CAPE TOWN, South Africa (PAMACC News) - The Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) has been re-launched in South Africa, with Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Royal Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs investing some US$ 9.2 million.

“My hope for the new CDKN is that the impacts will be felt mainly by vulnerable groups that are most impacted by climate change.” said Dr Shehnaaz Moosa, director of the new Dutch-Canadian supported CDKN, which was formally launched by Pamela Moore, Chargé d’Affaires of the High Commission of Canada to South Africa, and Henk Ovink, Special Envoy for International Water Affairs for the Kingdom of the Netherlands on 21 June.

The launch, which brought together partners new and old, included reflections on the first phase of the programme by former director Sam Bickersteth and highlighted the shift in focus for programme in its new form.

“It’s a really exciting moment to see CDKN move into a new phase which will build on the legacy of eight years of work, and to see it being led from the region to which it is delivering,” said Bickersteth, adding that Shehnaaz Moosa had been a “very steady hand on so much that CDKN has already done,” and an obvious choice to take the programme forward.
 
CDKN will now focus on providing developing countries with enhanced knowledge resources to support ambitious climate action, as well as boost climate leadership and learning on climate compatible development.

The network’s global and Africa programme is now led from South Africa, with Latin America and Asia regional hubs managed from Ecuador and India. Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Royal Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs will fund CDKN’s new chapter to the value of 9.2 million US$ (12 million Canadian dollars), and it will run from 2018-2021.
 
Speaking at the launch event in Cape Town, the Special Envoy said: “The Dutch development policy for the first time focuses on the interconnectedness of climate change and root causes of poverty, political instability, conflict and migration. The knowledge and experience of CDKN to support complex policy realities, to work in partnership with governmental and non-governmental stakeholders, and to connect human development ambitions and environmental sustainability is a very valuable asset in this strategy.”
 
Ms Pamela Moore said: “Climate change is a shared global challenge and Canada is committed to working together with partners around the world on climate action. Canada is pleased that a refreshed Climate and Development Knowledge Network is being launched. We are excited to be part of this global partnership for large-scale change that enables vulnerable communities adapt to climate change, mitigate its impacts, and transition to a low-carbon economy.”
 
CDKN will work to enrich decision-makers’ know-how and help them to accelerate climate action. “The challenge now for us is to navigate the great amount of climate information and find what’s most useful, adapt it and tailor it for developing countries’ needs,” said Dr Moosa. “Climate-vulnerable countries are eager to access and apply knowledge about ‘what works’ in climate-compatible development. That is exactly the challenge that CDKN’s new initiative aims to address.”

Knowledge for implementation
 
CDKN will be expanding its knowledge-sharing services. It will tailor the wealth of evidence and learning from the first eight years of CDKN and other international climate programmes to produce highly targeted knowledge and tools to support policy design and implementation. This could include best practices for building climate-resilient water infrastructure or approaches for integrating climate information into agricultural planning.
 
Facilitating climate leadership and learning
 
CDKN will continue to bring developing countries together to share their experiences on delivering climate action on the ground. It will facilitate South-South learning, helping to connect professionals who face similar climate and development challenges. Through targeted training on climate and development as well as mentoring and skill-building, CDKN aims to strengthen the capability of individuals in government, business, academia and other spheres to navigate the growing body of climate knowledge and experience, and further cultivate a new generation of climate champions.
 
“While the effects of climate change are increasingly evident in developing countries, the knowledge that is generated by these countries to adapt to change is becoming more relevant by the day. Therefore, we are happy to support CDKN's work to mobilise Southern knowledge and capacities to overcome climate-related development challenges,” said Robert Hofstede, Associate Director for Climate Change at IDRC.  
 
The initiative will focus initially on the Andean countries of Latin America, parts of Africa and South Asia – with the possibility for collaboration with other countries to join its wider learning and exchange activities. From 2018, CDKN is managed by a new alliance led by non-profit organisation SouthSouthNorth, working with Fundación Futuro Latinoamericano, ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability, South Asia, and the Overseas Development Institute (ODI).

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (PAMACC News) - Cameroon journalists have been enjoined to take interest in reporting climate information data and services, cardinal instruments in development planning for policymakers and other stakeholders.

The call was made by officials of the African Climate Policy Center (ACPC) of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Advanced School of Mass Communication, ASMAC Yaounde , at a two day workshop, June 25-26,2018 to enhance the reporting skills of communicators on the use of climate information services in development planning.

“The media has an important role to play in informing policymakers and end users on the use of climate services and data to better address environmental challenges,” says Professor Nana Nzepa, head of the Information technology department, ASMAC.

The overarching goal of enhancing the uptake of Climate Information Services (CIS) is geared at providing people and organizations with reliable, timely, user-friendly information tailored to reduce climate risks related losses as well as in capitalizing on emerging opportunities for development noted ACPC.

“Hence, factoring CIS into policy, planning and practices are crucial for Africa to achieve its development aspirations for enhanced trade competitiveness, reduced poverty and sustainable economic growth,” Journalists were told.

According to Charles Muraya, Information Management Officer ACPC, the uptake and use of climate info of CIS in Africa is influenced by the lack of reliable historical observations, coarse scale of future climate projections, weak coordinated CIS delivery, among others. On the side of the users, the main obstacles for poor uptake and utilization of CIS include limited awareness about the existence of specific climate information, poor data accessibility, and lack of capacity to use climate information in decision making processes.

“The media has not been very proactive in providing the correct information and in time for decision making. Engaging media in climate information dissemination is therefore an important step in ensuring that climate information is packaged in a form that can easily be understood and that it is also received in a timely manner,” he said.

It is against this backdrop that the training of over 30 journalists in Cameroon was organised under the theme" the use of the e-learning platform on climate information and services mainstreaming in the planning and economic development processes".

Participants were empowered using teaching tools and skills in the dissemination of climate information and services and the need to mainstream climate information in their different media content and programmes to better inform policymakers and end users.

“We expect you communicators to better advocate and sensitize legislators, decision-makers, the private sector, investors and other stakeholders on the issue and role of Climate Information Services (CIS) in development planning processes,” says Professor Nana Nzepa.
“But to do this you must first of all understand the basic notion of climate information services and data,” he said.

The different participants from community radio, national and private newspapers, radio and television appreciated the training, acknowledging its importance amidst growing climate threats.

“ It is time for the voices of Journalists to be heard in the fight against climate change, thanks to the two days training  I now know the importance of climate information services,” notes Jean Didier Ayisi, journalist and workshop participant.

Cameroon just like many African countries today suffer from the effects of climate change with many economic and social sectors increasingly vulnerable to floods, droughts, heavy winds among other calamities.

Environment experts say the dissemination of climate information services by the media for the benefit of specific users remains essential to support Africa's response to climate change.

“The fight against climate change can only be effective if decision makers and especially the population have ample climate related information,” says Augustine Njamnshi of Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, PACJA Cameroon.

Development actors say innovative ways of delivering CIS initiatives that provide science-informed solutions is vital for the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement, Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Africa.

Thus investment in the deployment of robust climate information and  services  delivery  system  for  the  effective  implementation  of  Nationally  Determined Contributions (NDCs) and associated mechanisms established through the global climate governance processes is crucial according to ACPC.

The Weather and Climate Information Services for Africa (WISER) was designed by the UK Department for International Development (DfiD) in 2015 to facilitate the uptake of climate information by policymakers and vulnerable groups especially young people and women. Its pan-African component is led by the African Center for Climate Policy (ACPC), which is a hub for demand led knowledge on climate change in Africa.

ACCRA, Ghana (PAMACC News) - Hundreds of illegally imported mattresses confiscated by Ghana’s customs authority were recently burnt openly at a landfill site.

The destruction of the impounded goods is in line with laws prohibiting the entry of used mattresses into the country.

It is common place to see thousands of cartons of cigarette, canned food, drugs, wax prints and other restricted or unwholesome goods burnt openly.

Environmental concerns have however been raised about the practice of burning such materials, due to the gases emitted into the atmosphere.

Kwaku Abeeku, who manages Green Energy and Logistics Consults, says Ghana as a signatory to various international agreements on climate change, including the Paris Agreement, must reconsider alternatives to the burning of impounded goods as soon as possible.

“In the case of these open burns, aside the issue of Carbon Monoxide, these imported mattresses are mainly synthetic foams containing petroleum based chemicals and sometimes even fire retardants,” he observed. “Aside emissions, people living in the immediate environments of these burn sites and the country at large are put in a rather bad situation as we commit to global moves in combating climate change”.

Ghana, in its international obligations as a Party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is guided by its own commitments in the nationally determined contribution (NDC) to climate change mitigation.

As an obligation at the multilateral level, Ghana reaffirms its resolve to support global efforts to define a common future that seeks to safeguard the collective interest of all nations by supporting the 2015 Paris global agreement on climate change.

The implementation of climate actions is expected to help attain low carbon climate resilience through effective adaptation and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction.

In 2017, Ghana at the UN Conference of Parties (COP23) in Bonn, Germany, pledged the country’s commitment to help combat climate change and adapt to its effects.

The destruction of contraband mattresses, clothing, food and pharmaceutical products through open burning is therefore regarded as negating the country’s commitment to climate mitigation.

Kwaku Abeeku has challenged the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and other institutions responsible for best environmental practices to help halt the open burning of materials.

“I believe the time to make climate and environmental concern a culture and environmental responsiveness a mandatorily measured policy is now,” he said.

ASHANTI, Ghana (PAMACC News) - Timeabu, a farming community in the Ashanti region of Ghana, has in the past experienced levels of devastation of cocoa trees as a result of bad weather and poor rainfall with adverse impact on production.

 To protect dying cocoa trees and the local ecology, the Centre for Climate Change and Food Security (CCCFS), a Ghanaian-based non-governmental organization, has adopted the community to pilot a tree planting program.

Since December 2017, the Centre has planted 200 trees on cocoa farms and other areas of the community, in addition to sensitization on best farming practices.

A beneficiary, Nana Dasebere Boama Darko, says the farmers are excited the trees will relieve them of severe weather condition and help provide the needed shade to nourish their crops.

The Centre plans to extend the exercise to other communities across the country.

“Protecting the ecology is very important. We are likely to live a shameful life if trees continue to die everyday,” said Mahmud Mohammed-Nurudeen, Executive Director of CCCFS. “Planting of the trees is also to sequester carbon, and help remove carbon dioxide from the air, which cools the earth.”

Despite their importance to life, humans have cut down half of the world's trees.

“Every year we cut down over 50,000 square miles of forest worldwide for paper, agriculture, building materials and fuel,” observed Mohammed-Nurudeen.

 Several research have proven that carbon release from deforestation accounts for 25 to 30 percent of the four to five billion tons of carbon accumulating every year in the atmosphere from human activities.

 Ghana Bureau Chief of ClimateReporters, Kofi Adu Domfeh, who is among lead supporters of the tree planting exercise, emphasized the need to put the trees back “any way we can, as fast as we can”.

 “What you may not know is that trees also build soil and offer energy-saving shade that reduces global warming,” he said. “We want to create habitat for thousands of different species and also help to reduce ozone levels.”

 The initiative is also supported by the Economy for the Common Good and senior officers of the Ghana Cocoa Board, Fuad Mohammed and Asante Abednago, who have committed to the community outreach to help rural farmers contribute to the government's target of producing one million tonnes of cocoa.

 The CCCFS aims to provide enabling environment for all species, make issues of food security relevant and tackle climate change head-on to make Ghana a better place to live.