Africa

Fear and misinformation surrounds the Ebola outbreak in DR Congo - Dr Kamwanga's mother was not immune.

The foreign ministry in Abuja says 6 Nigerians with underlying health problems have died this year while transiting through Addis Ababa.

A civil society protest at COP 31 demands a transition from fossil fuels. Credit: UN Climate Change/Kubilay Ciftci

By Umar Manzoor Shah
ANTALYA, Türkiye, Nov 14 2026 (IPS)

The shift away from fossil fuels is made more difficult by the powerful, often overlooked role of national oil companies. These companies are deeply embedded in their countries’ economies and political systems.

During the COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Inter Press Service (IPS) spoke exclusively with Amir Shafaie, Legal and Economic Program Director at the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), about the role of state-owned oil companies in the energy transition, the financial risks of continued fossil fuel investments and the policies governments need to adopt to meet global climate goals.

Shafaie said national oil companies produced 54 percent of the world’s oil and half of its gas in 2025. Their share of global production could rise to around 62 percent by 2050 if current trends continue.

Excerpts from the interview: 

Amir Shafaie, Legal and Economic Program Director at the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI). Photo: Supplied

IPS: National oil companies account for nearly half of global fossil fuel production. How significant is their role in the global transition away from fossil fuels, and why have they received less attention in climate negotiations?

Shafaie: National oil companies are even more significant than the question suggests. In 2025 they produced 54% of the world’s oil and half its gas, and their share is projected to reach around 62% by 2050. Last year (2025) NOC capital expenditure was around US$240 billion — more than three times what the oil majors spent. So, the pace of the transition away from fossil fuels will be significantly shaped by these state-owned companies.

NOCs are also politically sensitive. They often have a massive role in the national political economy and significant influence over government: they fund national budgets and public services and are often bound up with national identity.

Given their importance, it’s time to stop treating them as a footnote in transition conversations.

They deserve to be a headline.

IPS: What specific steps should national oil companies take to align their business strategies with the global goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C?

Shafaie: There is no single model — NOCs differ widely in mandate and capability — but every NOC needs a deliberate strategy of transformation to navigate the energy transition, and government owners of NOCs need to ensure that is the case.

As a first step, NOCs must stop treating business as usual as a neutral option and start to seriously assess the risks – and opportunities – presented by the global energy transition. Every NOC should test its planned investments against various demand scenarios, including those in which countries meet their climate pledges and oil and gas demand falls — and publish the results. Many projects that NOCs view positively today may not pay back. In 2023, NRGI analysis found that NOCs plan about US$1.8 trillion of upstream spending over the 2023-2032 period and that roughly a quarter, about US$425 billion, of that public money would be lost if oil demand falls in line with governments’ climate pledges.

Moreover, in these assessments, NOCs shouldn’t assume a pivot to gas eliminates risk: demand destruction from the recent crisis, with countries switching to renewables that can be cheaper and less geopolitically volatile, works against that; and there is still a lot of gas and LNG coming on to the market in coming years, so projects will need to be competitive.

Governments and NOCs also need a credible plan for the new business areas NOCs pursue, identifying sectors and technologies in which the NOC holds genuine comparative advantages.

Finally, NOCs are not only commercial entities—in many producing regions they are anchor employers and service providers, and their transformation carries real consequences for workers and communities. Governments and NOCs must anticipate the just transition needs of different regions as NOCs transform.”

IPS: How can governments persuade state-owned oil companies to reduce fossil fuel production while balancing energy security, economic growth and employment concerns?

Shafaie: Balancing these various concerns is not easy, but governments need to weigh all the factors (energy security, economic growth, employment concerns and production plans), not focus on just one or some of them. Governments are also well placed to do this with NOCS.

They own these companies or hold large stakes in them, so this is less about persuading NOCs than about setting a clear policy, including around how much revenue can go back into new oil and gas and requiring investments to be tested against different demand scenarios.

And there is room to balance these factors. The recent energy crisis shows that energy security and energy transition are not opposites: oil dependence is itself a security and cost-of-living risk, and NOCs often end up absorbing the cost, as Pertamina has with subsidised fuel prices.

The challenge also looks different for NOCs in net-importing and net-exporting countries. In net importers such as Thailand, producing more at home offers little protection from world prices, so the energy security gains come from cutting demand and diversifying supply. In large net exporters such as the UAE or Norway, the main risk is volatile revenues, and today’s windfalls are an opportunity to diversify their economies. Many NOCs, including Pemex, Pertamina, NNPC and increasingly Ecopetrol in the case of gas, sit in between and face both challenges at once, so governments need mandates that address both.”

IPS: What risks do continued investments in new oil and gas fields pose to developing countries, particularly in terms of stranded assets, public finances and long-term energy security?

Shafaie: The risks are significant, and they fall on ordinary people in producing countries. Our 2023 analysis finds that if governments meet their existing climate pledges, around a quarter of NOCs’ planned upstream investments for 2023–2032 may never break even. For some — Uganda’s UNOC and Cameroon’s SNH — the figure exceeds 80%.

When a state company’s assets lose value, the hit lands on public balance sheets, leaving less for health, education and diversification. Current high oil prices can mask these vulnerabilities in the short term, but they don’t remove them. The longer-term dynamics from the energy transition are still there. It is particularly important for NOCs and the government to exercise fiscal discipline in the current context, where market signals may lead them to take greater risks. As UN Secretary General Guterres said at COP31 ‘taxpayers should not underwrite investments that lock in fossil fuel dependence’.

IPS: The COP30 roadmap seeks to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels. What concrete policy measures, financial incentives and accountability mechanisms are needed to ensure national oil companies become part of this transition rather than obstacles to it?

Shafaie: The Brazil COP roadmap is a significant step forward in taking the “transition away from fossil fuels” from an abstract idea to a basis for national planning. What happens at the national level is what really matters now.

The roadmap rightly asks countries to start now and equitably recognises that what this means in each country will differ, depending on exposure and capacity. The approach looks different in each country and can range from starting the phase-out of licensing and production in rich Global North producers to starting serious transition risk – and opportunity – assessments and associated planning in low- and middle-income producer countries.

The COP30 Presidency Roadmap also rightly recognises the distinctive role of NOCs at the intersection of public revenues, energy security and industrial development. Accordingly, for countries with NOCs, discussions around the NOC’s future should be central from the start if transition plans are to be credible.

International cooperation can also play a vital role in supporting NOC transformations through peer learning around scenario-based planning, disciplined investment decisions, decarbonisation and methane emissions abatement and finance for credible diversification into renewable energy and other business areas.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

 

 

 

Jojo was poached as an infant and grew up in captivity. His keepers want to find him a friend - but it's not straightforward.

The 52-year-old general’s provocative posts and military threats have fuelled rumours of a dynastic succession.

Jesus Owono is given a 12-match suspension by the Spanish football federation's disciplinary committee after his challenge which resulted in the death of Jesus de Miguel.

Nigeria beat Tanzania to boost their hopes of reaching the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, while Mohamed Salah scores twice as Egypt cruise to victory over Malawi.

Martin Rodriguez est sans aucun doute la personnalité publique du Bénin qui detient le record d'exilé volontaire. Il dépasse les exilés politiques au régime revolutionnaire de Mathieu Kerekou Emile Derlin Zinsou, Adrien Houngbedji, Idelphonse Lemone et bien d'autres qui avaient passé quinze ans hors du pays.
Le cumul des séjours réguliers de Martin Rodriguez au pays depuis 2005 à ce jour n'excède dix jours. Il est rentré durant la campagne électorale de 2006 et celle de 2016, puis un séjour d'une demi-journée où il s'est entretenu avec Patrice Talon en présence d'une délégation ivoirienne au Palais de La Marina.
Depuis lors, c'est sur les réseaux sociaux qui s'exprime le plus.
Selon nos investigations, les déboires de Martin Rodriguez avec les chefs d'Etat du Bénin n'ont pas commencé sous le règne Patrice Talon. Ils avaient commencé vers la fin du régime de Kérékou 2, et s'est poursuivi durant les 10 ans de Boni Yayi. En cause, l'affaire du fameux Boeing 727-200 offert par le Colonel Khadafi au Bénin.

Nous y reviendrons

À quelques jours de son ouverture, le Cyber Africa Forum (CAF) se prépare à réunir plus de 1 500 décideurs publics et privés les 16 et 17novembre 2026, au Sofitel Cotonou Marina Hotel &Spa, au Bénin. Placée sous le thème « Construire la confiance numérique de demain », cette sixième édition rassemblera plusieurs délégations ministérielles africaines, des responsables d'institutions internationales et de grandes entreprises technologiques, ainsi que des experts de premier plan. Avec plus de 70 partenaires et sponsors mobilisés, le CAF entend renforcer les collaborations entre acteurs publics et privés autour des enjeux de cybersécurité, d'intelligence artificielle et souveraineté numérique.
Le numérique est devenu un terrain de rivalités géopolitiques et de compétition économique, que la course à l'intelligence artificielle accélère. Pour l'Afrique, l'enjeu est double : protéger ses États, ses entreprises et ses citoyens face à des menaces croissantes, et renforcer sa souveraineté numérique en développant ses capacités propres dans les domaines des données, des infrastructures, de la cybersécurité et de l'intelligence artificielle.
Selon INTERPOL, les pertes liées à la cybercriminalité déclarées sur le continent sont passées de 192 millions de dollars en 2024 à 484 millions en 2025, et l'IA intervient désormais dans plus de la moitié des cybercrimes signalés.
Les 16 et 17 novembre 2026, au Sofitel Cotonou Marina Hotel & Spa, décideurs publics, dirigeants d'entreprise, investisseurs et startups y débattront des conditions de cette confiance et y concluront des partenariats.

Une mobilisation ministérielle et institutionnelle de haut niveau

Plusieurs délégations ministérielles sont attendues à Cotonou pour cette sixième édition, notamment MahunaAkplogan, ministre béninois de la Transformation digitale et de l'Innovation ; et celles de ses homologues de Côte d'Ivoire, de la République du Congo, du Gabon et du Nigeria. D'autres membres de gouvernements africains sont également attendus, parmi lesquels ; Ibrahim Kalil Konaté, ministre ivoirien du Commerce, de l'Industrie et de l'Artisanat et Jacqueline Lydia Mikolo, ministre du Commerce, des Approvisionnements et de la Consommation de la République du Congo, chargée de la ZLECAf.
Les responsables des principales agences nationales chargées du numérique et de la cybersécurité prendront également part au Forum, notamment Marc-André Akinolu Loko, directeur général de l'Agence Nationale d'Identification des Personnes (ANIP) du Bénin ; Aristide Adjinacou, directeur général de l'Agence des Systèmesd'Information et du Numérique (ASIN) ; Ouanilo Medegan Fagla, directeur général du Centre National d'Investigations Numériques (CNIN) ; le général de brigade Guelpetchin Ouattara, directeur général de l'ANSSI deCôte d'Ivoire ; et Divine Selase Agbeti, directeur général de la Cyber Security Authority (CSA) du Ghana.
Les organisations internationales et réseaux d'expertise seront notamment représentés : INTERPOL ; Abdul-Hakeem Ajijola, président du groupe des experts de l'Union Africaine ; Martin Koyabe, Senior Manager and Technical Lead du Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE) Africa.
Des dirigeants de premier plan et plus de 70 partenaires mobilisés
Côté secteur privé, le Forum accueillera notamment Uche Ofodile, de MTN Bénin ; Charles Kié, président-directeur général de Genesis Holding Company ; Stanislas Zézé-Bayard, président-directeur général de
Bloomfield Investment Corporation ; Ghislaine Samaké, directrice générale d'Ecobank Guinée-Bissau ; Segun Yayi,Vice President, Technology Risk Advisory chez Goldman Sachs ; Régis Bamba, cofondateur de Djamo ; et Claude
Borna, Managing Director et Chief Innovation Officer de Sèmè City Development Agency. Parmi les autresintervenants figurent également Kadotien Alassane Soro, Regional Manager de Yango ; Fabrice Zapfack, PartnerCôte d'Ivoire d'Artefact ; Gilles Kounou, CEO d'Open SI (KKIAPAY) ; Charlette N'Guessan, Lead AI Ecosystem Development for Sovereign AI Infrastructure chez Amini ; et Didier Kla, Directeur Général de Kaydan Technology et
président du Comité Stratégique du CAF.

De nombreuses entreprises de premier plan dans les secteurs du conseil, de la cybersécurité, des télécommunications, de la technologie et de la finance ont confirmé leur engagement aux côtés du Forum. Parmiles partenaires figurent notamment Deloitte, Nyquist-Shannon, COMTEL, Digisec, Africa Valley, Cybastion, HCLSoftware, ainsi que Genesis Holding Company, Kaspersky, MTN, Visa, DCG, 240 Analytics, SAIFORT-CyCube,
Adenka, StreamScan, Yango, SaH Analytics, Huawei, Asafo & Co, Veone, GUCE CI, Huawei, StreamScan, Sharp Vision et Quality Corporate. D'autres acteurs majeurs de l'écosystème technologique africain, parmi lesquels
Artefact, WALLIX, Fortinet, Gatewatcher, Orishas Finance, ST Digital, KKIAPAY, Overnetflow, Talisman Group etCONFISEC, accompagneront également cette sixième édition.
Deloitte y présentera en exclusivité son baromètre sur l'état des menaces cyber en Afrique en 2026 : risques, usages de l'intelligence artificielle et niveau de maturité des organisations. De son côté, StreamScan animera un exercice de gestion de crise cyber destiné aux DSI et aux RSSI du CAF CIO/CISO Club.

Le Forum s'appuiera par ailleurs sur un réseau de partenaires institutionnels et stratégiques, dont le Groupe de la Banque mondiale, Smart Africa, INCYBER Forum, Ciberobs Consulting, Sèmè City, le CICR, l'UNFPA, ainsi que
plusieurs organisations professionnelles du secteur numérique africain.
Selon Franck Kié, Commissaire général du Cyber Africa Forum : « Cette édition est le résultat du travail engagé en 2025 et de la confiance accordée au Forum par les acteurs gouvernementaux et privés. Nous constatons cetteannée une véritable attractivité autour du CAF et de la destination Bénin, avec plus de 70 partenaires, dont plusieurs nous rejoignent pour la première fois. Le CAF devient progressivement un rendez-vous où les acteurs
locaux et internationaux se rencontrent pour échanger, nouer des partenariats et accélérer la transformationdigitale du continent. ».
Intelligence artificielle, cyberdiplomatie et investissements : deux jours au cœur des priorités numériques africaines
Les 16 et 17 novembre, les échanges s'articuleront autour de cinq grandes thématiques : l'intelligence artificielle
et la souveraineté, la confiance numérique et la cyberdiplomatie, l'investissement dans l'économie numérique, l'identité numérique, ainsi que les talents et les industries créatives. Les débats porteront notamment sur la
gouvernance de l'IA en Afrique, la prévention et la gestion des crises de confiance numérique, la coopérationinternationale en matière de cybersécurité, la sécurité des paiements digitaux et le financement de l'économie
numérique africaine. Le Forum fera également la part belle à l'innovation et aux talents avec le HackerLab 2026,organisé par l'ASIN en partenariat avec le CAF, et Tech 4 Creative Industries, consacré aux applications de
l'intelligence artificielle dans la mode, la musique, le sport et les arts. En parallèle des conférences et tablesrondes, des rendez-vous d'affaires BtoB et BtoG permettront de favoriser les échanges entre décideurs publics, entreprises et investisseurs. Le Forum s'ouvrira le lundi 16 novembre à 9h30 par une cérémonie officielle,marquée notamment par une remise de prix et la signature de conventions.
Les inscriptions au CAF 2026 sont ouvertes depuis le 5 octobre sur www.cyberafricaforum.com.

À propos du Cyber Africa Forum (CAF)

Fondé en 2020 par Franck Kié, Président de Ciberobs - Make Africa Safe - et Managing Partner Bénin de Ciberobs Consulting, le Cyber Africa Forum (CAF) est un forum annuel consacré aux enjeux du numérique, de la cybersécurité et
de l'IA en Afrique. Il réunit des responsables publics, des dirigeants d'entreprise, des investisseurs, des entrepreneurs,
des chercheurs et des experts internationaux afin de renforcer les partenariats public-privé, favoriser l'innovation et
stimuler des opportunités d'affaires.
En cinq éditions, le CAF a rassemblé plus de 6 000 participants, plus de 100 partenaires et sponsors, ainsi que des
représentants de plus de 50 pays d'Afrique, d'Europe, d'Amérique du Nord et d'Asie. Plus de 500 rendez-vous d'affaires y ont également été organisés.
Organisé par Kaydan Groupe, le Forum bénéficie du soutien du ministère de l'Économie et des Finances et du ministère de la Transformation digitale et de l'Innovation du Bénin.

DIGITAL 20H : Avez-vous tenté votre chance ?
Le tirage DIGITAL 20H N°356 a livré son verdict !
Vendredi 13 Novembre 2026

Avez-vous joué ?
Avez-vous misé sur vos numéros porte-bonheur ?

RÉSULTAT : 22 • 69 • 90 • 62 • 36

Félicitations aux heureux gagnants !

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Rendez-vous au prochain tirage de 00H pour une nouvelle chance.

Jouez dans les centres de jeux ou en ligne : Tapez 590# ou lnbloto.bj
Jouez avec modération et responsabilité. Le jeu doit rester un plaisir.

A TOI DE JOUER #Akaxòa

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LES RÉSULTATS LOTO FORTUNE SONT LÀ !

TIRAGE N°182/26 vendredi 13 Novembre 2026 (18H)

12 • 52 • 84 • 59 • 89

Félicitations aux heureux gagnants !

Pas encore gagné ? Gardez le sourire !

Rendez-vous au prochain tirage de 20H pour une nouvelle chance.

Jouez dans les centres de jeux ou en ligne : Tapez 590# ou lnbloto.bj
Jouez avec modération et responsabilité. Le jeu doit rester un plaisir.

A TOI DE JOUER #Akaxòa

#LNBSA #XòGbɔnAlɔkpaVo #JeuResponsable #LaChanceAvecModération

Members of the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) gather at the COP31 climate summit, calling on governments to prioritise zero-waste solutions and methane reduction over waste-to-energy incineration in Antalya, Türkiye, on November 10, 2026. Credit: Nipe Fagio

By Chemtai Kirui
ANTALYA, Türkiye & NAIROBI, Nov 13 2026 (IPS)

Plans to build waste incineration plants across Africa risk undermining efforts to curb methane emissions, zero-waste campaigners have warned, as world leaders and climate negotiators gather in Antalya, Türkiye, for the COP31 climate summit.

Waste management and methane reduction are among the issues under discussion at the summit, with campaigners saying that governments should prioritise waste separation, composting and recycling over investment in incineration infrastructure.

Weyinmi Okotie, executive director of the Green Knowledge Foundation, said only 55% of municipal solid waste was collected across Africa, with just 4% recycled.

Organic material accounts for as much as 70% of municipal waste in some African cities, Okotie said, much of which ends up in dumpsites and landfills.

As it decomposes in oxygen-poor conditions, the waste releases methane, a greenhouse gas with about 80 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period.

Food waste accounts for up to 14% of global methane emissions, according to a 2026 report by the UN Environment Programme

Mary Nyambura Kanyui at her recycling aggregation yard on Juja Road in Nairobi’s
Eastleigh area, where she buys recyclable materials from waste pickers. Credit: Chemtai Kirui/IPS

and UN-Habitat. The report estimated that 1.05bn tonnes of food were wasted in 2022, even as 783mn people faced hunger.

A ministerial declaration issued at COP31 by countries participating in the Global Methane Pledge called on governments to prevent organic waste from being sent to landfill, expand resource recovery, and capture methane emissions where avoidance is not yet possible.

The declaration reaffirmed the Global Methane Pledge‘s goal of cutting global methane emissions by at least 30 per cent below 2020 levels by 2030. It was endorsed by seven countries: Belgium, Canada, Germany, Indonesia, Norway, the UK and the Federated States of Micronesia.

The declaration was issued as ministers and private-sector representatives met to assess progress towards the target.

Existing commitments are projected to deliver only 10–11 per cent of the emissions reductions needed by 2030, participants warned, and they called for stronger policies, improved emissions monitoring, and increased public and private investment.

They called for stronger policies, improved emissions monitoring and greater investment to accelerate methane reductions across the energy, agriculture and waste sectors.

Global municipal solid waste is projected to rise from 2.1bn tonnes in 2023 to 3.8bn tonnes by 2050, according to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The annual cost of managing waste, including the effects of pollution, ill health and climate change, could reach US$640.3bn by then if current trends persist.

A shift towards a circular economy, in which materials are reused rather than discarded, could instead generate net annual economic gains of US$108.5bn by 2050, UNEP estimates.

Türkiye’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, urged governments to embrace zero-waste initiatives, saying efforts to reduce rubbish and increase recycling could help cut emissions and tackle the climate crisis.

His call came as Türkiye’s COP31 presidency urged countries to halve the projected growth in global annual waste generation by 2035. The proposed target shifts the focus from waste collection and disposal towards preventing waste at source, extending the life of materials and reducing emissions from discarded organic matter.

Sherphine Apiyo Kochiyo, a monitoring and evaluation officer at Kenya’s Centre for Environment Justice and Development (CEJAD), attends the COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Türkiye. Credit: GAIA

Wednesday was designated Zero Waste Day at COP31, with discussions focusing on circularity and methane reduction.

But campaigners warned that the growing promotion of waste-to-energy incinerators in African countries risked locking cities into costly infrastructure and diverting investment from waste prevention, composting and recycling.

An average of USD 4.1bn a year in climate finance was tracked for methane reduction in the solid-waste sector in 2021–22, but 94 per cent of that funding — USD 3.86bn — went to projects involving undifferentiated waste incineration, according to the Climate Policy Initiative.

Just USD 223m went to targeted waste-management measures, such as landfill-gas capture and food-waste anaerobic digestion. A further USD 22m was directed to organic-waste management. Sub-Saharan Africa received 57 per cent of the funding for targeted projects, the analysis found.

A report by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), published in October, identified 15 waste-to-energy incineration projects and proposals across 10 African countries, with combined estimated capital costs exceeding US$4bn.

Public funding was the largest identified source of finance. Yet only one project — the Reppie plant in Ethiopia — was operational. Two others were under construction, while the remaining 12 were at various stages of approval, financing, planning or proposal.

Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran, a researcher at India’s Centre for Financial Accountability, said companies were increasingly promoting incineration in Africa after pushing the technology in parts of Asia.

Waste workers with the Nipe Fagio waste collection service sift through compost to remove larger particles during the production of organic fertiliser in Bonyokwa, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 2023. Credit: Nipe Fagio

Kulasekaran cited a proposed plant in Casablanca, Morocco, which would be the largest incinerator in Africa if built. An agreement for the project was signed in August, he said, although details of its financing remained unavailable.

Desmond Alugnoa, programme manager for zero waste and climate at GAIA, said governments facing waste-management problems and electricity shortages were attracted by the prospect of generating power from rubbish.

But incinerators required large upfront investments and a constant supply of waste to operate, he said. Alugnoa cited Ethiopia’s Reppie plant, which he said had received substantial public investment but generated relatively little electricity for the national grid compared with its operating costs.

Such projects also risked diverting public money from efforts to reduce waste before it was discarded, Alugnoa said.

Across eastern, western and southern Africa, community-based waste workers are already recovering organic waste and recyclable materials that might otherwise end up in dumpsites and landfills.

In Ngong, located on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya, Michael Wangombe collects food waste from markets and nearby businesses and supplies it to a black soldier fly project, where larvae convert the organic material into fertiliser.

Collectors are paid about KSh80 (US$0.62) for each bucket of waste collected. The material is weighed before being fed to the larvae, while the remaining residue is processed into fertiliser for agricultural use.

Wangombe is a member of the Ngong Social Justice and Environmental Centre, whose members have received protective equipment and support in finding buyers through the Danish Refugee Council’s Fair Recycling project.

Maurice Onzere, project manager of the Danish Refugee Council’s Fair Recycling project, said the initiative was helping waste pickers move from informal collection into more structured recycling businesses.

Participants receive training in waste segregation, financial management and market access, and are linked to aggregation centres where they can sell recovered materials to recycling companies.

Further along the waste-recovery chain, Mary Nyambura Kanyui runs an aggregation yard on Juja Road in Nairobi’s Eastleigh area, buying recyclable materials from waste pickers and selling them to recycling companies.

Kanyui spent three years collecting waste before setting up the business nearly six years ago. She now employs five workers, each earning KSh600 ($4.57) a day.

The Danish Refugee Council has helped her establish links with buyers, including recycling companies.

Onzere said women accounted for 57% of the waste pickers engaged by the programme in December 2025, up from less than 12% in 2021. The project works with about 4,000 waste pickers, including refugees and members of host communities.

In Tanzania, the environmental organisation Nipe Fagio works with waste pickers in Dar es Salaam to turn organic waste into fertiliser using black soldier fly larvae. The organisation is also working with the city of Zanzibar on plans for a zero-waste island.

A similar model is being pursued in Ghana, where a project established with Alugnoa’s support converts food and other organic waste into compost for urban farmers. The initiative also works with farmers to demonstrate its use. Despite operating across several municipalities, it processes less than 70 per cent of the city’s organic waste, Alugnoa said.

Durban, South Africa offers another approach. At Warwick Market, a project diverts unsold food from traders for use as animal feed, with the remaining waste sent for composting.

These initiatives were among the approaches discussed at the COP31 Food and Agriculture Pavilion, where practitioners from Tanzania, Uganda and Indonesia shared experiences of using black soldier fly larvae, biogas and composting to manage organic waste and reduce methane emissions.

Piotr Barczak of Africa Circular presented the BUGS project, which supports the development of black soldier fly systems across Africa. Representatives of Tanzania’s Nipe Fagio, Uganda’s Collect Village and GAIA Asia Pacific in Indonesia also outlined how these approaches were being applied in their respective countries.

But expanding such initiatives and the wider systems that support waste recovery requires investment.

Kanyui said she could make a profit of KSh10,000–15,000 (US$77–116) on days when she sold plastic after paying her workers. But banks were reluctant to lend to her because they did not consider the materials and equipment at her yard sufficient collateral.

“Someone goes to the yard the first time and sees rubbish,” she said.

Kanyui said access to a loan would allow her to buy more recyclable materials and that she would be able to repay it quickly.

Kenya’s Sustainable Waste Management Act, passed in 2022, requires waste to be separated at source and makes producers responsible for the environmental impact of products they introduce to the market. Regulations gazetted in November 2024 established an extended producer responsibility (EPR) framework, requiring companies to finance the collection and recycling of waste from their products.

Companies can meet these obligations individually or through producer responsibility organisations (PROs), which collect contributions from members and arrange for the recovery and recycling of discarded materials.

Dorothy Adhiambo Otieno, a programme officer at Kenya’s Centre for Environment Justice and Development (CEJAD), said some PROs had initially subsidised recycling companies buying recovered materials before shifting their support to aggregators, who collect materials from waste pickers and supply them to recyclers.

Some PROs were now exploring direct payments to waste pickers, Otieno said. But workers operating informally faced documentation requirements, including obtaining personal identification numbers from the Kenya Revenue Authority, which could make it difficult for them to receive payments.

Figures published by the Kenya Extended Producer Responsibility Organisation (KEPRO) show that its subsidy framework for September–December 2026 allocates 30 per cent of funding to recyclers, 25 per cent to aggregators, 15 per cent to transporters and the remaining 30 per cent to waste collectors.

Individual waste pickers and community-based organisations can participate through contracted aggregators. Guidance issued by the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) also provides for direct payments to waste pickers at collection points and material recovery facilities.

Producers are required to publish the rates they pay for waste collection services, the guidance says.

Sherphine Apiyo Kochiyo, a monitoring and evaluation officer at CEJAD, said the framework was welcome, but its effectiveness would depend on whether funding reached the workers recovering the waste.

Speaking on the sidelines of COP31, Kochiyo called for greater investment in community-based waste management, including separate collection vehicles for organic and dry waste, support for compost standards and certification, and funding to help community organisations participate in developing waste-management policies.

Campaigners warned that expanding incineration capacity risked diverting investment from waste reduction, recycling and composting. Kulasekaran said the plants’ need for a steady supply of rubbish could also lock cities into long-term dependence on incineration, rather than encouraging efforts to reduce waste at the source.

UN secretary-general António Guterres urged governments to move beyond pledges and increase investment in waste collection, composting and circular infrastructure. Citing projects in Durban, Dhaka and Kampala that convert organic waste into compost, fertiliser and animal feed, he said such initiatives could create jobs and lower costs.

“The era of pledges is over. The world needs action,” Guterres said.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

 

 

 

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By CIVICUS
Nov 13 2026 (IPS)

 
CIVICUS discusses the case for United Nations (UN) reform with Heba Aly, director of the Article 109 Coalition, an international civil society network that calls on states to review and update the UN Charter.

Heba Aly

In its ninth decade, the UN is in deep crisis. Major powers are rewriting the international rules and the organisation has struggled to respond to wars and other global threats. So far, reform efforts have focused on spending cutbacks rather than on rebalancing power within the UN. A growing civil society coalition is now urging states to take a more ambitious route by invoking Article 109 of the UN Charter to convene a General Conference to review the founding document.

Why does the UN Charter need reforming?

Our world faces multiple existential challenges. Violence and conflict are on the rise, as seen in Gaza, Iran and Ukraine, among other places, and the UN has been unable to respond meaningfully. The changing climate is devastating communities, with the recent flooding in Nepal just the latest example. AI is going off the rails, with AI agents acting rogue in the absence of regulation. And big powers are threatening nuclear war. Our current global governance systems are not equipped to deal with any of this.

At the same time, the UN is under attack. The USA, its historic architect, is now undermining it by questioning its effectiveness, cutting its funding and establishing competing bodies. Other states are retreating from multilateralism, some because they don’t want to play by the rules, others because they feel the UN doesn’t represent the interests of the majority.

That is in part because the UN’s architecture still reflects the world of 1945 rather than that of 2026 and still privileges five countries that won a war over 80 years ago. Its Charter was adopted before the internet, before the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, before the idea of planetary boundaries.

Triggering Article 109 of the UN Charter, which establishes the process for convening a General Conference of UN member states to review and update the Charter, offers the possibility of bringing the UN into the 21st century.

How can Article 109 be triggered, and why use it?

Triggering Article 109 requires a two-thirds majority vote in the UN General Assembly, where every state has a seat, plus the support of nine of the 15 members of the Security Council. This means the five permanent members of the Security Council cannot veto a conference being held. So triggering Article 109 is very much within reach.

Article 109 offers a pathway to a renewed UN architecture that is democratic, inclusive and fit for the 21st century, and legitimate because it is rooted in the Charter. It was a concession made in 1945 to the many countries that opposed giving the five permanent Security Council members veto power, with the promise that this would be revisited by the UN’s 10th year. The purpose of Article 109 was also to offer the means to adapt the organisation to changing world circumstances, based on learning from its first years of operation. Eighty-one years on, this built-in review mechanism has never been used. It’s an opportunity hiding in plain sight.

A General Conference would bring all states together to discuss openly what is and is not working in international governance, and where changes are needed for everyone’s benefit. Many states have grievances about the current system, and giving them a chance to share their vision of a future UN can help rebuild much-needed trust.

What about the risk of making things worse?

The threats the world faces today need urgent action. If we do nothing, the UN could collapse altogether.

Our recent analysis of voting patterns at the UN General Assembly shows that efforts to roll back norms on climate change, gender and human rights have failed to secure two-thirds majority support, which is the threshold required to change the Charter. The data simply does not support the suggestion that a majority of states would back an outcome that dilutes fundamental principles of the Charter. In fact, it suggests quite the opposite. An overwhelming majority of states have expressed support for human rights and multilateralism, as evidenced by initiatives such as the Friends of Human Rights and Multilateralism, the Hague Group and Partners for Multilateralism.

A new world order is going to emerge, whether we like it or not. It will be either built by the powers who are de facto changing realities on the ground or shaped through a structured and inclusive process where every state has a voice. That’s what a General Conference to review the UN Charter would offer.

What would reform mean for people in the global majority?

Most of the effects of today’s crises are felt in global majority countries. Take climate change. It is estimated that some 143 million people in global majority countries will be displaced by its effects by 2050. The disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global majority countries was another striking example.

Most of these crises stem from failures of global governance and inequitable decision-making at the global level. And that is in part because international institutions tend to exclude global majority voices. This means the countries suffering the most do not have enough of a voice in the fora set up to tackle these challenges.

The Security Council is an example of this. Although the majority of its work is dedicated to Africa, the continent does not have a permanent seat on the Council.

A review of the UN Charter is an opportunity to rebalance power and ensure equitable access to resources and equal protection from harm. It is an opportunity for the global majority to shape the next world order in a way they could not in 1945, when many countries, still under colonial rule, did not have a seat at the table.

What role should civil society play in reform?

There is strong public support for international cooperation and an effective UN. One recent poll found that 57 per cent of people across 34 countries want their country to work with others to take on common threats, even if it means compromising on some national interests. And in another, 73 per cent of people who had an opinion about the UN said it needed reform.

Civil society therefore has an essential role in channelling public demands for a UN that can deliver effective international cooperation. It can help push states to embrace a more ambitious vision of multilateralism and pressure them to meet the moment.

Civil society can also help think through the outcomes we want from a Charter review and from a future UN and, during negotiations, hold governments accountable for outcomes that benefit people. Those outcomes could include a much more formal role for civil society at the UN. Today civil society engagement at the UN is often a tick-box exercise, and many civil society organisations face restricted access. A renewed Charter could codify a role for civil society in international decision-making that goes beyond today’s voluntary consultative approach.

I encourage civil society organisations that are interested in rebuilding international cooperation to get in touch and join the hundred-plus organisations that are already part of our network.

There are reasons for hope. In recent months, many western leaders have echoed what leaders from the global majority have been saying for some time: that the current world order is not fair and that we need something more equitable. Now we have an opportunity to make that happen.

CIVICUS interviews a wide range of civil society activists, experts and leaders to gather diverse perspectives on civil society action and current issues for publication on its CIVICUS Lens platform. The views expressed in interviews are the interviewees’ and do not necessarily reflect those of CIVICUS. Publication does not imply endorsement of interviewees or the organisations they represent.

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A seal navigates the icy waters of the Antarctic—an ecosystem under mounting pressure from commercial fishing and climate change. Credit: Our Antarctica/Shawn Heinrichs

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 12 2026 (IPS)

On October 30, the 45th annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR-45) concluded in Hobart, Australia. After another year of negotiations without a consensus reached on Antarctic marine protection measures or krill fishing regulations, conservation groups are urging consumers and retailers to boycott all krill products.

Widely regarded as a vital, shared global commons, the Antarctic is home to trillions of krill. A keystone species, krill from the Southern Ocean form the backbone of the polar ecosystem, sustaining nearly every major predator, from seabirds and seals to whales. Antarctic krill possess one of the largest biomasses of any wild animal on Earth, measuring between 379 and 500 million tonnes.

In an exclusive interview with IPS, marine biologist, policy expert, and Antarctic Wildlife Alliance Executive Director Ally Kristan explained that Antarctic krill act as a “tremendous” carbon sink and are critically important for the health of the Southern Ocean. She stressed that the stability of Antarctic marine ecosystems is a major climate driver for the entire globe.

“If you lose krill, you lose the foundation of the entire Southern Ocean food web. So then, all of the predators who feed on krill and the predators who feed on the predators who feed on krill would all be decimated,” said Kristan. “So we do need a healthy Southern Ocean ecosystem, biologically and chemically, to have a healthy climate and to have as much carbon absorbed into these nutrient-rich cold waters of the Southern Ocean.”

Despite their ecological importance, industrial fishing fleets harvest hundreds of thousands of tonnes of krill annually. Given the abundance of krill biomass in the Southern Ocean, Kristan noted that the species is “probably” not being overfished, but the central issue lies with how they are being fished.

She explained that industrial krill fishing is often heavily concentrated in small areas, which can have devastating localized impacts on regional marine fauna. With krill fishing often overlapping with wildlife feeding grounds, polar predators have been increasingly forced to compete with commercial supertrawlers for food.

“Science shows us that the krill fishery and the recovering whale population both probably can’t be supported by krill populations, especially as the climate continues to change,” she said. “Fisheries have a huge compounding impact on all the climate pressures whales are already facing.”

IPS also spoke with Max Bello, an international ocean policy expert and Blue Marine Foundation’s Global MPA Specialist. He underscored the ethical concerns surrounding Antarctic krill extraction, noting that it supplies high-end consumer products, such as omega-3 supplements, pet food, and farmed fish feed, even though viable alternatives exist.

Kristan added that krill fishing has no direct use for addressing human food security. Instead, fleets from wealthy nations in the Global North—primarily Norway and China—exploit this shared global resource to supply high-end markets, risking potentially dire environmental consequences.

She highlighted the commercial market for the luxury Antarctic toothfish—commonly sold under the market name of “Chilean Seabass”—as a key example. Bello echoed these concerns, emphasizing that up to 70 percent of harvested krill goes toward salmon aquaculture, a market “which has proven to be extremely destructive around the entire world, highly polluted.”

Bello stressed that unsustainable krill fishing practices coupled with the Antarctic’s position as an Area Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ) set an alarming precedent, with global powers relying on a shared resource to enrich themselves.

“This definitely creates a big question about our governance of the oceans around the world, where we keep seeing wealthy nations and companies that have the technology and resources to exploit an area that belongs to us all,” said Bello. “So that sends a really worrisome message. A message to our nations that we are basically spectators or witnesses of how other countries continue to build wealth out of the destruction of a common resource.”

He added that the exploitation of Antarctic marine ecosystems has ripple effects that go “beyond money” that we all depend on, such as oxygen, biodiversity, and the “stability of our very vulnerable ecosystem.”

Seventeen years after CCAMLR members pledged to implement a comprehensive network of MPAs, only two have been established. In 2024, CCAMLR allowed the expiration of a critical safeguard designed to spread krill catches across four distinct management zones, which has elicited significant pushback from conservation and environmental justice groups.

Ahead of the summit, conservation groups called on governments to implement four marine protection measures: reinstating restrictions separating industrial fishing areas from wildlife feeding grounds, adopting the Antarctic Peninsula Marine Protected Area (MPA), setting a firm roadmap for completing a network of Southern Ocean MPAs, and introducing caps on krill catch limits. None of these calls were answered.

As CCAMLR continues to fail to deliver meaningful action, a growing global initiative has formed to protect Antarctic marine ecosystems by directly challenging consumer support in the markets. During NYC Climate Week in September, oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle and the Antarctic Avengers—a coalition of ocean leaders, policymakers, scientists, and public figures—launched a global boycott of Antarctic krill, urging consumers and retailers alike to reject all krill-derived products.

Several major retailers in the Global North have shown support for this growing movement. In April, Holland & Barrett—one of the United Kingdom’s leading international health and wellness retailers—entirely withdrew from the krill market, ceasing the sale and production of all krill-derived products.

Approximately 94 percent of German drugstores have also announced commitments to cease selling krill products. Two of Australia’s largest supermarket chains—Coles and Woolworths—followed suit. The Antarctic Wildlife Alliance continues to call on American retailers to take similar action.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

 

 

 

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