BERLIN, Germany (PAMACC News) - Human-induced climate change is causing dangerous and widespread disruption in nature and affecting the lives of billions of people around the world, despite efforts to reduce the risks. People and ecosystems least able to cope are being hardest hit, said scientists in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, released on 28 February 2022. “This report is a dire warning about the consequences of inaction,” said Hoesung Lee, Chair of the IPCC. “It shows that climate change is a grave and mounting threat to our wellbeing and a healthy planet. Our actions today will shape how people adapt and nature responds to increasing climate risks.” The world faces unavoidable multiple climate hazards over the next two decades with global warming of 1.5°C (2.7°F). Even temporarily exceeding this warming level will result in additional severe impacts, some of which will be irreversible. Risks for society will increase, including to infrastructure and low-lying coastal settlements. The Summary for Policymakers of the IPCC Working Group II report, Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability was approved on Sunday, February 27 2022, by 195 member governments of the IPCC, through a virtual approval session that was held over two weeks starting on February 14. Urgent action required to deal with increasing risks Increased heatwaves, droughts and floods are already exceeding plants’ and animals’ tolerance thresholds, driving mass mortalities in species such as trees and corals. These weather extremes are occurring simultaneously, causing cascading impacts that are increasingly difficult to manage. They have exposed millions of people to acute food and water insecurity, especially in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, on Small Islands and in the Arctic. To avoid mounting loss of life, biodiversity and infrastructure, ambitious, accelerated action is required to adapt to climate change, at the same time as making rapid, deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. So far, progress on adaptation is uneven and there are increasing gaps between action taken and what is needed to deal with the increasing risks, the new report finds. These gaps are largest among lower-income populations. The Working Group II report is the second instalment of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), which will be completed this year. “This report recognizes the interdependence of climate, biodiversity and people and integrates natural, social and economic sciences more strongly than earlier IPCC assessments,” said Hoesung Lee. “It emphasizes the urgency of immediate and more ambitious action to address climate risks. Half measures are no longer an option.” Safeguarding and strengthening nature is key to securing a liveable future There are options to adapt to a changing climate. This report provides new insights into nature’s potential not only to reduce climate risks but also to improve people's lives. “Healthy ecosystems are more resilient to climate change and provide life-critical services such as food and clean water”, said IPCC Working Group II Co-Chair Hans-Otto Pörtner. “By restoring degraded ecosystems and effectively and equitably conserving 30 to 50 per cent of Earth’s land,…

NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - Heads of State, Ministers of environment and other representatives from 175 nations endorsed a historic resolution at the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5) today in Nairobi to End Plastic Pollution and forge an international legally binding agreement by 2024. The resolution addresses the full lifecycle of plastic, including its production, design and disposal. “Against the backdrop of geopolitical turmoil, the UN Environment Assembly shows multilateral cooperation at its best,” said the President of UNEA-5 and Norway’s Minister for Climate and the Environment, Espen Barth Eide. “Plastic pollution has grown into an epidemic. With today’s resolution we are officially on track for a cure.” The resolution, based on three initial draft resolutions from various nations, establishes an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC), which will begin its work in 2022, with the ambition of completing a draft global legally binding agreement by the end of 2024. It is expected to present a legally binding instrument, which would reflect diverse alternatives to address the full lifecycle of plastics, the design of reusable and recyclable products and materials, and the need for enhanced international collaboration to facilitate access to technology, capacity building and scientific and technical cooperation. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) will convene a forum by the end of 2022 that is open to all stakeholders in conjunction with the first session of the INC, to share knowledge and best practices in different parts of the world. It will facilitate open discussions and ensure they are informed by science, reporting on progress throughout the next two years. Finally, upon completion of the INC’s work, UNEP will convene a diplomatic conference to adopt its outcome and open it for signatures. “Today marks a triumph by planet earth over single-use plastics. This is the most significant environmental multilateral deal since the Paris accord. It is an insurance policy for this generation and future ones, so they may live with plastic and not be doomed by it.” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP. “Let it be clear that the INC’s mandate does not grant any stakeholder a two-year pause. In parallel to negotiations over an international binding agreement, UNEP will work with any willing government and business across the value chain to shift away from single-use plastics, as well as to mobilise private finance and remove barriers to investments in research and in a new circular economy,” Andersen added. Plastic production soared from 2 million tonnes in 1950 to 348 million tonnes in 2017, becoming a global industry valued at US$522.6 billion, and it is expected to double in capacity by 2040. The impacts of plastic production and pollution on the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature loss and pollution are a catastrophe in the making: Exposure to plastics can harm human health, potentially affecting fertility, hormonal, metabolic and neurological activity, and open burning of plastics contributes to air pollution. By 2050 greenhouse gas emissions associated with plastic production, use and disposal would account for 15 per cent of allowed emissions,…

NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - As the world prepare for the United Nation’s led summit to discuss global food and nutrition security, Uganda’s President, Yoweri Museveni has pointed out key issues that must be addressed for Africa to attain resilient and sustainable food systems.During the presidential summit at the Africa Green Revolution Forum (AGRF), which was hosted by Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta and attended by Presidents of Malawi, Rwanda, Namibia and Uganda, Museveni said that the issue of sustainable food systems in Africa was a multidimensional one and should be addressed at different levels.“The first issue is seeds,” said the president, noting that there is need for African countries to invest in improved seeds and agricultural research. “Fortunately in Uganda we have research institutions, and they have handled the issue of improved seeds for many crops,” he said.Museveni noted that apart from seeds, countries must address the issue of good agronomic practices, which include control of soil erosion, retention of soil moisture use of recommended farm inputs, good crop and animal husbandry among others.“We also must address the issue of storage and post harvest handling,” he said. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates from 2011 suggest that as much as 37 percent of food produced in Sub-Saharan Africa is lost between production and consumption. Estimates for cereals are 20.5 percent. African countries were also asked to embrace farm mechanization and work towards improving the transport systems, particularly the roads and the railway system for easy trade of food commodities.To sustain food productivity without relying on climatic conditions, the head of state observed that the UN Food Systems Summit must address the issue of irrigation in African countries. Studies have so far shown that in the Sub Saharan Africa region, less than four percent of the area cultivated is equipped for irrigation.“Some countries like Uganda have sufficient food and we even have surplus. So I urge the Heads of States to address the issue of markets for such countries. Farmers can only produce better if they are sure that they have the market for their produce,” said President Museveni.So far, the Africa Union has already formed the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) with an aim of accelerating intra-African trade and boosting Africa’s trading position in the global market by strengthening Africa’s common voice and policy space in global trade negotiations.Other issues discussed at the AGRF high level summit include the use of recommended fertilisers, control of crop pests and diseases, soil mapping to understand which food grows better where, overfishing particularly on Lake Victoria, and sufficient electricity supply in all African countries to facilitate food processing.Kenya’s President, Uhuru Kenyatta called on African leaders to prioritise initiatives that will cause inclusive agricultural transformation.“In order to overcome (some of the) negative perceptions (about agriculture in Kenya) and to show our children and youth the nobility and profitability of agriculture, we are elevating the place of agriculture in our schools by revitalizing the 4-K-Clubs,” said the Head of State.President Kagame of…

NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - The 2021 Africa Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) hosted by President Uhuru Kenyatta and attended by five other African heads of states ended September 10 with a conclusion that Africa is way off the track towards zero hunger by 2030, and therefore, there is need to change the way of farming, and the way countries look at the agriculture and food sector.Agriculture, said Lionel Zinsou former Prime Minister of Benin, is the backbone of most of the economies on the continent, “and yet it has been neglected,” he said.Addressing over 8,000 AGRF participants including government officials, development partners, research scientists, members of the civil society, farmers and the private sector, Zinsou observed that there is an urgent need for African countries to reconsider investment in Agriculture, “if we must get back on track and address the problem of food and nutrition security by 2030.” Referring to his country Benin, the former Prime Minister said: “We can’t have agriculture contributing 27 percent to the GDP of a country, employing 50 percent of the population, but with credit share of just two percent.”Benin’s situation is not very different from Kenya. During the financial year 2021/2022, the government allocated 2.4 percent of the total budget to agriculture to be administered by the central government, a sector that contributes 34 percent to the country’s GDP, and employs in excess of 40 percent of the total population and 70 percent of the rural population.“These figures must change,” said Zinsou, also the Founder and Managing Partner at the SouthBridge, an investment bank providing pan-African financial and advisory solutions for public and private clients across Africa.Most African countries including Kenya are signatories to the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), which calls for allocation of at least 10 percent of the total budget to the agriculture sector. The CAADP was seen as the vehicle to stimulate production and bring about food security among the populations of the continent.However, despite many countries being food insecure, they are yet to allocate even half of what they signed for 18 years ago.Dr James Mwangi, the Head of Equity Bank said that there is need to appreciate agriculture and finance it to the same level that it contributes to the GDP of the African continent. “At Equity Bank, we have made a bold commitment to allocate 30 of the credit share to the agricultural sector,” he told the AGRF delegates.Besides the call for agriculture financing, it was observed that African farmers must change the way they produce food, the way they market it and the way they consume it. At the AGRF, we have heard a strong call for Africa and the world to change the way we produce, process, market, consume food, and reduce waste. We know that a failure to change will make it impossible to achieve the key sustainable development goal of ending hunger by 2030. Hunger and poverty in Africa can only end with resilient food systems,” read the final statement.“This is a…