Reporting Fellowships The Pan African Media Alliance for Climate Change (PAMACC) has partnered with SouthSouthNorth Projects Africa (SSNA) which is acting on behalf of Weather and Climate Information Services for Africa (WISER) to have its member journalists report deeply on the social and political implications of delivering weather and climate services in East Africa. We are particularly interested in journalists who are looking to expand their knowledge of weather and climate services reporting. We encourage staff writers for East African publications to apply. Stories should broadly focus on the topic of delivering weather and climate services in East Africa, fulfilling one of the following topics: A weather or climate service which has contributed positively to lives and livelihoods by helping communities or decision makers deal with extreme weather events (such as storms, flood and droughts). A national meteorological agency (potentially in partnership with civil society or the private sector) is delivering a new or novel weather or climate service that is improving (or may improve) the lives of recipients. Better information on climate change that can support better policy or planning decisions or poverty alleviation efforts. A new technology that has been tested or commercialised to provide a weather or climate service. There is a strong preference for deep reporting on WISER projects, but it is expected that journalists use their discretion in deciding what the most important weather and climate service-related stories in their country (or region) that fit the above briefs. Based on the above information, PAMACC is running a closed competition for its active members to produce six major stories across at least three countries in East Africa. The stories will be produced between January and November 2019. Timelines This call runs from today (February 4, 2019) to March 8, 2019. Review and shortlisting will be done from March 11, 2019 to March 17, 2019. Production of the first three stories is expected to begin on March 18, 2019 to June 30, 2019. Production of the last three stories runs from July 1, 2019 to November 15, 2019. Winning journalists will be paid fees for covering the stories, travel and production expenses. We encourage coverage across different media, including print, radio, television and online publications. Journalists should only be paid once stories are published. Eligible candidates will be based in, and hold passports for, one of the following countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Somalia Tanzania and Uganda. Successful candidates will have at least five years reporting experience. A background in climate change reporting is not a prerequisite; we encourage journalist with a background in environmental, political, business, or science and technology reporting to apply. A strong track record in original coverage of development stories in East Africa will be seen as a positive. Strong spoken and written English is necessary. In your applications, kindly include the following: A covering letter describing the applicant’s work history - 300 word maximum Four published stories A pitch for a story that fulfils the given criteria. The stories will first…

One man’s endeavour is changing lives of many in rural Cameroon and fighting climate change. He is tapping energy from the sun and supplying to hospitals in “forgotten” places.Ngo Bas was just 14 when she became pregnant. And now, she is 15 and is due at any moment - literally.“I’m past nine months pregnant,” she says with a grin.She lives with her grandmother in Ngambe, a remote, forested community in Cameroon’s Littoral Region. Things are hard, her granny says, disturbed that the life of the unborn child is in danger because Bas does not feed well. But that is the least of her worries. Bas is supposed to give birth at Ngambe District Hospital where there is no electricity.“We have been without electricityfor like… I can’t even remember. The hospital and by extension patients are the most affected” says Dr. Daniel Telep Yede, director of Ngambe District Hospital.“We use traditional African bush lamps and torches during delivery at night. This is a very very risky venture. Anything can happen to the child and the mother because we don’t usually see what we are doing. We refer worst cases to other hospitals but they are very far away” he adds.That is what worries Bas and her granny most.But, Bas’ worries might soon be over. There is good news. Gaston Claude Songo, is about providing the hospital with solar energy.Songo, 40, is soft-spoken, but he is sure of what he's doing, and has proved a rare skill for seeing the obvious. The idea of supplying renewable energy to remote communities in Cameroon has become a passion for him.One afternoon inearly 2018 while driving in the hot sun in Douala traffic, Songo, was struck by the obvious. “Broadly available technology, plummeting cost of solar panels, and free, unlimited sunshine. I realized that this was a gift from Mother Nature. Why should my people suffer when energy is almost free and clean” Songo says with a sense of pride and fulfillment.Eleven months later, Songo is fully-engaged in a project to supply solar power to hospitals in rural Cameroon.“It is purely a personal initiative. I provide the energy free of charge. I have been raising some funds for the project through social media campaigns especially on Facebook. People of good of will who believe in helping others and making the world a better place have been of great assistance” he says.Today, Songo has come to install solar panels in the Ngambe District Hospital.He is a native of Ngambe and understands better that anyone else what his people are going through.“As a child I witnessed the suffering my people were experiencing because there was no electricity. It was horrible especially in the hospitals in rural areas or forgotten places. Hospitals are very sensitive and patients need hope. Darkness in hospitals kills that hope” he says while placing two solar panels on the rooftop of the hospital building.“I want to show to the world that without being rich, we can still help others through our skills and…

OPINION For the past 24 global leaders have met to discuss climate change only to come up with policies and resolutions with different acronyms. Right now, the excitement is about the Paris Rule book, which we hope will be a guideline for Paris Agreement implementation. But should we as young people have the same kind of excitement? The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s 1.5 special report warns that we have only 12 years before we het to a point of climatic changes that will be irreversible, meaning they become permanent. As a young person in my 20s I would be worried because the number 12 is very key for out livelihood. 12 years from now if you are in your 20s you will be around 30 to mean some will have started families or probably settled down in jobs in various sectors like the government, the private sectors and the CSO sectors. But I cannot help to wonder how "Climate Resilient" our young people are. Do they know that the fact that the world has admitted that it may not meet the 100 billion dollar target will affect them far much beyond than they can imagine. The confession by the Standing committee on finance to only meet the 60% of the funds translated that there will be more hardships for your people up ahead. It is evident that the climatic conditions will get worse but it is also evident that the kind of decisions the young people will have to make as the next decision makers in the next 12 years will be even harder. Mr. Antonio Guterres the Secretary General to the UNFCCC said as I quote, "The older generation are behaving badly" while this should not deter the efforts being made but it is clear that the pattern we have been using over the past 24 years are clearly not working. As a young person I fell it is time for not just action but double climate actions. The older generation has had the luxury of banking on the principle of "Common but differentiated Responsibilities" where our developing world claims not to be at par with the developed world thus more responsibility falls on the developed world. I feel we need to look at this principle from a youth perspective where the older generation irregardless of whether or not are developed or not need to own up to the fact that they have more responsibility to sefaguard a future for we the younger generation. More responsibility because they have longer experience and they were present when things were abit better therefore they ought to have safeguarded the environment. As a young people "Double Climate Action" need to not only protect the environment but buffer us from the foreseen tough decisions that wait us ahead.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (PAMACC News) - The green energy sector, water, climate smart food systems and low carbon constructions for human settlements are some of key priority areas for private sector investments that will support South Africa’s climate change outcomes, according to new study released on 10th January 2019 on the sidelines of the Partnership for Action on the Green Economy (PAGE) Ministerial Conference.The study released by the Southern Africa Climate Finance Partnership (SACFP), with support from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC) further points out that investment in waste recycling and management, where the waste materials are converted into energy such as biogas is also another priority area for investment for positive climate outcomes.“[This] study is important because it seeks to build on the existing body of knowledge pertaining to the mobilisation of private sector finance for climate change action,” said Mohamed Allie Ebrahim, the lead author of the study on’ the potential private sector investment priorities that support South Africa’s climate change outcomes.’ “Moreover, [the study] provides broad recommendations on how to enhance efforts to mobilise private sector finance at scale through leveraging the concessionality of the Green Climate Fund’s financial instruments within South Africa,” said Ebrahim in a statement.The importance of private sector funding in achieving national climate change response actions is further recognised in South Africa’s National Climate Change Response Policy (NCCRP). However, appropriate and innovative climate finance mechanisms are required to catalyse and scale private sector finance for low-carbon climate-resilient development.The 123 page document points at the use of market aggregator mechanism to create scale, pool risk, reduce costs and improve project viability as one of the selected innovative climate finance mechanisms and/or concepts that can be used.Another innovative mechanism identified is the use of funding solutions that address the upfront infrastructure finance gap, by introducing credit-worthy third-party owners and or operators of infrastructure who, in turn, enter into long-term contracts with end-users - among many other mechanisms.It further explored the possibility of establishing a South African Climate Finance Lab, similar to the Brazil Lab or India Lab, which serves as a mechanism for identifying and incubating standalone high-impact, transformative projects. It called for a sustained capacity building with respect to project development, project finance and project implementation, especially at the sub-national level (municipalities, local project developers and financial institutions), including enabling environment support, policy advocacy and technical assistance including understanding the role of Executing Entities under the Green Climate Fund (GCF).In South Africa, the energy sector is the single largest contributor to the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions (81.7% in 2012). Despite the significant increase in renewable energy to the national energy mix from 2000 to 2012, the overall carbon intensity of the national energy system remained fairly constant.However, the government has committed to its shared responsibility for responding to climate change, through the ratification of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. In terms…