Dear brothers and sisters, I warmly greet you, and I deeply regret not being able to be with you. I entrust Cardinal Parolin with the message I would have liked to convey to you, and I want to say ‘thank you’. Thank you, because for the first time, you have created a faith pavilion within…
MENA Climate Week 2023: Driving Regional Action on Climate Change
By Checky Abuje The second-ever Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Climate Week opened today, with a packed schedule of events designed to shine a spotlight on challenges and solutions in a region that is among the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Taking place in Riyadh from 8-12 October and hosted by…
Climate change and health solutions: Scientists advocate for prioritizing the needs of vulnerable communities
By Lenah Bosibori Scientists from across Africa have emphasized the need for placing vulnerable communities at the forefront when addressing the interconnecting challenges of climate change and health as they bear the brunt of the effects. Speaking during a webinar on ‘Prioritizing Health in Climate Change Action in Africa’ that was organized by the USAID-funded…
Inaugural Africa Climate Summit ends in anti-climax
By Imali Ngusale The Africa Climate Summit has ended in Nairobi with an outcome that is satisfactory to none but to the political class. However, an overwhelming majority of the non-state actors left disappointed and disillusion by the Summit’s final Nairobi Declaration. “The Declaration is a disappointment and portends a doleful outcome for COP28,”…
Africa Climate Week: Ruto calls for raised climate financing, technology transfer
Two months to the 28th UN Climate Change Conference COP28 set for Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) late November, Kenya’s President William Ruto has called the developed countries to increase financing climate action and technology transfer to help Africa sustainably manage her climate-threatened economies and societies. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Africa Climate…
Money Matters: African Feminists want Climate Finance to be Gender Inclusive
By Imali Ngusale Climate finance is seemingly a “taboo” subject in the context of climate crisis, however the disproportionate climate impacts in the global south challenges this view. A vast majority of climate justice activists insist it must finally be addressed. Markedly, at the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) of the UNFCCC in Copenhagen in…
Robust health systems could stem climate-related rising cases of malaria
By Pauline Soy Over the past few decades, remarkable strides have been made to end Africa’s malaria burden. Frontline tools, including insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) and artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), have played significant roles in saving countless lives by reducing deaths and curbing the spread of the disease over the past two decades. Between 2000…
Climate change impacts: Governments urged to invest in mental health infrastructure
African governments need to urgently invest in mental health infrastructure so that they can tackle the rising but hidden cases of climate-related stress among farmers and livestock keepers. Speakers at a meeting organized by the African Coalition of Communities Responsive to Climate Change (ACCRCC) and the Kenya Red Cross Society noted that more than ever…