Forest, desertification, land degradation & biodiversity

Unprecedented Drought Emergency in the Horn of Africa

Catastrophic Consequences Feared

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) — The United Nations has warned that the Horn of Africa is facing an unprecedented drought emergency, which will unleash catastrophic consequences. Communities in the region are in the midst of a likely fifth consecutive failed rainy season. They may face a sixth failed season in March-May 2023.

Across the Horn of Africa, at least 36.4 million people will be affected by the most prolonged and severe drought in recent history in the last months of 2022, including 24.1 million in Ethiopia, 7.8 million in Somalia and 4.5 million in Kenya.

: J Nastranis; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 26 December 2022

Photo: National negotiators inked a deal to protect nature in the early hours of 19 December in Montreal. Credit: Julian Haber/UN Biodiversity (CC BY 2.0)

A Landmark UN Biodiversity Agreement Achieved

By J C Suresh

TORONTO (IDN) — Countries around the world have agreed on a historic package of measures aimed at addressing the dangerous loss of biodiversity and restoring natural ecosystems. The agreement was achieved after a two-week-long 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity on December 19.

Convened under UN auspices, chaired by China, and hosted by Canada in Montreal, COP15 adopted the “Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework” (GBF), including four goals and 23 targets for achievement by 2030.

: J C Suresh; SUSTAINABILITY; Forests, desertification, land degradation & biodiversity; 21 December 2022

City Mayors Urge Increased Investment to Halt Ecosystem Loss

UNEP and Other Organisations Support the Call

By J C Suresh

TORONTO (IDN) — Cities are on the front line of the socio-economic impacts of climate change and ecosystem loss. They play a significant role in view of the planet experiencing a decline in nature at rates unprecedented in human history—and the largest loss of animal and plant species since the dinosaurs.

Mayors from 15 cities around the world have therefore availed of the biodiversity conference in Montreal—the largest city in Canada's Québec province—to call for increased direct financing to enable them to implement greening and ecosystem restoration projects.

: J C Suresh; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 13 December 2022

Photo: Women in Zambia work inside a greenhouse to increase the production of vegetables for sale at a local market. Credit: ILO/Marcel Crozet.

Three UN Agencies Call for Investments in Rural Employment

Nature-Based Solutions Could Generate 20 million New Jobs

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) — A joint report by three UN organisations says that 20 million jobs could be created by further harnessing the power of nature to address the major challenges facing society, such as climate change, disaster risk and food and water insecurity.

According to the report by the International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), investing in policies that support Nature-based Solutions (NbS), would generate significant employment opportunities, particularly in rural areas.

: Jaya Ramachandran; SUSTAINABILITY; Decent Work & Economic Growth; 13 December 2022

Climate Deal Disappoints Climate Activists

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (IDN) — Delegates to the UN climate conference (COP27) reached a compromise to create a fund for disadvantaged countries coping with climate disasters worsened by pollution, mainly from wealthy nations.

The meeting of almost 200 countries, ending on November 20 after two weeks of talks, put a finishing touch to one of the most contentious issues dogging the UN group that saw years of discussion but no agreement on how to phase out fossil fuels or meet the urgent needs of African and other regions of the Global South.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Forests, desertification, land degradation & biodiversity; 22 November 2022

Photo: In Harare, the Zimbabwean capital’s medium density suburb called Glaudina west of the city, where a thick forest used to exist about a decade ago, under construction, hordes of homes are emerging instead as trees have vanished. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo | IDN

Growing Urbanization Chewing Away Forests in Southern Africa

By Jeffrey Moyo

HARARE, Zimbabwe (IDN) — In Harare, the Zimbabwean capital’s medium-density suburb known as Glaudina, where a thick forest used to exist, homes under construction have emerged instead, with the trees vanishing.

North-West of Zimbabwe, just outside Lusaka, the Zambian capital, slums and shacks have also, over the decades, replaced the once flourishing forests.

: Jeffrey Moyo; SUSTAINABILITY; Forests, desertification, land degradation & biodiversity; 18 November 2022

COP27: Leaders Launch Global Alliance Against Future Drought Impacts

By Rita Joshi

BONN | SHARM EL-SHEIKH (IDN) — Leaders from over 25 countries and 20 organizations have launched the International Drought Resilience Alliance to accelerate action and help countries to be better prepared for future droughts.

Drought represents the most serious hazard to livestock and crops in nearly every part of the world, and ranks among the greatest threats to sustainable development, especially in developing countries, but increasingly so in developed nations too.

: Rita Joshi; SUSTAINABILITY; Forests, desertification, land degradation & biodiversity; 08 November 2022

Photo: Droughts affect the availability of water in communities. Credit: Busani Bafani.

COP27: A Win for Loss and Damage

By Busani Bafana

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (IDN) — After much horse-trading, loss and damage is on the agenda at the COP27 raising expectations of an agreement for funding to promote resilience and address longer-term impacts of climate change.

For the first time since the adoption of the UN climate convention, the contentious issue of loss and damage made it onto the agenda after tumultuous 48 hours of informal consultations led by the Egyptian COP Presidency.

: Africa & ME Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 07 November 2022

Photo: A snow petrel near an iceberg in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. Source: China Dialogue.

UN Talks Fail to Finalise High Seas Biodiversity Treaty

By Fermín Koop

This article was originally published on China Dialogue under the Creative Commons BY NC ND licence.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (IDN) — While many had hoped this would be the session to do it, after two weeks of talks at the UN headquarters in New York, from August 15 to August 26, member states have failed to conclude a legally binding agreement to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity on the high seas.

Now, governments will have to keep bridging their differences until a new meeting, for which a date has not yet been set.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Forests, desertification, land degradation & biodiversity; 02 September 2022

Image: Desertification and drought. Credit: UNCCD

Study Supports Reparations in Climate-Damaged African Nations

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — The African continent of 1.2 billion people, which represents 17% of the world's population, contributes less than 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions but suffers from extreme weather events, which scientists have warned will become more frequent due to climate change.