United Nations | XINHUA | UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called for global efforts to address air pollution. Around the world, nine out of every 10 people breathe unclean air. Air pollution contributes to various diseases and causes an estimated 7 million premature deaths every year, predominantly in low- and …
Read More »No hope of reaching climate, development goals without youth optimism
United Nations | XINHUA | Without harnessing the energy, tech savvy and optimism of young people, the world has no hope of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or the Paris Agreement on climate change, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday. Addressing leaders from governments, businesses and multilateral agencies …
Read More »Climate-caused deaths could soar by century’s end: study
San Francisco, US | XINHUA | Rising temperatures driven by climate change could cause tens of millions of deaths per year worldwide by the end of the century, potentially matching the global death rate for all infectious diseases combined, according to a new study released by the University of California, Berkeley …
Read More »Virus could hamper Africa’s climate change response : IMF
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday warned that coronavirus could further weaken sub-Saharan Africa’s ability to adapt to climate change, as measures to contain the pandemic stretch limited resources. A recent study on the impact of rising temperatures and extreme weather events on growth suggests sub-Saharan Africa — …
Read More »Going viral: the dark online gags soothing youthful angst
Washington, United States | AFP | Climate change, debt, mental health struggles and now the coronavirus: life is no laughing matter. But for under-30s the best way to stay sane is often to wisecrack. “We joke that we post because none of us can afford therapy,” says Chuck Wentzell, 26, a …
Read More »Global CO2 emissions to drop 4-7% in 2020, but will it matter?
Paris, France | AFP | Global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels are set to drop by up to seven percent in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, but even this dramatic decline — the sharpest since WWII — would barely dent longterm global warming, researchers reported Tuesday. In early April, coronavirus …
Read More »Tackle climate change with the zeal of the COVID-19 fight
Government responses to climate crisis must be permanently changed after the coronavirus has been dealt with COMMENT | Phoebe Atukunda | On 14th April 2020, Ugandans experienced a total black-out nationwide which the country’s electricity transmission company – UETCL – later revealed was caused by a “floating” island that …
Read More »Fight climate change like coronavirus: UN
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The world should fight climate change with the same determination it is showing in the battle against the new coronavirus, the United Nations said on Wednesday. The UN’s World Meteorological Organization said it was time to flatten the curve on climate change as well, with its …
Read More »Obama suggests Trump team ‘denied warnings’ of pandemic
Washington, United States | AFP | Former US president Barack Obama took a veiled swipe Tuesday at his successor Donald Trump, chastising those who have “denied warnings” of a deadly coronavirus pandemic and cautioning against ignoring the consequences of climate change. The popular two-term Democrat took to social media as the Trump administration finalized a …
Read More »Fossil fuel and climate change
As pressure builds to phase out fossil fuels in Africa, African Business Magazine’s NJ Ayuk argues that we must not rob our continent of the benefits it can realise from oil and gas. Africans | THE INDEPENDENT | Pressure is building to phase out fossil fuels in Africa to fight …
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