Winners of the third edition of the African Climate Change and Environmental Reporting (ACCER) awards have been announced in Aadis Ababa, Ethiopia in a colourful ceremony graced by representatives of the Africa Development Bank, various UN agencies, civil society representatives and representatives from different media organisations all over Africa.
In his opening remarks, James Murombedzi, the Officer in Charge at the UN Economic Centre for Africa (UNECA) said that the awards were a great initiative aimed at improving the African Narrative on Climate Change which is key in ensuring that climate change is given the human face with regard to vulnerabilities faced by the African people.
He noted that in developing countries, most journalists are generalists, and have little training in science or the environment – particularly complex areas such as climate change. While many journalists and Editors may be interested in covering climate change issues, competition for space with other topical issues such as politics combined with unwillingness of the commercial-oriented media owners makes up a huge obstacle.
“To overcome the climate information gap existing among stakeholders, deliberate effort should be made to simplify, demystify and effectively communicate climate change in a jargon that is widely embraced by all. It should not, however, end here,” said Murombedzi.
“Even if the climate change debate is simplified, a large proportion of rural populations in developing countries, especially those in Africa, are not able to read or write, even in their local languages. This calls for a strategy that makes vehicles for community outreach, which is the media, proactive participants in this regard,” he added.
Dr. Justus Kabyemera from the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) noted that there is need to strengthen and unify the foundation of Africa’s common agenda for action as well as reshaping and refining the African Narrative on climate change discourse through robust application of home-grown solutions, initiatives and talents for sustainability.
“It is therefore important to devise strategies to bring journalists and media practitioners to the forefront, not as reporters, but as key partners and players in the ensuing engagements,”said Dr Kabyemera. “We appreciate Pan African Climate Justice Alliance for initiating a very innovative award scheme, ACCER Awards, which will indeed improve the African Narrative on Climate Change,” he added.
Mithika Mwenda, PACJA’s Secretary General said that the organisation will continue to play a catalytic role in nurturing innovative ideas necessary for the transformative society as we desire to effectively confront the main challenges of 21st century.
“These complex challenges, such as climate change, will require collaboration from various stakeholders to defeat. And that is the spirit the ACCER Awards exemplifies,” he said.
In the Print Media English category, Andrew Mambondiyani (Zimbabwe) was announced the winner with Mugerwa (Uganda) as the first runners up and Atayi Babs Opaluwah (Nigeria).In the Print Media French category, AddehMidadji Daniel (Togo) was announced the winner and Madafime Didier Hubert (Benin) as the 1st runners up.
In the Electronic Media English, TV English category,Mercy Adundo (Kenya) was announced the winner and Aaron YanchoKaah (Cameroon) as the first runners up. In the Electronic Media, Radio English category, Diana Wanyonyi was announced the winner and Ngala Killian Chimtom (Cameroon) as the first runners up.
In the Electronic Media French, TV French, ZainaKereKere (Democratic Republic of Congo) was announced the winner. In the Electronic Media, Radio French category,SuyKahofi (Ivory Coast)was announced the winner and Fousseni SAIBOU (Togo) as the second runners up.
The Judges noted that, few entries were received in the Photojournalism and therefore stressed the need for journalists to improve their reporting in this category. Nicodemus Kioko Kivandi (Kenya) was announced the only winner under this category.
Andrew Mambondiyani (Zimbabwe) was celebrated as the Overall winner with a story dubbed; summer, a season of suffering in Mozambique’s Beira. As part of the award package, he wasawarded USD 1000 and will be supported to participate in the upcoming 22nd Conference of Parties of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change scheduled to take place on 7th – 18th November, 2016 in Marrakesh, Morocco.
The award ceremony took place alongside the sixth session of the Climate Change and Development for Africa (CCDA) conference in Addis Ababa Ethiopia.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (PAMACC News) - Human migration from one place to another due to different reasons has been linked to destruction of ecosystems as the migrants struggle to settle in the new areas, thus impacting on the prevailing climatic conditions.
Addressing the sixth Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA-VI), Prof Araya Asfaw of the Horn of Africa Regional Environment Centre in Ethiopia observed that migrants end up clearing forest cover to create space for settlement, destroy wetlands and in some cases destroy natural habitats for wildlife.
“When people move, they deforest, and they destroy wetlands,” said Prof Asfaw, noting that most of the migration activities happen in the Horn of Africa region.
Trees are generally known to sequester carbon dioxide, which is the main driver for global warming. And when tree cover is cleared to create space for human settlement, experts say that it directly impacts on the climate.
There is evidence that forced migration is a serious, protracted, and in some areas, an expanding problem across Africa, particularly south of the Sahara.
According to the United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA), conflicts and insecurity are major causes or drivers of forced migration in Africa. Across the continent, in Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan, OSAA notes that including violent conflict and insecurity have resulted in forced displacement, both within and across borders, with dire consequences for vulnerable populations, including women, children, the aged and disabled.
A detailed study titled ‘Global Trends’, which tracks forced displacement worldwide based on data from governments, partner agencies and UNHCR’s own reporting, found a total 65.3 million people were displaced at the end of 2015, compared to 59.5 million just 12 months earlier.
This, according to experts, has highly contributed to distortion of the ecosystem, hence, impacting on climate change. This trend is expected to continue as conflicts continue to sour in many parts of the world.
The experts therefore called for integrated policies that can help address such issues.
Apart from forced migration, Prof Asfaw also pointed out that due to the increasing population and search for better livelihoods, there has been increased rural urban migration in the recent past, a trend that is also expected to increase in the near future.
So far, noted Prof Asfew, Ethiopia’s is an example whose population has been increasing steadily, and it has grown four folds in the past decade, putting more pressure on urban centres.
A study by Jukka Heinonen of Aalto University School of Engineering points out that the per capita emissions related to city Sustainability lifestyle are substantially higher than those related to rural and semi-urban lifestyles in the Finnish context.
Other people argue that urban dwellers often use vehicles for commuting shorter distances compared to rural dwellers, hence emitting more carbon into the atmosphere. Urban dwellers as well use coolers such as refrigerators, which emit hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).
HFCs, also known as "super greenhouse gases," are known to be the most potent greenhouse gases because the combined effect of their soaring use and high global warming potential could undercut the benefits expected from the reduction of other greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. Experts say that HFCs are 3,830 times more potent than CO2 with a lifetime of 14 years.
Though the world is currently negotiating the phase-down of the HFCs, it remains a huge concern because the phase-down is likely going to take some years, while the world population and the need to use cooling systems continue to increase.
“We expect most of the African population to urbanize, and this is going to have an impact on climate change,” said Ibrahim Ceesay, the Chairperson of the Africa Youth Alliance on Sustainable Development, noting that most of the people who move to urban areas are the youth.
The experts therefore noted that human migration is an important subject to be considered at all levels of climate discourse.
PAMACC News Agency
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (PAMACC News) - Human migration from one place to another due to different reasons has been linked to destruction of ecosystems as the migrants struggle to settle in the new areas, thus impacting on the prevailing climatic conditions.
Addressing the sixth Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA-VI), Prof Araya Asfaw of the Horn of Africa Regional Environment Centre in Ethiopia observed that migrants end up clearing forest cover to create space for settlement, destroy wetlands and in some cases destroy natural habitats for wildlife.
“When people move, they deforest, and they destroy wetlands,” said Prof Asfaw, noting that most of the migration activities happen in the Horn of Africa region.
Trees are generally known to sequester carbon dioxide, which is the main driver for global warming. And when tree cover is cleared to create space for human settlement, experts say that it directly impacts on the climate.
There is evidence that forced migration is a serious, protracted, and in some areas, an expanding problem across Africa, particularly south of the Sahara.
According to the United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA), conflicts and insecurity are major causes or drivers of forced migration in Africa. Across the continent, in Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan, OSAA notes that including violent conflict and insecurity have resulted in forced displacement, both within and across borders, with dire consequences for vulnerable populations, including women, children, the aged and disabled.
A detailed study titled ‘Global Trends’, which tracks forced displacement worldwide based on data from governments, partner agencies and UNHCR’s own reporting, found a total 65.3 million people were displaced at the end of 2015, compared to 59.5 million just 12 months earlier.
This, according to experts, has highly contributed to distortion of the ecosystem, hence, impacting on climate change. This trend is expected to continue as conflicts continue to sour in many parts of the world.
The experts therefore called for integrated policies that can help address such issues.
Apart from forced migration, Prof Asfaw also pointed out that due to the increasing population and search for better livelihoods, there has been increased rural urban migration in the recent past, a trend that is also expected to increase in the near future.
So far, noted Prof Asfew, Ethiopia’s is an example whose population has been increasing steadily, and it has grown four folds in the past decade, putting more pressure on urban centres.
A study by Jukka Heinonen of Aalto University School of Engineering points out that the per capita emissions related to city Sustainability lifestyle are substantially higher than those related to rural and semi-urban lifestyles in the Finnish context.
Other people argue that urban dwellers often use vehicles for commuting shorter distances compared to rural dwellers, hence emitting more carbon into the atmosphere. Urban dwellers as well use coolers such as refrigerators, which emit hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).
HFCs, also known as "super greenhouse gases," are known to be the most potent greenhouse gases because the combined effect of their soaring use and high global warming potential could undercut the benefits expected from the reduction of other greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. Experts say that HFCs are 3,830 times more potent than CO2 with a lifetime of 14 years.
Though the world is currently negotiating the phase-down of the HFCs, it remains a huge concern because the phase-down is likely going to take some years, while the world population and the need to use cooling systems continue to increase.
“We expect most of the African population to urbanize, and this is going to have an impact on climate change,” said Ibrahim Ceesay, the Chairperson of the Africa Youth Alliance on Sustainable Development, noting that most of the people who move to urban areas are the youth.
The experts therefore noted that human migration is an important subject to be considered at all levels of climate discourse.
PAMACC News Agency
ADDIS ABABA (PAMACC News) - The African Development Bank (AfDB) has expressed its commitment to sustaining and extending ongoing collaboration with African countries with a view to deepening partnerships and investments that help in addressing the impacts of climate change and variability.
Acting Vice President of the bank, Dr. Kapil Kapoor stated this at the opening plenary of the 6th conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA-VI) holding in the Ethiopian capital city, Addis Ababa.
Recalling the Banks’ Climate Action Plan for the period 2011 -2015 which prioritised mitigation, adaptation and climate finance as key pillars, Dr. Kapoor stated that approximately 260 projects with climate relevant components were implemented and $12 billion was channeled as climate finance.
For the period 2016 -2020, Dr. Kapoor said AfDB will be even more ambitious.
The bank will explore modalities for achieving the adaptation goal, the adequacy and effectiveness of climate finance, capacity building and technology transfer — building technical skills so that African economies can realize their full potential for adaptation in high-technology sectors.
“Under this plan, the Bank will nearly triple its annual climate financing to reach $5 billion a year by 2020,” the AfDB Vice President declared.
The bank will further examine the implication of the Paris Agreement on Africa’s future economic growth and sustainable development agenda while pursuing agriculture initiatives that complement investment actions and commitments of African countries expressed as national determined contributions (NDCs).
The AfDB however called on African countries to identify viable and transformative investment opportunities, reform institutions to make them more efficient, and build capacity to access and absorb climate finance — in readiness to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the Paris agreement, to leapfrog technologies and transition to low-Carbon, Climate-resilient development.
Organised by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in collaboration with ClimDev Partner organisations, the sixth Climate Change Development in Africa conference (CCDA VI) aims to facilitate science-policy dialogue and provide a marketplace for innovative solutions that integrate climate change into development processes.
With “The Paris Agreement on climate change: What next for Africa”as central theme, the CCDA-VI aspires to understand the implications, nuances, challenges and opportunities of implementing the Paris Agreement for Africa in the context of the continent’s development priorities.
The conference which ends on the 20th of October 2016 will examine the implications of the Paris Agreement for Africa’s future economic growth and sustainable development agenda; deepen an understanding of the nuances in the decisions of COP21, particularly with regard to the means of implementation (capacity, finance and technology transfer), as well as the domestication of the Agreement in Africa in alignment with the national development priorities of African countries; and identify strategies for implementing the Agreement especially through pan-African initiatives and institutions, public-private partnerships, and the engagement of State and non-State actors.
