BONN, Germany (PAMACC News) - From 30 April - 10 May 2018, the UN climate change negotiations will be held in Bonn, Germany. The negotiations come at a critical time as countries work to finalise the rules and processes to operationalise the Paris Agreement, while the impacts of climate change continue to intensify. We need to leave Bonn with a strong basis to begin textual negotiations and greater clarity around the Talanoa Dialogue process and outcome. Chair of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) group, Gebru Jember Endalew, said: "Climate change is a critical issue and an urgent, global response is required. Lives and livelihoods across the world are on the line, particularly in the LDCs. We have a very small window of time left to develop a set of clear, comprehensive, and robust rules to enable full and ambitious implementation of the Paris Agreement before the December 2018 deadline. At this Bonn negotiation, and as a matter of urgency, countries need to build on the foundations laid in Paris and agree on a strong architecture to implement the Paris Agreement that catalyses fair and ambitious action to steer the world away from dangerous climate change." "Keeping global temperature increase below 1.5 degrees Celsius is a matter of survival. The LDCs look forward to the Talanoa Dialogue resulting in more ambitious action and support, as science tells us that even full implementation of current commitments under the Paris Agreement will not be enough to reach the 1.5 degree temperature goal. Countries must take immediate action to rapidly reduce emissions in line with their respective capacities and responsibilities for causing climate change and prepare for a sustainable future." "As LDCs, we are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and we also face the new challenge of developing to lift our people out of poverty sustainably by leapfrogging to renewables rather than relying on fossil fuels. LDCs and other developing countries cannot adequately protect our communities from the impacts of climate change or reduce our emissions without the appropriate tools and resources. There remains a vast gap between the support needed and support received. The LDCs call on developed countries to finally deliver on their longstanding promise to mobilise at least USD 100bn a year and bridge the ever-widening finance gap before the distance becomes too great." "The international community must act now to ensure our Paris goals do not slip out of reach. The world cannot afford to sit idle until the Paris Agreement's 2020 implementation period kicks off. Action needs to be taken, support provided, and ambition increased without delay. The more countries do now, the less severe the impacts of climate change will be." "The international community needs to face up to the increasing loss and damage caused by climate change. Climate impacts are already all around us. The severity and frequency of floods, storms, droughts, sea level rise and other impacts is only increasing and hundreds of millions of people are at risk of being displaced. The…

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (PAMACC News) - Ongoing land reforms in many African nations like Liberia and Cameroon have yet to incorporate any special protection for vulnerable groups, who struggle to claim ownership of natural resources, activists say. But civil society organisations and other activists are intensifying their efforts to push governments to speed up land reform processes and establish clear legislation securing the rights of vulnerable groups to own, access and control land and other natural resources. In Liberia for example the International Land Coalition (ILC) Africa, has added its voice to that of the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) Working Group on Land Rights Reform in that country to demand for a people-centred land bill on land rights. In a statement issued by ILC Africa’s Chair, Shadrack Omondi, on April 17 2018, the platform called on President George Weah and the Senate to review the Land Rights Act to ensure it responded to the needs of vulnerable communities. "Liberia’s shared and sustained economic growthdepends on secured land rights for communitiesand vulnerable groups," the statement noted. It points out that the Land Rights Act (LRA) in Liberia as passed in August 2017 does not offer adequate protection for community land rights and thus risks plunging the the country into another circle of conflict. Research suggests land disputes continue to fuel resource based conflicts in Africa. Such disputes mostly arise from weak land and natural resource tenure,which causes power imbalances and pushes different groups to their limits. "Conflicts break out as communities seek for extra judicial solutions to secure their lives and livelihoods. Liberia’s Land Rights Act is a unique opening to ensure secure access to landrights and improved livelihoods for all, especially women, youth and Indigenous Peoples," the statement notes. It called on the President and the Senate to seize the opportunity to build a strong,peaceful, just and equitable Liberia-and ensure that it can attract investments for development that is sustainable and the benefits from which are equally distributed. A similar call was made in Cameroon recently by women landrights activist for African leaders to institute landreforms that include legal safeguards to protect women’s rights to land ownership. The African Women's Network for Community Management of Forests,RECAFOF, an international NGO, believes only reforms that include legal safeguards giving women equal say in decisions made by customary and state authorities on managing land and forest resources will boost gender equality on the continent. “We know that wherever land rights are being ignored, women are indisputably the most affected. Banding together and raising awareness of these issues is the first step toward ensuring all women’s rights are recognised,” Cécile Ndjebet, president of REFACOF, said in a statement. KEY TO DEVELOPMENT Ongoing land reforms in African nations such as Liberia,Cameroon, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Senegal have yet to incorporate any special protection for women and other vulnerable communities according to ILC and REFACOF. “Globally, people are starting to understand the contributions women make to development. The importance of securing land rights…

Toutes les civilisations ont leurs modèles d’interprétation fondés sur l’observation de la nature. Ce sont en fait des corpus au travers desquels nos ancêtres prévoyaient les saisons à partir des indicateurs tels que la chaleur, la rosée, l’harmattan, l’apparition des feuilles de certains arbres, de certains oiseaux, bref, des stratégies inspirées de nos us et coutumes. Comment alors capitaliser ces savoirs traditionnels dans certains pays africains, particulièrement, le Bénin, berceau du vodoun, confronté lui aussi aux effets des changements climatiques ? Savoirs ethno-climatique : la contextualisation du concept Le Woutoutou, de son nom en fon, le Centropus Senegalensis, de son nom scientifique ou le Coucal du Sénégal, comme on l’appelle communément, est une espèce dont l’apparition, selon les savoirs endogènes, annonce une pluie imminente. De même, l’apparition des oiseaux migrateurs comme l’épervier, la floraison de certains arbres comme l’iroko ou l’apparition de l’arc-en-ciel, sont-là, des repères empiriques qui permettent aux populations de bien pratiquer les activités agricoles et de se protéger de l’incertitude climatique. C’est ainsi que le concept « savoirs ethno-climatologiques » a été forgé en 1986 par l’Universitaire, Professeur Eustache Bokono Ganta, au point d’en faire une science. Pour son confrère Michel Boko, considéré au Bénin comme le père de la climatologie, membre du GIEC (Groupe Intergouvernemental sur l’évolution du climat), il s’agit en fait de l’anthropologie culturelle appliquée à la climatologie. Dans un cas comme dans l’autre, le concept « savoirs ethno-climatologiques » a connu du succès aussi bien au Bénin qu’en Afrique. Un champ d’étude pour les scientifiques D’ailleurs AkibouAbanitchéAkindélé, Chef Département de Géographie et d’Aménagement du Territoire au Centre Universitaire d’Adjarra, y a consacré sa thèse sous le thème : « Savoirs ethno-climatologiques en pays Wémè et Holi : fondements et implications économiques et socio-culturelles ». « Il y a plusieurs travaux qui ont été réalisés sur le climat au Bénin et la plupart de ces travaux ont utilisé des approches essentiellement statistiques, souligne Monsieur Akibou ». « Mais avant que l’on ait les instruments qui ont permis de faire ces mesures, c’est-à-dire, les pluviomètres, les thermomètres, enfin, tout ce qui est scientifiquement admis, nos ancêtres avaient déjà l’habitude de faire de l’agriculture », indique le Docteur Akindélé. On peut alors se poser des questions sur comment nos aïeux ont pu faire face aux effets du climat. Comment capitaliser ces savoirs endogènes Au Bénin et tout comme dans certains pays africains, les croyances sont encore très fortes car ces pays se réfèrent à la cosmogonie et à l’imaginaire pour expliquer le dérèglement climatique. Mieux, le savoir traditionnel, les connaissances et les pratiques des populations

PAMACC, Berlin-GERMANY: African winners of the media fellowship to the 2018 Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue have underscored the urgency of deploying innovative solutions and technologies to fast-track the transition to clean energy in Africa.Speaking on the pervasive level of energy poverty on the continent, the four media fellows drawn from Nigeria, South Africa and Tunisia all pledged their commitment to putting ‘energiewende’ (energy transition) on the front burner of national discourse in their respective countries.Africa’s energy poverty leaves about 600 million people in darkness with no access to energy. According to McKinsey’s projection, Africa requires $490bn investment by 2040 to turn the tide in its quest for energy efficiency.A bit disappointed by the low level of her country’s representation at the global energy talks which attracted high-ranking delegations from 40 countries and around 2,000 delegates from 95 countries, Meriam Khadraoui from Tunis Afrique Press (TAP) expressed her determination to deploy the unique hands-on experiences and innovative concepts she came across during the fellowship in pushing Tunisia to the next frontier of renewable energy and energy efficiency.“Germany’s pioneering role in energy transition remains a model which my country should adopt in view of the abundant renewable energy sources that we have,” Khadraoui said.For Ayoola Kassim of Channels TV and Atâyi Babs Opaluwah of Climate Reporters, both from Nigeria, a country endowed with abundant renewable energy resources like large and small hydro, solar, biomass, tidal and ocean waves as well as geothermal, energy transition is not just an option but a key to unlocking Nigeria’s full potential.“With the right regulatory frameworks and policies in place, energiewende will leapfrog Nigerian film industry (Nollywood) by unleashing the unbreakable Nigerian spirit through renewables,” says Opaluwah.That Nigeria still reels under pervasive energy poverty with her per capita electricity use remaining very low despite amazing wealth of fossil and renewable energy resources, the fellows say, is enough justification for her to toe the German path to energy efficiency.According to Opaluwah, “there is an urgent need to create a low carbon energy future that meets the sustainable development needs of all people in Nigeria, West Africa and and indeed the whole of Africa.” That is where our experiences in Berlin, the hotspot of global energy transformation, comes in handy as we hope to influence policies and frameworks while shifting focus to energy transition through our works,” he added.Lebo Tshangela of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) finds it worrying that South Africa meets 77% of its energy needs through coal and only 16% through renewable energy. “This is disturbing as before us is a bold plan to reduce emissions by below two degrees celsius as stated in our nationally determined contributions to the Paris Accord,” he said.“It is my hope that this fellowship will help me in working to change perceptions of government, private sector and individuals as well as raise awareness on the danger of our continued reliance on fossil fuels for our energy needs in South Africa, Lebo added.Put in place by the German Federal Office,…