Climate change in Africa News

[The Conversation Africa] It wasn't a comfortable process for the tens of thousands of delegates trying to hash out progress on climate change on the edge of the Amazon in Belém, Brazil. I experienced the challenges of the United Nations COP30 climate talks firsthand.

[The Conversation Africa] As the sun set on the Amazon, the promise of a "people's Cop" faded with it. The latest UN climate summit - known as Cop30, hosted in the Brazilian city of Belém - came with the usual geopolitics and the added excitement of a flood and a fire.

[Nile Post] At COP30 in Belém, Brazil, a broad alliance of governments, companies, Indigenous-peoples organisations and civil society announced the launch of the Scaling J-REDD+ Coalition, a global effort to accelerate jurisdictional REDD+ (J-REDD+) programmes, mobilise large-scale finance and channel it into forests, climate and livelihoods.

[Oxfam] In response to the latest 'Mutirão' text, Nafkote Dabi, Oxfam International Climate Policy Lead, said:

[Independent (Kampala)] Comment -- When daily news reports on the impact of yet another disruptive flood in Kampala, or the rising cost of matooke due to prolonged droughts, it raises public concern and frustration. Yet the effects of climate change, such as severe floods, droughts, landslides, and cyclones, are a reality in countries across eastern Africa, and Uganda is no exception. The recently launched Uganda Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR), prepared by the World Bank Group in concert with the government and other actors

[The Conversation Africa] Given the escalating scale of inequality in the world, shouldn't countries be banding together to set up an international panel on the issue, along the same lines as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations body set up to assess the science related to climate change? The idea of setting up an international panel on inequality has been recommended by the G20 Extraordinary Committee of Independent Experts on Global Inequality.

[UN News] In a pivotal outcome at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, countries agreed on a sweeping package to scale up climate finance and accelerate implementation of the Paris Agreement - but without a clear commitment to move away from fossil fuels.

[Thomson Reuters Foundation] What's the context? Jiwoh Abdulai, Sierra Leone's environment minister, talks to Context about what climate change means in his West African nation.

[UN News] Do higher living standards in developing countries have to mean more polluting, fossil-fuel dependent industries? Or is a low-carbon alternative possible? As the world grapples with climate change, economic inequality, and rapid technological shifts, next week's Global Industry Summit will tackle these questions, bringing together governments, business leaders, and innovators to shape solutions that balance prosperity with sustainability.

[FrontPageAfrica] Belém, Brazil -- In a major step toward enhanced regional collaboration on environmental governance and climate action, the Environmental Protection Agency of Liberia and the Environment Protection Agency of Sierra Leone today signed a milestone Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Belém, Brazil, on the margins of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30).

[Premium Times] A fire outbreak on Thursday has disrupted activities at the Blue zone axis of the ongoing United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, forcing the temporary closure of the Blue Zone where formal negotiations are taking place.

[FrontPageAfrica] Monrovia -- A fire outbreak near the Liberian Pavilion at the COP30 climate conference in Brazil caused a moment of alarm on Thursday as delegates were forced to evacuate part of the venue while emergency teams moved in to contain the blaze.

[UN News] With the clock ticking on climate negotiations in Belém, UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, speaking separately, delivered a united message: the world is watching, and compromise cannot wait.

[UN News] As climate talks in Belém enter their final stretch, negotiators are working on three fronts: technical details, ministerial consultations, and Presidency-led discussions. Behind the jargon and complex frameworks lie fundamental choices for more than 190 countries - choices that could shape how the Paris Agreement, signed in 2015, is turned into real-world action.

[IPS] Less than one percent of adaptation finance targets health, even as climate-sensitive diseases multiply. Africa alone will need roughly $300 billion annually by 2030 to build resilient systems and respond to climate-related loss and damage.

[GroundUp] They projected a series of illustrations, demanding urgent action on the global debt crisis and climate accountability

[Liberian Observer] At COP30 in Belém, Brazil, Liberia delivered a powerful national statement that resonated across Africa and the global African diaspora. Speaking at the High-Level Segment, Dr. Emmanuel K. Urey Yarkpawolo, Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency of Liberia (EPA), championed a bold vision: African unity as the driving force for climate justice, and Liberia's leadership through concrete action.

[Liberian Investigator] BELÉM -- The Environmental Protection Agency of Liberia is urging stronger climate finance, cleaner mining technologies, and a just transition for workers and communities as part of the country's effort to overhaul its mining sector. The call was made Tuesday in a keynote address at the Liberian Pavilion at COP30 in Belém, Brazil--an appeal aimed at positioning mining as a driver of both economic growth and climate action.

[Liberian Investigator] Belém -- Liberia has issued a forceful appeal for Africans on the continent and across the diaspora to unite behind a common climate justice agenda, declaring that global climate negotiations must reflect the shared history, vulnerabilities, and aspirations of African-descended people everywhere.

[allAfrica] Africa contributes less than 4 percent of global emissions, yet the continent faces pressure to decarbonise for a greener economy. But this decarbonisation must follow development, which remains Africa's primary imperative.