial innovations are propelling transition to sustainable energy in the East African region.

This emerged during a two-day conference organised by Kenya’s Strathmore University‘s Energy Research Centre (SERC) in partnership with Renewable Energy Solutions for Africa (RES4Africa) – an association that promotes the deployment of large-scale and decentralised renewable energy in sub-Saharan African countries. The meeting was held on in Nairobi.

: Justus Wanzala; THE WORLD; Africa; 29 January 2018

The World's Poorest Need Funding for Access to Modern Energy

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) – The world's 47 least developed countries (LDCs) are "the battleground" on which the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will be won or lost, Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General of UNCTAD has warned, adding that it is high time for donors to meet aid commitments.

The 2030 Agenda includes an explicit goal for energy – Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7, to 'ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all'.

"The central role of access to modern energy in achieving the other SDGs means that meeting SDG 7 will be central to the success or failure of the 2030 Agenda as a whole," says Kituyi, introducing The Least Developed Countries Report 2017.

: Jaya Ramachandran; SUSTAINABILITY; Affordable Clean Energy; 23 November 2017

Inaction is Not an Option in the Face of Climate Emergency

By John Scales Avery*

John Scales Avery is a theoretical chemist noted for his research publications in quantum chemistry, thermodynamics, evolution, and history of science. Presently an Associate Professor in quantum chemistry at the University of Copenhagen, he is working on a book with the title 'THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY: Two time scales'. A first draft of the book can be downloaded from: http://www.fredsakademiet.dk/library/climate.pdf. The following are excerpts from introduction to the book. – The Editor

COPENHAGEN (IDN) - Quick change is needed to save the long-term future. The central problem, which the world faces in its attempts to avoid catastrophic climate change, is a contrast of time scales. In order to save human civilization and the biosphere from the most catastrophic effects of climate change, we need to act immediately. Fossil fuels must be left in the ground. Forests must be saved from destruction by beef or palm oil production.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 18 November 2017

Photo: Iceberg in North Star Bay, Greenland. Credit: NASA's Earth Observatory

Climate Scientists Warn of Unprecedented Risks to Humanity

By Jaya Ramachandran

BONN (IDN) – Scientists are warning of a profound impact on human health and migration, leading to civil unrest and conflict. In a new statement to national representatives meeting in Bonn for the annual climate talks widely known as COP23, scientists said that Earth is approaching tipping points that threaten human security.

The warning that Planet Earth is coming close to a critical situation – when a series of small climate changes would become significant enough to cause havoc – comes as global emissions are projected to rise after three stable years.

COP23 is an abbreviation for the 23rd session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in the former West German capital city Bonn, from November 6 to 17.