Feed aggregator

Normalerweise verläuft in den meisten Parkour-Videos, die man online finden kann, alles nach Plan. Diesmal jedoch misslingt ein Sprung komplett – und endet im Matsch.

Ein 12-jähriger Schüler ist am Dienstagmittag in Hubersdorf SO mit seinem Velo gestürzt und hat sich dabei erheblich verletzt. Am Unfall beteiligt war nach ersten Erkenntnissen ein Mofa, wie die Kantonspolizei Solothurn mitteilte.

Des légumes, des herbes et des fruits délicieux, directement du jardin à la table, pour accompagner une abondance de poissons et de fruits de mer fraîchement pêchés, grillés ou rôtis, servis avec des céréales et des légumineuses savoureuses, du pain maison croustillant, du vin et des produits de la mer.

Die Macher von Whatsapp stellen um: Eine neue Oberfläche soll den Nutzerinnen und Nutzer künftig eine bessere Übersicht bieten.

Der katalanische Separatistenführer Carles Puigdemont hat eine Amnestie für alle Separatisten als Vorbedingung für Gespräche für eine Unterstützung bei der spanischen Regierungsbildung genannt.

It is a bit slow around Schuman these days, isn't it? Yet the clock on this European Commission has already started ticking.

The Economic Affairs Committee of the European Parliament voiced concerns over the digital euro, including costs for banks and its use by EU citizens, during questions posed to European Central Bank Executive Fabio Panetta on Monday (4 September).

This goat died of starvation while surrounded by an inedible invasive plant. Lives hang in the balance as Kenya’s dryland is ravaged by a severe prolonged drought. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

By Joyce Chimbi
NAIROBI, Sep 5 2023 (IPS)

As thousands convene in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, for the Africa Climate Summit, the first time the African Union has summoned its leaders to solely discuss climate change under the theme ‘Driving Green Growth and Climate Finance Solutions for Africa and the World’, the backdrop is a country on the frontlines of a climate crisis.

The severe, sharp effects of climate change are piercing the very heart of an economy propped up by rainfed agriculture and tourism – sectors highly susceptible to climate change. After five consecutive failed rainy seasons, more than 6.4 million people in Kenya, among them 602,000 refugees, need humanitarian assistance – representing a 35 per cent increase from 2022.

It is the highest number of people in need of aid in more than ten years, says Ann Rose Achieng, a Nairobi-based climate activist. She tells IPS that Kenya is hurtling full speed towards a national disaster in food security as “at least 677,900 children and 138,800 pregnant and breastfeeding women in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid regions alone are facing acute malnutrition. Nearly 70 per cent of our wildlife was lost in the last 30 years.”

Despite Kenya contributing less than 0.1 per cent of the global greenhouse gas emissions per year, the country’s pursuit of a low carbon and resilient green development pathway produced a most ambitious Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to cut greenhouse gasses by 32 per cent by 2030 in line with the Paris Agreement.

But as is the case across Africa, there are no funds to actualise these lofty ambitions. Africa needs approximately USD 579.2 billion in adaptation finance over the period 2020 to 2030, and yet the current adaptation flows to the continent are five to ten times below estimated needs. Globally, the estimated gap for adaptation in developing countries is expected to rise to USD 340 billion per year by 2030 and up to USD 565 billion by 2050, while the mitigation gap is at USD 850 billion per year by 2030.

After five consecutive failed rainy seasons, food insecurity is expected to escalate as maize crop has failed to flourish due to erratic weather patterns. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

As dams and rivers dry up, Kenya will continue to be on the frontlines of a climate crisis unless climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts are escalated. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

Frederick Kwame Kumah, Vice President of Global Leadership African Wildlife Foundation, tells IPS a big part of the problem is Africa’s burgeoning gross public debt which increased from 36 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 71.4 per cent of GDP between 2010 and 2020 – a drag on its development progress and a disincentive for climate finance flows.

“There is a concern that climate finance, if and when provided, will be used to first service Africa’s debt burden. The first step to addressing Africa’s Climate Finance must be action towards debt relief for Africa. Freeing up debt servicing arrangements will release resources for continued development and climate finance purposes,” Kumah explains.

He says there is an urgent need to challenge the existing unfair paradigm for financing by developing countries. It is very expensive for developing countries to borrow for development purposes. Africa must then leverage its natural capital towards seeking innovative financing mechanisms such as green bonds and carbon credits to address its development and climate change challenges.

Nearly half, 23 out of 47 counties in Kenya, are classified as arid and semi-arid. Livelihoods are at risk as pastoralists are unable to cope with drastic weather changes. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

This waterfall is on the verge of drying up. Kenya’s economy is heavily dependent on tourism and agriculture. The two sectors are highly susceptible to climate change. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

“Climate finance was, as expected, a key part of COP27. It is a grave concern for Africa that developed countries’ commitment to provide $100 billion annually has yet to be met, even though the need for finance is becoming increasingly obvious. In COP27, we noted that new climate finance pledges were more limited than expected. Countries such as those in Africa are still waiting for previous pledges to be fulfilled,” says Luther Bois Anukur, Regional Director, IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).

Meanwhile, Anukur tells IPS negotiations on important agenda items, most notably the new finance target for 2025, stalled. In COP27, Parties concentrated on procedural issues – deferring important decisions about the amount, timeframe, sources, and accountability mechanisms that may be relevant to a new finance goal in the future. African countries and many other vulnerable countries are in the fight for our lives, and sadly they are losing.

Anukur stresses that Africa’s natural resources are depleted, eroded, and biodiversity lost due to extreme effects of climate change leading to loss of lives and ecosystem services and damage to infrastructure at an alarming rate. Yet climate finance pledges have not materialised. The Africa Climate Summit should be the platform for Africa and developing partners to address existing finance gaps with clear programmatic and project approaches.

Africa must use the Summit to assess and prepare their position for the COP28 in the United Arab Emirates towards strengthening partnerships for the delivery of desired climate finance. Kumah adds that the principle of equal but differentiated responsibilities of nations must be adhered to for climate justice and to enable developing countries, who are least responsible for the effects of climate, to have much-needed resources to cope and adapt to biodiversity loss and climate change.

“In that respect, the creation of a dedicated funding mechanism to address loss and damage and another for adaptation and mitigation to redress historical and continued inequities in contributions towards biodiversity loss and climate change. We must rethink how private investments can be reshaped and harnessed for the benefit of biodiversity and climate action,” Kumah expounds.

“Private investments can be scaled through green bonds, carbon markets, sustainable agricultural, forestry and other productive sector supply chains.  Transformative financing architecture is necessary at the domestic and international levels to bring the private and public sectors together to secure the critical backbone of Africa’s natural infrastructure.”

Climate finance gap. Graphic: Joyce Chimbi & Cecilia Russell

While developing countries submitted revised and ambitious National Adaptation Plans and NDCs as requested, Anukur says complicated processes to access financing for their climate actions persist. Stressing the need for reforming the international financial architecture, starting with multilateral development banks.

“The 2023 Summit for New Global Financing Pact held in Paris committed to a coalition of 16 philanthropic organizations to mobilize investment and support UN’s SDG priorities by unlocking new investment for climate action in low- and middle-income countries while reducing poverty and inequality,” Anukur observes.

Civil society organizations and activists such as Achieng have expressed concerns that such announcements are insufficient considering the scale of the challenges facing planet Earth. The Summit will have failed if the global financial architecture is not overhauled in line with the needs of the African continent, she says.

Anukur says the Summit must therefore propel Africa to new heights of climate financing to help reduce Africa’s vulnerability to climate change and increase its resilience and adaptive capacity in line with the Global Goal on Adaptation. Ultimately expressing optimism that the opportunity to unlock the potential of climate financing – breaking the shackles of debt and building a climate-resilient and prosperous Africa is, at last, in sight.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');  

Excerpt:

Africa needs approximately USD 579.2 billion in adaptation finance over the period 2020 to 2030, and yet the current adaptation flows are five to 10 times below estimated needs.
 

Zwölf Jahre soll ein Mann unentdeckt in einer Höhle auf Formentera gelebt haben. Doch nun muss er seine «Unterkunft» räumen – und es drohen Konsequenzen.

European industrial workers, worried about the future of their jobs and communities, need to be reassured of the EU’s support for industry. They are calling for a robust industrial plan for Europe, which is essential for tackling climate change, building strategic autonomy, creating a prosperous EU, leaving no region behind and for peace.

Das Bundeslandwirtschaftsministerium schließt nicht aus, in Brüssel eine teilweise Befreiung von den Düngevorschriften zu beantragen - drei Monate, nachdem die EU-Kommission ein Verfahren wegen hoher Nitratbelastung gegen Berlin eingestellt hatte.

MEPs will scrutinise the work of the European Commission on 13 September to ensure the EU addresses Europeans’ key concerns. Follow the State of the EU debate live.

Source : © European Union, 2023 - EP

MEPs will scrutinise the work of the European Commission on 13 September to ensure the EU addresses Europeans’ key concerns. Follow the State of the EU debate live.

Source : © European Union, 2023 - EP

Angesichts astronomisch hoher Mieten und akutem Wohnraummangel will die Stadt New York Beschränkungen für Kurzzeitvermieter durchsetzen. Die Massnahmen könnten dazu führen, dass Tausende von Angeboten auf Plattformen wie Airbnb, VRBO und Booking.com entfernt werden.

Angesichts zunehmender Spannungen im Zusammenhang mit dem Wolf erwägt die EU-Kommission derzeit, den Schutzstatus der Tiere aufzulockern. Umweltschützer vermuten in dem Schritt vor allem Wahltaktik.

Sandra Mäder muss den grössten Verlust verkraften, den es für eine Mutter gibt. Ihr Sohn Gino stirbt an den Folgen eines Sturzes bei der Tour de Suisse. Nun spricht sie erstmals über die schwierigen Stunden.

Im Norden Chinas wurden zwei Menschen festgenommen: Sie sollen einen Abschnitt der Chinesischen Mauer mit einem Bagger beschädigt haben.

Fürst Albert II. und seine Gattin Charlène waren am vergangenen Wochenende bei den ersten Sendeminuten des neuen Fernsehsenders TV Monaco im Studio mit dabei. Für ihren Auftritt wurde die Fürstin massiv im Netz kritisiert.

Les concours de beauté sont de plus en plus répandus dans le monde. En effet, lors de cet événement, une commission de jury sélectionneront celle […]

L’article L’Algérienne Yasmine Sekrouf en compétition pour le titre de Miss Italie 2024 est apparu en premier sur .

Dans un rapport publié mardi (5 septembre), la Fondation Abbé Pierre et la Fédération européenne des organisations nationales travaillant avec les sans-abri (FEANTSA) alertent sur le mal-logement en Europe et la menace qu'il représente, tant pour la santé que pour la sécurité des personnes qui en sont victimes.