Africa now emits as much carbon as it stores: landmark new study

Africa now emits as much carbon as it stores: landmark new study

Cattle emit a lot of methane, but they also provide livelihoods and environmental services. Getty Images Yolandi Ernst, University of the Witwatersrand and Sally Archibald, University of the Witwatersrand A landmark new study has found that, in the last decade, the African continent has started emitting more carbon than it stores. When the total amount of carbon that is sequestered by natural ecosystems (such as the soil and plants in […]

April 8, 2024 20

Africa

Wind energy to help clean South Africa’s dirty carbon “hotspot”.

By Bonface Orucho, bird story agency Private wind energy projects for commercial and industrial purposes are ramping up the uptake of wind energy in South Africa while complementing clean energy's solar dominance to provide power for industries. Construction recently commenced on three wind sites to power Sasol’s Secunda industrial complex in Mpumalanga. The project is led by a consortium that includes Italian renewable energy developer Enel Green […]

April 2, 2024 16

Africa

Ghana’s decades-old ambition to build an integrated aluminium industry faces a new hurdle: the clean energy transition

By Theophilus Acheampong, University of Aberdeen and Matthew Tyce, King's College London It has been more than 60 years since Ghana’s first post-independence leader Kwame Nkrumah first mooted the idea that Ghana should produce aluminium from the country’s ample supply of bauxite. Under the Volta River Project, Nkrumah’s vision was to construct a dam on Ghana’s Volta River to provide dedicated electricity to a newly built smelter. […]

March 26, 2024 8

Environment

‘A deeply troubling discovery’: Earth may have already passed the crucial 1.5°C warming limit

By Malcolm McCulloch, The University of Western Australia Global temperatures have already exceeded 1.5°C warming and may pass 2°C later this decade, according to a world-first study I led. The worrying findings, based on temperature records contained in sea sponge skeletons, suggest global climate change has progressed much further than previously thought. Human-caused greenhouse gas emissions drive global warming. Obtaining accurate information about the extent of the warming […]

February 6, 2024 22

Environment

Ocean heating breaks record, again, with disastrous outcomes for the planet

By Elizabeth Claire Alberts via Mongabay New research shows that ocean temperatures are hotter than ever in the modern era due to human-driven global warming. High ocean temperatures are placing a strain on marine life and biological processes while also increasing extreme weather events on land. The world is also seeing an escalation in the frequency and intensity of marine heat waves, events in which sea temperatures exceed a certain […]

January 31, 2024 13

Environment

Oxfam calls for EU-wide tax on carbon emissions

.A new report by one of Europe's biggest charities has revealed the continent's richest countries are emitting a disproportionate amount of carbon emissions compared to nations at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale. Launching the findings, the group has called for a new EU-wide tax to balance the scales. Trent Murray reports.

November 21, 2023 13

Africa

Guyana Deserves to Develop its Oil and Gas, and so does Africa

At a time when both African and Caribbean nations are making great strides towards developing recently discovered oil and gas reserves, countries whose development was driven by hydrocarbons are accelerating efforts to transition to a renewable energy future. This transition has seen wealthy nations establish a ‘green agenda,’ one which does not take into consideration Africa’s economic needs. The African Energy Chamber (www.EnergyChamber.org), therefore, strongly calls for an end to […]

November 2, 2023 4

Business / Economics

IMF warns on rising debt

The IMF sees global debt growing faster and higher than projected before the pandemic, Vitor Gaspar, head of the Fund’s Fiscal Affairs Department said ahead of the launch of the Fiscal Monitor (FM) Wednesday (October 11) in Marrakech, Morocco. https://youtu.be/ZOoV_LhOf60 “Government debt ratios declined in 2021 and 2022. It will turn back up in 2023. Going forward global public debt is not only higher, but also projected to grow faster […]

October 18, 2023 7