Climate Action

Photo: Dr. Bradnee Chambers ©Aydin Bahramlouian

Harmonise Renewables with Migratory Species Conservation

By Bradnee Chambers

Dr. Bradnee Chambers is Executive Secretary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) an environmental treaty under the aegis of UN Environment. Below are excerpts from his keynote address at the side event on 17 May in the margins of the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn. – The Editor

BONN (IDN-INPS) – The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change are ground-breaking and highly synergistic agreements. Together they provide a vision and an agenda for shared prosperity and peace on a healthy planet.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; OPINION; 18 May 2017

UN Turns to Developing Country Youth to Lead Climate Action

BONN (IDN) – Two United Nations agencies, the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat and the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) have launched a significant initiative aimed at preparing young developing country professionals to lead climate action. It will get under way following the UN Climate Change Conference, which runs to May 18.

The fellowship initiative will offer work experience in a vibrant international policy environment at the UNFCCC Secretariat, according to a media release.. The UNU-EHSwill help identify and recruit the young professionals, and provide them with an exciting research environment, the media release added.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 16 May 2017

Vienna Energy Forum Has 10 Key Messages for UNIDO

Note: This report is based on a UNIDO media release issued on May 15. An independent analysis follows in the next few days. Meanwhile, we invite you to listen to our video interview with Piyush Goyal, India's Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines. - The Editor.

VIENNA (IDN) – Clean and affordable energy for all will play a vital role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) endorsed in 2015 and translating the 2016 Paris Climate Change Agreement into reality: this was the upshot of expert and high-level sessions of the four-day Vienna Energy Forum that concluded in the Austrian capital on May 12.

The fifth edition of the Forum co-organized by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), the Austrian Government, and Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) brought together more than 1,650 participants from 128 countries.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 16 May 2017

Photo: Vanuatu is one of the Least Developed Countries, and is increasingly affected by climate change. Here local people are constructing a river crossing using rocks and coral after flooding destroyed a bridge (Photo: 350.org.

World's Poorest Push for Action to Address Climate Change

By Jutta Wolf

BONN (IDN) – As representatives of countries from around the world were preparing to gather in Bonn from May 8-18 for a new session of United Nations climate change negotiations, Chair of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group, Gebru Jember Endalew of Ethiopia stressed the need for "substantive progress" on the rules and processes that will fully operationalise the Paris Agreement.

The conference marks the half-way point to the finalisation of this process by 2018. It is also a staging-post for for COP23, the 23rd annual Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bonn in November 2017.

: Jutta Wolf; UN INSIDER; 07 May 2017

New UN Report Highlights Impact of Climate Change on Health

By Rita Joshi

BONN (IDN) - While a new UN report finds that health risks related to climate change are on the rise worldwide, it avers that coordinated international responses can help prevent some of the worst impacts of climate change on health.

“The report clearly highlights the need for the UN and partners to continuously strengthen their actions to support governments to build climate resilience, including measures to protect human health,” says Youssef Nassef, Director of the Adaptation Programme of the UNFCCC secretariat.

The report, which will be presented to governments during the next round of climate change negotiations to be held in Bonn from May 8-18, 2017, was prepared in collaboration with countries, the World Health Organization and other relevant expert organisations, under the Nairobi work programme − UN Knowledge-for-Action Climate Resilience Network.

: Rita Joshi; UN INSIDER; 13 April 2017

Rich Nations Urged to Honour Paris Commitments at COP23

By Jaya Ramachandran

BERLIN (IDN) – Brazil, South Africa, India and China have urged rich nations to honour their commitments made in Paris in 2015 and provide money, help in capacity building and transfer technology to developing countries to fight against climate change.

The four countries comprising BASIC made the plea in a joint statement emerging from their 24th Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change on April 10-11, 2017 in Beijing, China. The statement urged industrialized countries to honour their commitments and increase climate finance towards the 100 billion dollars per annum goal, to be scaled-up significantly after 2025.

: Jaya Ramachandran; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 13 April 2017

Photo: Mary Robinson addressing the ECOSOC Partnership Forum on April 5, 2017. Credit: UN

Climate Action Is Imperative, Says ECOSOC Partnership Forum

By Jaya Ramachandran

This report is based on an unofficial record of the Economic and Social Council 2017 Session, Partnership Forum (ECOSOC/6821) on April 5, 2017. – The Editor.

NEW YORK (IDN) – "The clock is ticking and we have no time to waste" amid climate change, rapid urbanization, mass movements of people and other global trends affecting communities and financing worldwide, said Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations in a video message to the day-long Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Partnership Forum on April 5.

The 2030 Agenda had set the bar high and partnerships were key to supporting the Sustainable Development Goals and ensuring their success. In fostering partnerships, critical elements included delivering results on the ground, providing effective financing and garnering significant private-sector investment, the Deputy Secretary-General added.

: Jaya Ramachandran; UN INSIDER; 10 April 2017

Giri Kadurugamuwa – a conservationist, shows how land degradation is damaging a tea plant, making it hollow and fragile: “If you claw at the trunk, it will start to peel off.” Credit: Stella Paul.

Drought Forcing Sri Lanka’s Tea Producers to Seek Greener Pastures

By Stella Paul

RATNAPURA, Sri Lanka (IDN) – The deafening sound of half a dozen rolling machines in the Rilhena tea factory feels like a hard punch on the head, but for factory workers Bihita Madura and Rajakaxmi Chandrakumar this is sweet music.

Their noise-belching, black dust-spewing machine symbolises what matters most: another day at work. “It’s a normal day for us," says Madura, watching Chandrakumar feed a shovel of black tea leaves into the giant rolling machine.

Both in their forties, Madura and Chandrakumar have good reason to be relieved: the Rilhena factory, owned by Khawatte Plantations of tea major Dilmah, is one of the country’s best-performing tea producers. But elsewhere in the country, the industry has been battling a series of problems: drought, dry spells, erratic rain, degrading land, eroding soil, crashing tea prices, low yield, labour migration and closure of factories.

: Stella Paul; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 07 April 2017

Banks Join UN to Channel Money for Sustainable Development

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) - Nearly 20 leading global banks and investors, totalling $6.6 trillion in assets, have launched a United Nations-backed global framework aimed at channelling the money they manage towards clean, low carbon and inclusive projects, according to UN News.

The Principles for Positive Impact Finance – a first of its kind set of criteria for investments to be considered sustainable – provide financiers and investors with a global framework applicable across their different business lines, including retail and wholesale lending, corporate and investment lending and asset management.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 25 March 2017

Photo: 67-year old Meleli Sibanda, a member of the Khoisan tribe in Zimbabwe's Tsholotsho district sits outside her home with her one year old granddaughter who is leaning on the granny's shoulder. The tribe has fallen prey to the blame of fuelling climate change impacts here. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo | IDN-INPS

Southern Africa’s Khoisan Tribe Victimised by War on Climate Change

By Jeffrey Moyo

HARARE (ACP-IDN) – Ndliso-Ndliso Sibanda, a descendant of Southern Africa’s ancient Khoisan tribe, still practises a semi-nomadic life style in Zimbabwe despite his 75 years, and is constantly on the move looking for wood to construct shelter, and wild fruits and tubers when they are in season.

Ndliso-Ndliso, who lives with his family in Tsholotsho, a district in Matabeleland North Province, has continued his life style despite the stringent rules enacted by the government country to protect the environment as it wages war against the impact of climate change.