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On day one of UN climate talks in Dubai, negotiators rubber-stamped plans to get the fund up and running. The arrangements had been hashed out by a transitional committee over five fraught meetings in the past year. The Cop28 president Sultan Al Jaber hailed the decision as “historic”, with a broad smile, after watching delegates burst into a round of applause.
As a main operating entity under the financial mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), GCF takes guidance from the Conference of Parties (COP) on its policies, programming priorities, and eligibility criteria. The GCF delegation will be observing the official negotiations, and hosting and taking part in various events.
UN Climate Change News, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 29 November 2023 – The United Nations Climate Change Conference COP28 will open tomorrow with a resounding call to accelerate collective climate action. The conference takes place in what is already known to be the hottest year ever recorded in human history and as the impacts of the climate crisis wreak unprecedented havoc on human life and livelihoods around the world.
On Saturday 28 October 2023, partners of the CBFP attending the Summit of the Three World Tropical Basins of Amazonia, Congo and Borneo-Mekong in the Republic of Congo met at the Kintele Conference Centre in Brazzaville. The meeting provided an opportunity for the partners present at the summit to discuss the implementation of the CBFP Roadmap for the next two years and to prepare for forthcoming international and regional events, with a view to strengthening synergies between the partners and building coalitions in a spirit of partnership in order to create an active dynamic between the partners and colleges of the CBFP.
The Three Basins Summit took place in Brazzaville from 26 to 28 October 2023. At least ten Heads of State from the continent (Congo, DRCongo, Burundi, Central African Republic, Comoros, Gabon, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Sao Tome and Principe) attended the event. In a press briefing held on his arrival at Melchior Ndadaye International Airport on Sunday 30 October, the President of the Republic of Burundi, His Excellency Evariste Ndayishimiye, stated that in his report presented in his capacity as Chairman of the Central African Forests Commission, COMIFAC, 208 public areas covering 800 hectares were protected and 800 million forests had been preserved. However, he stressed the need for industrialised countries to join Africa in the fight against atmospheric pollution.
Brazzaville, 30 October 2023. The official launch of the activities of the France - Gabon Co-Facilitation of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) took place on Thursday 26 October 2023 in Room 6 of the Kintele Conference Centre in Congo Brazzaville. Please download the roadmap of the Co-Facilitation..
Bangui, Central African Republic, 06 November 2023 - The Executive Secretary, Hervé MAIDOU, and the Administrative and Financial Director, François DAYANG, took part in the funeral of the late Idriss AMIT, Minister of Water, Forests, Hunting and Fishing, who died on 3 November 2023 in Douala, Cameroon.
To read: West African producers - generally dull international demand; Slump in Malaysia’s exports; Indonesian industry ready to intensify presence in Asian markets; Peeler logs now more readily available in Northern India; Incentives for Peruvian companies obtaining voluntary forest certification; Japanese importers confused over new government requirement; Action required now by tropical wood suppliers to meet EUDR requirements; US wooden furniture imports at lowest since March..
We are pleased to inform you about the launch of the call for nominations for the Migrants4Climate Award (M4C), an initiative of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) in partnership with the GFMD France 2022-2023 Chair and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
On Friday 27 October 2023, the High-Level Dialogue between the Forest Ministers of the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) and the private sector of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) took place in Brazzaville on the sidelines of the Summit of the Three Global Tropical Basins of Amazonia, Congo and Borneo-Mekong.
The fifty-ninth session of the International Tropical Timber Council (ITTC), the governing body of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), opened in Pattaya, Thailand, with a call from the host country for ITTO to continue promoting legal trade in tropical timber and encouraging the use of wood derived from sustainable forest management (SFM). To fulfil their mandate, ITTC member countries took some crucial decisions to navigate the challenging financial and organizational conditions that have buffeted their organization in recent years.
The opening session highlighted the role of crop diversity for food security, environmental sustainability, and resilience of food systems, including for future generations. The need to ensure close collaboration with the Convention on Biological Diversity was one of the key messages of the day.
The French delegation will be present during the two weeks of COP28 in Dubai (United Arab Emirates). As well as taking part in the climate negotiations, it will be running a France Pavilion throughout the international event, from 30 November to 12 December 2023. The Pavilion will provide a forum for meetings and discussions on key climate issues, and will offer a wide range of events, including themed sessions, presentations of public policies and press events.
Improved management and conservation could, by 2030, increase the value of DRC's forest-based ecosystem services by US$1.76 billion/year8 over the BAU scenario, and by US$3.8 billion/year by 2050. A comparison of net present values of costs and benefits shows that for every $1 invested today in landscape and forest restoration, DRC stands to gain $15 in benefits by 2050…
David began his career in journalism in his homeland of Cameroon as a writer for The Post Newspaper, before transitioning to broadcasting. He then worked for Radio Reine, Radio Environment, and the Cameroon Radio Television Corporation, while freelancing for Reuters and RFI.
In 2023, Mongabay is officially expanding its coverage of environmental and conservation news in Africa by launching a news bureau dedicated to producing our renowned and award-winning brand of journalism in both French and English. The new bureau, Mongabay Africa, will create original reporting on issues relevant to the conservation of Africa’s wildlife and their habitats, development pressures and the activities of natural resource industries, and the impacts of climate change on ecosystems and communities across the continent.
The Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) concluded its thirty-seventh meeting in Tbilisi, Georgia with major outcomes for climate action. During the three-day meeting, the Board approved 15 proposals totaling USD 736.4 million to fund new climate projects in developing countries. A total of USD 3.6 billion when co-financing is included.
The 14th Africa Day for Food and Nutrition Security (ADFNS) Commemoration and the 19thComprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Partnership Platform convened from October 30th to November 2nd, 2023, in Lusaka, Zambia. The event was structured under the theme, “Accelerating the Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement in the Context of CAADP Commitments for Safer and Healthier Diets.” This vital assembly sought to explore the strategic synergy between implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and fostering healthier, safer diets through the prism of CAADP commitments.
The Canada–African Development Bank Climate Fund (CACF), established to support gender-affirmative climate change projects in Africa, has approved $36.3 million to two private sector operations to advance climate adaptation in the African continent.
African Leaders for Nutrition (ALN), a platform for high-level political engagement to advance nutrition in Africa, has joined two crucial forums for advancing policy dialogue on agriculture and nutrition in Africa. ALN representatives attended the commemoration the 14th Africa Day for Food and Nutrition Security (ADFNS) and 19th Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Partnership Platform (PP).
The Congo Basin, the world’s second-largest forest has distinct meteorological characteristics, and its ecosystem is controlled by complex interactions between many climatic phenomena that act across scales (Fig. 1). While it receives little attention compared to the Amazon Basin, due to its location, the Congo rainforest also contributes to processes responsible for interhemispheric climatic communications in Africa. At the larger scale, the basin regulates the global tropical circulation by serving as one of the world’s most convectively active regions. Therefore, the Basin offers a unique natural laboratory for climate science explorations and the implications for people and ecosystems. But, why has this green heart of Africa been neglected and what should we do about it?.
Durban ( South Africa), October 31 to November 01, 2023– How can we breathe new life and energy into the Framework Agreement for Peace, Security and Cooperation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Region? The issue was at the heart of the Regional Retreat on the review of the impact of the Framework Agreement for Peace, Security and Cooperation on the Democratic Republic of Congo and the region, and recommendations for revitalization efforts, held in Durban, South Africa, from October 31 to 01.November 1, 2023.
To elevate women from the micro to macro status, the African Union Strategy for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) outlines the pathways to achieve the holistic empowerment of women. The GEWE strategy complements other policy frameworks by the African Union aimed at promoting the rights of women and girls and advocates for adequately resourced gender structures within formal and non-formal institutions and bodies to ensure that women at the grassroot and executive levels, have opportunities that to allow them to reach their full potential.
Government policymakers, mining sector leaders, and civil society will convene to focus on the many issues connected to “Sharing Mining Benefits in the Energy Transition. Setting the tone during the opening of the 19th Annual General Meeting of the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF), Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder, Interim Co-President and Co-CEO, International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), noted that critical minerals are the backbone of the clean energy transition. She urged mining countries seeking to tap the booming demand for these minerals to take “immediate and bold action” to ensure they expand their share of benefits while doing so in an equitable and environmentally and socially responsible manner.
7 November 2023 Compliance issues were in the spotlight throughout the day, escalating into a vote: two votes were held in the afternoon to help the Standing Committee reach a decision on recommendations related to compliance in the EU and the UK.
The second Summit of the world's three tropical forest basins was held from October 26 to 28, 2023 in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. It brought together leaders from the Amazon, the Congo and the Borneo-Mekong-Southeast Asia region to form a global coalition. Its aim was to implement, within the framework of the United Nations Decade for Ecosystem Restoration, the first global coalition for the restoration of 350 million hectares of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) – Malabo Implementation Guidelines for National Level Design and Implementation of Bankable Agriculture and Food Systems Programmes, is a groundbreaking roadmap to revolutionise food systems across the African continent. Recognising the paramount importance of food systems in achieving human well-being, as highlighted in the African Union Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals of Agenda 2030, these guidelines provide a comprehensive roadmap for a resilient, sustainable, and inclusive food future.
October 27, 2023 (ENTEBBE, Uganda): The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) yesterday wrapped-up its Blue Economy Project’s 2nd Steering Committee Meeting in Entebbe with field visits to Mahati Marine Transport Base and Kasenyi fishing landing site.
BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo (Oct. 28, 2023) – The Executive Secretariat of the Central African Forest Commission (or Commission des Forêts d'Afrique Centrale - COMIFAC) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the implementation of Target 3 of Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
ATIBT is speeding up the process of revitalizing the UNIBOIS trade union to get its members more involved in the VPA FLEGT process. As part of the implementation of the Support of the Private Sector in the Republic of Congo (ASP Congo) project, and in particular the " UNIBOIS Support for change" activity, ATIBT organized a meeting on Tuesday April 24 October 2023 at the Mikael Hotel in Brazzaville, to take stock of the project's mid-term activities and assess the state of implementation of the roadmap defined and validated at the start of the project by both parties.
In a significant move towards enhanced partnerships and coordination, the United States has officially announced its intent to join the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) as an Executive Board member. The announcement was made during a side event of the Three Basins Summit attended by Prime Minister Anatole Collinet Makosso and Minister of the Environment of Congo-Brazzaville Arlette Soudan-Nonault. The Summit was held in Brazzaville from October 26-28, 2023,
CAFI is launching a call for Expressions of Interest today to all relevant implementing organisations interested in investing in private sector companies in our partner countries (the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, the Gabonese Republic, the Republic of Cameroon, the Republic of Equatorial Guinea and the Central African Republic) to address the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in the following sectors...
COMIFAC, the GIZ Regional Support Project for COMIFAC, the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) France – Gabon Facilitation, the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI), the EU Funded Support Project to the Central African Forests Observatory (RIOFAC and The Sangha Tri-National Trust Fund (FTNS)hereby launch a call for proposals to host side events lasting no more than 60 minutes under the « COMIFAC – Central Africa Initiatives », at the COP28 venue from 30th November to 12th December 2023. Applications should be submitted before 31 October 2023.
In a declaration issued at the end of the Summit of the world's three great basins of the Amazon, the Congo and Borneo-Mekong on Saturday 28 October 2023 in Brazzaville, the Heads of State and Government undertook, among other things, to: to strengthen cooperation between the three basins, which are home to 80% of the world's tropical forests and two-thirds of terrestrial biodiversity; to recognise the unity of enhanced cooperation between the three basins; to recognise the sovereign management of biodiversity, forests and associated resources by the countries that make up the three basins; to pool and capitalise on the knowledge, experience, resources and achievements existing in each of the basins; and to introduce a sustainable system of remuneration for the ecosystem services provided by the three basins".
Wednesday 25 October 2023, 7pm, French Embassy, Brazzaville (By invitation only) Signing ceremony for a CBFP grant agreement to the UNDP for the organisation of the Summit of the Three Basins... Thursday 26 October 2023, 03:30PM – 04:30PM, Room 3 Kintele Conference Centre, Republic of Congo. Official launch activities of the French and Gabonese Republics Co-Facilitation of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP)...
The aim of the Global Legal and Sustainable Timber Forum is to increase networking, collaboration and business exchange among timber industry stakeholders—producers, buyers, processors and market players—with a view to promoting sustainable forest management, creating legal and sustainable wood product supply chains, facilitating the legal and sustainable use and trade of wood products in a stable, transparent and predictable business environment, and contributing to sustainable development and climate-change mitigation.
The CBFP co-facilitation is pleased to invite you to take part in a meeting of CBFP partners attending the Three Basins Summit in the Republic of Congo. This meeting will be held on Saturday 28 October 2023 at the Conference Centre in Kintele, Congo from 11:00 to 13:00. During the event, the CBFP partners present will discuss the operationalization of the CBFP Roadmap for the next two years and prepare for forthcoming international and regional events. The aim is to strengthen the synergies and pooling of resources between the partners, to build a coalition based on a spirit of partnership, and to stimulate an active dynamic between the CBFP's partners and colleges.
Summit of the 3 basins AMAZONIA – CONGO – BORNEO MEKONG SOUTHEAST ASIA, High-level side event. Through this event, the CBFP co-facilitation, in close collaboration with the Economic Commission for Central African States (ECCAS), the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC), the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) and the leaders of the CBFP colleges, proposes to detail its strategic axes.
Under the High Patronage of His Excellency Mr PAUL BIYA, President of the Republic of Cameroon, Head of State, the High-Level Meeting on the " Second International Conference of Ministers on Transboundary Transhumance" was held in Yaoundé, Republic of Cameroon, from July 10 to 12, 2023. Nexus: transhumance, protected areas and natural resources, development, peace and security". Please, download the report...
Calls for synergistic actions to tackle the interlinked crises of biodiversity loss and climate change dominated the meeting’s deliberations. Delegates proposed holistic solutions such as nature-based solutions, ecosystem-based approaches and the OneHealth approach.
Forest elephants are known to form small groups, generally a mother and her dependent offspring. Males can leave their birth group as early as at the age of 7 years, and females around the age of 15-20, or when they have their own first offspring. However, exceptions can be seen at Dzanga Bai such as the Alvah family. Alvah was first seen in 2006 and estimated to have been born in 1962. Alvah has most probably sired more than seven offspring in her life, and she is often seen at the clearing with up to 12 family members, including her daughters Alvah II, Alvah III, Alvah IV, Alvah V and Alvah VI.
On behalf of the Civil Society and Community Engagement Division of the African Development Bank, we are pleased to announce the holding of the East Africa Regional Civil Society Forum on 18-19 October 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya. This event is part of a series of regional forums to be held in 2023 on the overall theme of "Engaging Civil Society in Mobilising Private Sector Finance for Climate and Green Growth in Africa", alternating with the Bank's biennial Continental Civil Society Forum.
Bonn/Samarkand, 10 October 2023 – Today the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) entered into a landmark agreement with the government of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The Host Country Agreement marks the culminating chapter in the preparations for the upcoming 21st session of the UNCCD Committee on the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC21), to be held from 13-17 November 2023 in Samarkand.
Brussels, 21 September 2023 – TRAFFIC highlights the crucial role of behavioural science in bolstering demand reduction strategies in alignment with the objectives of the revised EU Action Plan Against Wildlife Trafficking.
...These intertwined crises of nature-climate-land degradation and conflicts require the implementation of solutions that generate multiple benefits and the mobilization of technical and economic resources at an unprecedented scale. Investing in land restoration and drought resilience are win-win and cost- effective solutions with multiple benefits for a safe and sustainable future. Land restoration and drought resilience are critical to guarantee water and food security, livelihoods, to reduce irregular migration of people and conflicts over resource scarcity. These solutions also constitute building blocks to achieve climate and biodiversity goals....
Children and young people are hurt the most and often heard the least with respect to chemicals and waste management. To address these challenges, the first-ever youth forum on chemicals and waste sought to engage youth in the design, implementation, monitoring, follow-up, and review of chemicals and waste policies at all levels. Several panel discussions and a moderated intergenerational dialogue with youth and key decision makers took place in the margins of the fifth session of the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM5).
Gliding west for the first time through the silent waters and noisy forests of the Congo River from Kisangani to Yangambi, in the northern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), I couldn’t help but think that this place was all water and trees and fishermen hanging onto their nets, children waving excitedly at people as they passed by. I imagined the abundance of fish we might eat later – and salivated at the thought.
Nairobi, 5 September 2023. Acknowledging that severe drought affects Africa more than any other continent, leaders at the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi have put forward a common vision for drought resilience in the run up to the next climate and desertification summits — UNFCCC COP28 in November 2023 and UNCCD COP16 in December 2024. The objective is to reduce the costs of future droughts for societies and economies through strategic investments in sustainable land and water management.
With the huge challenge for public institutions to steer towards sustainability in a world characterised by multiple crises, the quality of public administration and governance (PAG) is higher on the political agenda than ever. After decades of relative neglect, countries have realized that sustainable development can only be achieved with strong, effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels. Well-formulated Goals and policy targets will only go so far if governance systems are inadequate.
The UN Global Compact has launched a global platform for credible and ambitious corporate action to guide companies on “where they can make the biggest, fastest impact for 2030.” The Forward Faster initiative challenges companies to publicly commit to transparency and accountability across one or more critical areas that can accelerate progress across all 17 SDGs – gender equality, climate action, living wage, water resilience, and SDG-aligned finance and investment.
Legal recognition of the rights of local communities and Indigenous people – including nomadic herders and hunter-gatherers, who are highly vulnerable and extremely marginalized – remains “a work in progress” in Central Africa, said the authors of a new report on the state of Congo Basin forests. However, they also acknowledged that many policymakers and forest managers in the region have begun to put discussions about rights – and the need for a specific status to protect Indigenous people from threats to their cultures, ways of life, and territories – at the top of their agendas.
The 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly marks a crucial milestone in the journey towards achieving the 2030 Agenda and the urgent need to put the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) back on track. Everything you need to know about the upcoming UN General Assembly High-level Week 2023...
Joint statement by the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, July 2023: The 100-year commemoration of the Deskaheh mission's attempt to reach the League of Nations in Geneva is a moment to remember that Indigenous Peoples have existed long before States were formed. They have always fought to preserve their governance structures, autonomy, and inherent right of self-determination.
A new report from IIED showcases how traditional knowledge combined with innovative new approaches improves local agrobiodiversity and resilience. In the Middle Hills of Nepal, within the Bhimphedi Rural Municipality of the Makawanpur District, the Chabeli Farmer Group, a collective of 20 smallholder farmers, is transforming local lives and economies by undertaking sustainable agricultural practices that boost agrobiodiversity.
The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) published a special edition of its SDG Index to evaluate progress of small island developing States (SIDS) towards the Global Goals. The report also introduces the Multidimensional Structural Vulnerability Index (MSVI) to assess the structural vulnerability of 180 countries, including 33 SIDS.
CIFOR-ICRAF CEO Dr Éliane Ubalijoro has been appointed to the advisory board for the Hamburg Sustainability Conference (HSC), a newly announced initiative to build global solutions for the social-ecological transformation our planet desperately needs.
WASHINGTON (September 25, 2023) — World Resources Institute (WRI) is pleased to announce the appointment of Melanie Robinson as WRI’s new Global Climate Program Director. Starting this week, Robinson will work with WRI’s global staff and partners to advance ambitious climate action. She will be based at WRI’s office in Nairobi, Kenya.
Ahead of the 28th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP 28), the African Development Bank Group has launched country-by-country economic reports to guide African policymakers in their discussions at the global event.
Chemicals of concern (CoC) in the building and construction sector is not a new issue. Childhood lead poisoning and chronic lung disease from the inhalation of asbestos fibers are well-known impacts of chemicals that have afflicted the sector over the decades. Building and construction is one of the most chemical-intensive sectors downstream of the chemical industry and the largest end market for chemicals, generating the highest chemical revenue of all sectors. Driven by rapidly accelerating urbanization, the global construction sector is expected to grow by 3.5% annually, with its chemicals market growing by 6.2% annually between 2018 and 2023.
The twelfth workshop of the Working Group for the Follow-up of the Implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) of the Central African Forests Commission (COMIFAC) was held from 27 to 29 September 2023 in Malabo, Republic of Equatorial Guinea.
Peatlands are among the most valuable ecosystems on Earth. The carbon-rich ecosystems, located near wetlands around the globe, store almost a third of the world’s terrestrial carbon, creates a great habitat for wildlife and plays an important role in water management. It also provides livelihoods for communities by supporting agricultural activities and producing natural products, such as medicinal plants or honey. Sadly, peatlands are also prone to disturbance, both from natural and human activity.
Many people are aware now of the value of forests in supporting biodiversity and mitigating the effects of climate change. But how many people fully understand the fundamental role forests play in the global food system? The global population is expected to reach almost 10 billion by 2050, and demand for food is projected to rise by 50%. Forests are going to be key in ensuring there is enough food for everyone.
East Africa’s multitude of forested ecosystems – which include woodlands, savannah, coastal areas, mangroves, and more – hold important global reserves of biodiversity, and play critical roles for local communities, too. But climate change impacts such as prolonged drought, unpredictable rain, food insecurity, and health hazards are all taking their toll on its ecosystems and people.
From 26 to 28 October, Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo, will host the summit of the world's three tropical forest basins (Congo, Amazonia and Borneo Mekong). The aim of the summit is to create a global alliance of ecosystems with governance based on South-South cooperation.
From 2016 to 2019, Maxime Nzita spent two terms as co-facilitator of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership of the European Union and Belgium. Immediately afterwards, Maxime became the Regional Head of Mission in Libreville, Gabon, for the European Commission's ECOFAC6 programme - a green economy initiative for conservation in priority landscapes across Africa.
On 8 August 2023, twenty-six restoration practitioners and stakeholders set off from Oloitokitok – a small town on the green slopes of Kenya’s Mount Kilimanjaro – to Mbirikani Group Ranch in Kajiado County. There, the Centre for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) and Big Life Foundation were holding a field visit as part of a two-day learning event on monitoring rangeland restoration – specifically on the assessment methods, data, and evidence base that is critical for long-term restoration impact.
This thematic summary and Compendium serve to compile the discussions, recommendations and conclusions reached over 4 intensive days of work in thematic ateliers (Streams), plenary, side events and political discussions.
Mr Christophe Guilhou, Director of Sustainable Development, Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, France, and Mr Ghislain Moussavou, Director General of Forests, Ministry of Water, Forests, the Sea and the Environment, in charge of the Climate Plan and the Land Use Plan, Gabon, were officially installed as CBFP Facilitators on 12 July 2023 during a ceremony to hand over the CBFP Facilitation from Germany to Gabon and France, presided over by Prof. Sanctus Niragira, Minister of the Environment, Agriculture and Livestock, Burundi, and current Chairman of COMIFAC.
At the 11th Meeting of the Governing Council of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) on 12 July 2023, the Honourable Dr. Christian Ruck presented to the members of the said Council an 11 point summary of the activities carried out by the CBFP Facilitation of the Federal Republic of Germany during its mandate....
The French-Gabonese facilitation is part of this unprecedented framework. Firstly, because this is the first time since the creation of the Partnership that this work has been carried out jointly by a donor country, France, and a Congo Basin forest country, Gabon. In addition, the One Forest Summit, held in Libreville in March 2023, reiterated the importance of Central Africa's forests, promoting greater scientific cooperation, sustainable value chains and the development of innovative financing mechanisms.
The 11th meeting of the CBFP Governing Council was held on July 12, 2023 in Yaoundé, Cameroon. This "statutory" meeting in the organised by the CBFP, of which the objective was to present the Roadmap of the Franco-Gabonese Facilitation to the members of the CBFP Governing Council, took place just after the handover of the CBFP Facilitation from Germany to France and Gabon.
M. Christophe GUILHOU was recently appointed Co-Facilitator of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) by the Government of the French Republic for the period July 2023 to 2025. Please download his biography...
The presentations of the CBFP geographical blocks at the Second International Conference of Ministers on Transboundary Transhumance Nexus: transhumance, protected areas and natural resources, development, peace and security from 10 to 12 July in Yaoundé Cameroon are available. Please download the presentations of the Country Investment Plans (PIP) of the different blocks....
The Congo Basin, sometimes referred to as the “heart of Africa” and “lungs of the world,” absorbs more carbon than the tropical forests of the Amazon and Southeast Asia combined. It's home to 75 million people and species found nowhere else on Earth. Yet these forests are disappearing at alarming rates.
We hereby cordially invite you to our regional launch of the German cooperation project "Peaceful and inclusive transhumance in Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria, and Chad" at the Second International Conference of Ministers on Transboundary Transhumance.
Dear Panelists, dear Guests, You are invited to take part in the sharing and reflection workshop that IOM Cameroon and KAS are organizing on the theme: "Practical solutions to migration, security and climate change: Initiatives and commitments by civil society and the United Nations to address and resolve challenges". As part of the Second International Ministerial Conference on Transboundary Transhumance - Nexus.
Yaoundé, July 4, 2023 - From July 10 to 12, 2023, under the high patronage of the President of the Republic of Cameroon, His Excellency Paul Biya, Cameroon will host the Second International Conference of Ministers on Transboundary Transhumance Nexus: transhumance, protected areas and natural resources, development, peace and security. Please download the Document...
The Global Environment Facility’s governing board has approved plans to establish a “game-changing” new fund to finance the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which aims to put nature on a recovery path by the end of this decade. The GEF Council decision, taken during a meeting in Brazil, clears the way for the launch of the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund at the Seventh GEF Assembly, to take place in Vancouver, Canada, in August.
The purpose of the visit on Friday June 23, 2023 was for the team from the Ministry of External Relations of Cameroon (MIREX) to make sure that the Hilton's facilities are adequate to welcome the ministers and participants expected to attend the Ministers' Conference on transborder Transhumance from July 10 to 12, 2023.
This is the objective of the virtual meeting held this Monday, June 19, 2023, between the CBFP Facilitation of the Federal Republic of Germany, headed by the Honorable Dr. Christian Ruck, and some fifteen networks and forums that are members of the CBFP Civil Society College.
"I've already attended the COP in France, in Egypt, and everyone kept talking about the Amazon. So I said to myself: why not hold the conference here, so that everyone knows about the Amazon?", justified Lula. A climate summit in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced on Friday May 26 that the UN had chosen the Amazonian town of Belem to host the COP30 climate conference in 2025. "It will be an honor for Brazil to receive representatives from all over the world in our Amazon," Lula wrote on social networks.
The Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) will deploy $63 million in urgent funding for countries on the frontlines of climate change following a meeting of the Global Environment Facility-managed funds in Brazil.
Douala, Cameroon, May 24-26, 2023. As part of the implementation of the recommendations of the first high-level concertation for peaceful transborder transhumance in the Lake Chad Basin, held in Ndjamena in September 2019, ECCAS and ECOWAS have undertaken a mapping study of actions and initiatives contributing to the prevention and resolution of conflicts linked to competition for access to resources in the Lake Chad Basin, CAR and DRC. This study was financed by the ECCAS Border Program Support Project (APF-CEEAC).
To read: DRIVING AFRICAN-LED CONSERVATION THROUGH THE POWER OF PARTNERSHIP – Letter from CEO … A Landmark conservation gathering… APAC highlights… The power of network-building…
This workshop took place from June 13 to 15, 2023 in the conference room of the ZION BEACH hotel in Bujumbura, Burundi. The aim of the sub-regional meeting was to develop a RECEIAC action strategy to reinforce the promotion and ownership of the revised COMIFAC convergence plan by stakeholders.
The online training course in Botanical Garden management was created and financed as part of the SEP2D Program (Sud-Expert Plantes - Développement Durable/ Sud-Expert Plants - Sustainable development). The SEP2D program is part of the international drive to support and accompany scientific communities in the South, reaffirmed at the 10th Conference of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya in 2010. It aims to strengthen interactions and partnerships in plant biodiversity between research, teaching and the demands of society.
Yaoundé, Cameroon, June 9, 2023- The COMIFAC Gender Committee, created by a memorandum dated January 11, 2023, held its first meeting at the COMIFAC Executive Secretariat Head Office. The meeting was attended by some twenty members representing the COMIFAC Executive Secretariat, technical partners and civil society organizations, including FAO, FTNS, GIZ, Rain Forest Alliance, REFADD, RIFFEAC and IUCN.
The second edition of the report on the summary of forest and wildlife offences published by the Field Legality Advisory Group (FLAG) in 2021 analyses Cameroon's forest and wildlife litigation based on the summaries (a document presenting court cases and files monitored by the forest and wildlife administration over a given period) published by the Ministry of Forests and Wildlife and obtained by FLAG over the period 2019-2020.
The quality of a blue carbon ecosystem project, essential for investor appeal, must be judged by strong social outcomes, benefit sharing, and community support, all of which can ultimately determine the project’s sustainability and contribution to climate change mitigation and adaptation.
When it meets this month in Brasilia, the Global Environment Facility’s governing body will consider a record $1.4 billion work program and set the contours of a new Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, speeding up international efforts to confront species loss and related crises.
The Climate Chance Summit Africa 2023 will bring together on the 23rd, 24th and 2th of October 2023 at the Palais des Congrès in Yaounde 1,500 African actors from the "climate community": high-level personalities, experts, actors in the field, representatives of local governments, businesses and organised civil society.
Celebrations for World Environment Day 2023 kicked off in host-country Cote d’Ivoire, as millions of people prepare for similar activities across the world. Venues across the capital city, Abidjan – from its historic lagoon to its first modern art museum - shone the spotlight on this year’s theme #Beat Plastic Pollution.
Congo Basin Carbon brings together information on various research and education projects in the Yangambi and Luki MAB Reserves in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Through this website we hope to strengthen research networks and improve project visibility, specifically for carbon research. Tropical rainforests such as the forests of the Congo Basin comprise nearly half of the world’s vegetation carbon. Intact tropical forests represent a carbon sink at a level that is higher than other vegetation types. The issues of carbon stocks, sinks and sources in tropical forests are therefore a central topic in international policy debates on climate changes.
At last year’s United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP26), 141 leaders committed to halt and reverse forest loss and degradation by 2030. Forests, particularly tropical ones, are known to play a crucial role in removing carbon from the atmosphere, partially offsetting the effect of greenhouse gas emissions. This is a highly valuable service to the global climate, meaning the world should be willing to pay to ensure it happens. In this policy note, we look at just how valuable that service is, and put that in the context of aid efforts to protect forests.
During the process of photosynthesis, trees naturally absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Rainforests act as important 'carbon sinks' stemming global heating. The Congo rainforest is the planet’s most important “lung,” new data has revealed. The world’s rainforests absorb huge amounts of carbon dioxide, slowing down global warming.
The world is getting a better understanding of just how important forests are in the global fight against climate change. New research, published in Nature Climate Change and available on Global Forest Watch, found that the world’s forests sequestered about twice as much carbon dioxide as they emitted between 2001 and 2019. In other words, forests provide a “carbon sink” that absorbs a net 7.6 billion metric tonnes of CO2 per year, 1.5 times more carbon than the United States emits annually.
This brief describes the first efforts to integrate agroforestry with charcoal production in the Yangambi tropical forest landscape. Activities resulted in both increased food crop production and reforestation, as well as the establishment of producer-led local associations and greater collaboration between communities and local authorities.
The GEF Secretariat prepared this document to summarize the GEF’s potential role in a financial mechanism for the internationally legally binding instrument under negotiation under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ). The document is prepared to help inform deliberations. It also includes questions and answers to key issues raised thus far by countries. GEF’s role as Convention Financial Mechanism: The GEF serves as a/the financial mechanism for five Conventions, namely the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Minamata Convention on Mercury, Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Chemicals, UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
On May 8, 2023, in the BOUN'S Hotel conference, in Yaoundé, a workshop was held to launch the process of drawing up the Cameroon Country Investment Plan (CIP) on the nexus of transboundary transhumance, protected areas, peace and security, and development. Please download the final communiqué of the workshop...
Geneva and Yaoundé, 26 May 2023. The Ministry of Economy, Planning and Land Planning of Cameroon (MINEPAT) and CAFI are launching two Calls for Expressions of Interest today to all relevant implementing organisations concerned, representing a maximum of 60 million US$.
WWF is supporting the Government of Cameroon in her effort to restore more than 12 million hectares of degraded landscapes in the country. In 2017, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife committed, on behalf of the Government of Cameroon, to restore 12,062,768 ha of degraded landscapes under AFR100 and the Bonn Challenge by 2030. Of these, 80% are in the three northern regions of Adamaoua, North and Far North; with the remainder in the high plateau, Centre region, vast forest and coastal areas (Mangroves).
As part of our ongoing commitment to promoting transparent and accountable governance of climate and environmental funds, we are pleased to invite you to two upcoming online sessions. These sessions will offer valuable insights, strategies, and best practices for combating corruption, and reinforce our collective efforts to create a more sustainable future. We hope you will join us for these important discussions.
International Day for Biological Diversity, celebrated each year on 22 May, is an opportunity to not only acknowledge the crucial role healthy biodiversity plays in the survival of the planet but also to assess the nature crisis. With the theme ‘From Agreement to Action: Build Back Biodiversity,’ this year’s Day follows the historic adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework by 196 nations at the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties in Montreal, Canada, in December 2022.
Bukavu, May 10, 2023 – The Kahuzi-Biega National Park (PNKB) is deeply saddened to announce the death of its ecoguard Alain Lukinga, born in Kakongya on June 12, 1989, who sacrificed his life for the protection of the PNKB in an armed clash in Cibumbiro between the villages of Kajeje and Lukananda in the Mudaka groupement, in Kabare territory in South Kivu.
From April 19 to 20, 2023 a workshop for the development of a national investment plan for Nigeria on transhumance and related topics was held in Abuja, NIGERIA. This workshop, funded by the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) Facilitation of the Federal Republic of Germany, aimed to...
The SWM Programme is the first international initiative to tackle the wild meat challenge by addressing both wildlife conservation and food security. It is an initiative from the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), funded by the European Union with co-funding from the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM) and the French Development Agency (AFD).
In a bid to boost indigenous people and local communities’ (IPLC) engagement in wildlife protection around Lobéké National Park in Southeast Cameroon, Lobéké Management has signed social pacts with 34 Bantu and Baka communities in the Park. Thirty-four social pacts were signed between the communities and the Lobeke Management in December 2022, with each pact corresponding to a community project worth FCFA 300,000.
This report highlights the impacts of direct as well as indirect deforestation through mining. It presents for the first time ever the deforestation embodied in the consumption of products and showcases the extensive deforestation potential that artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) can have on forest ecosystems.
A new toll road in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province is under construction to improve access to the interior of Borneo, including to the nation’s new capital city, Nusantara. Construction of the road, however, poses immediate environmental risks, as the route cuts through a forested area with high conservation value that connects the Sungai Wain protected forest, coastal mangroves, and Balikpapan Bay. Prior to road construction, the integrated forest and coastal ecosystem supported populations of orangutans, sun bears, proboscis monkeys and Irrawaddy dolphins. Conservationists say the construction of this toll road belies the Indonesian government’s claims that the development of the new capital will be green and sustainable.
The tobacco industry causes a fifth of Zimbabwe’s forest loss. What is being done to minimise this? At the beginning of this century, the Zimbabwean government embarked on an audacious land reform programme, ostensibly to correct the injustices suffered by local people when the land was colonised. The controversial programme saw an estimated 170,000 black Zimbabwean families – mostly small-scale farmers – taking over agricultural production from about 3,000 white-owned farms.
SAN MARTÍN, Peru (AP) — The Cordillera Azul National Park on the eastern flank of the Peruvian Andes takes in a sweep of Amazon rainforest, mountains and waterfalls in a territory about the size of Connecticut, so precious that tens of millions of dollars in carbon credits have been sold in a program that supporters said would protect its trees.
To fight climate change and biodiversity loss, the new law obliges companies to ensure products sold in the EU have not led to deforestation and forest degradation. While no country or commodity will be banned, companies will only be allowed to sell products in the EU if the supplier of the product has issued a so-called “due diligence” statement confirming that the product does not come from deforested land or has led to forest degradation, including of irreplaceable primary forests, after 31 December 2020.
A number of reports have found that an Indonesian government program to establish large-scale agricultural plantations across the country has led to deforestation. More than 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres) of forests, including carbon-rich peatlands, have been cleared in Central Kalimantan province for the so-called food estate program, according to a spatial analysis by the NGO Pantau Gambut. Last year, the NGO Kaoem Telapak detected 100 hectares (250 acres) of deforestation in food estate areas in North Sumatra. Villagers whose lands have been included in the program have also reported an increase in the severity of floods since their forests were cleared to make way for the food estates.
Press release 3 May 2023 | The German government will make two billion euros available for the Green Climate Fund (GCF). German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the commitment at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin today. This makes Germany the first major donor to announce its contribution for the upcoming pledging conference for the Green Climate Fund. The conference will take place in Bonn on 5 October and will be chaired by Development Minister Svenja Schulze. The Green Climate Fund is one of the largest climate action funds of the world. The creation of the fund was an important objective of the developing countries, which have an equal say in how funds are spent on climate mitigation and adaptation projects in developing countries.
With GEF and LDCF support, Nespresso, IUCN, and TechnoServe are working together to promote more sustainable and resilient coffee farming practices in South Kivu. Antoinette Shabanyere’s 1,800-tree coffee farm in the South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is at the forefront of efforts by local communities to adapt to climate change.
The Second Consultation Meeting (CM-2) for GCF’s second replenishment (GCF-2) was held on 27-28 April. Hosted by GCF and moderated by Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, the replenishment facilitator, the two-day virtual meeting convened over 100 current and prospective contributors where they received updates on GCF and discussed matters related to the replenishment process.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Country Representative, Suze Percy-Filippini is impressed with the progress made by the department of Forestry in the implementation of the Forest Farm Facility –FFF Program in the Choma District of Southern Province.
This case study forms part of a series of six case studies on mobilizing internal finance within Forest and Farm Producer Organization (FFPOs) prepared by forest and farm FFPOs for the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF). It describes the Jwa Ngwaane Community Cooperative Credit Union, established by the Kassena Nankana Baobab Cooperative Union (KANBAOCU) through the mobilization of 96 Village Savings and Loans Associations.
The African Regional Exchange, a three-day workshop co-organized with CIFOR-ICRAF, the Kenya Forestry Research Institute and the Kenya Forest Service, brought together farmers, bankers, governments, and development partners from across Africa to discuss ways to ensure smallholder farmers have access to the finance they need to improve and scale up sustainable forest and farm management practices.
This agrobiodiversity case study (No.6) from Zambia is the sixth of six case studies prepared by forest and farm producer organisations (FFPOs) for the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF). It describes the actions of the Choma District Tree Nursery and Growers Association (CDTNA). CDTNA represents 111 members, either individual nursery growers or collective enterprises that furnish diverse tree seedlings for forest and agroforestry restoration projects across Southern Zambia.
Oyéoussi Charles Balogoun is the Africa Representative of the NGO Panel under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The Civil Society Panel (CSO Panel) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) represents nearly 500 organisations accredited to the Convention. Charles Balogoun is also the Global President and Chairman of the Board of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Afrique Espérance. He answers ENVIRONNEMENTALES’s questions on the state of desertification in Africa.
A common vision of sustainable finance is being developed in Central Africa. The project is at the heart of an international forum scheduled for 8 and 9 May 2023 in Douala, Cameroon, under the theme « Trajectories towards sustainable finance ». An initiative of the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Sustainable Banking and Finance Network (SBFN).
Delegates to the Sixth Meeting of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development emphasized the need for forward-looking, high-impact initiatives involving all relevant actors, to enable the structural transformations Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) needs to “resume and sustain the path to 2030.”
Kenya loses 2–2.4 percent of its gross domestic product annually due to the effects of climate change, such as drought and floods according to according to a 2018 Kenya National Bureau of Statistics study. Droughts alone cost the country 8 percent of GDP every five years. Arid and semi-arid rangelands (ASALs) occupy over 80 percent of Kenya’s landscape, and are home to about 36 percent of the total human population, and seventy per cent of the nation’s livestock and 90% of wildlife. Livestock's contributions account for 80 percent of household incomes in arid lands, and 65 percent in semi-arid lands.
Sitting at the forefront of the climate crisis, forest and farm producer organizations (FFPOs) have a vital role in supporting smallholder resilience and attaining climate change and biodiversity goals. Together, their members have a transformative potential to achieve sustainable development and respond to climate change at scale.
WASHINGTON, April 18, 2022 -- The Biden-Harris Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service today announced $31.1 million for 15 projects funded through the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP) that, with partnership support, aim to reduce the risk of severe wildfires, support local economies, create jobs and enhance forest and watershed health in eight states. These funds were made available through a combination of funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and annual appropriations.
The Board of Directors of the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) has announced the appointment of Eliane Ubalijoro as Director General of CIFOR-ICRAF and Director General of ICRAF. Ms. Ubalijoro is the first African woman to hold the position of Director General of a CGIAR research centre and Director General of two centres in the 60-year history of the CGIAR.
Mambomé Trésor, an indigenous Baka man of Mambele village near the Lobeke National Park is able to use the Sapelli smartphone to collect data on natural resources important to Baka; report illegal practices and document cases of human-wildlife conflicts.
Annual peatland fires in Indonesia affect ecology, air quality, nutrient distribution of the soil, and human health. A modeling study finds that under current climate change projections and with rapid deforestation in Borneo, fire risk increases by the end of the century. The findings show that deforestation is a significant factor in fire risk. While local governments can’t control global climate change, they work to stem forest loss and invest in reforestation of tropical forests and revitalization of peatlands to mitigate fire risks in the future, researchers say.
As of 30 April 2023, 44 per cent of the assessed contributions for the year 2023 had been paid to the CMS Trust Fund, which amounts to €1,426,924. The total unpaid contributions as of 30 April 2023 amount to € 3,506,882 (€ 1,779,787 for 2023 and € 1,727,095 for prior years).
Climate change is already posing a threat to the development of the poorest countries and its impacts will make it far more difficult for them to achieve progress in future. So climate action and development policy are bound up closely with each other. Without external support, developing countries and emerging economies are often not able to afford the measures needed to achieve their national mitigation targets and to adapt to the consequences of climate change.
The GEF’s adaptation support for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) is delivered through the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF). The LDCF is the only multilateral fund that focuses exclusively on the unique climate adaptation challenges of LDCs and is embraced by LDCs as their own. The fund has a strong track record of supporting LDCs to address adaptation priorities over more than two decades. It delivers targeted support to the world’s most vulnerable countries, and their people and ecosystems.
18/04/2023 A major meeting this week brought together farmers, bankers, governments and development partners from across Africa and beyond to discuss ways to ensure smallholder farmers, the backbone of the region’s food system, have access to the finance they need to improve and scale up sustainable forest and farm management practices.
The final quarter of 2022 was particularly busy and memorable for us. Earlier in the year, during the first staff meeting I held as project manager, it was clear that perhaps the greatest concern for the LWC staff was the lack of a reliable source of fresh water....
The SWM Programme’s latest 3D virtual photographic exhibition is now online, and features two new exhibition rooms with images from Gabon and Madagascar by the award-winning photographers Brent Stirton and Rijasolo! Through a careful selection of photographs and videos you can get a first-hand glimpse of the SWM Programme efforts to improve wildlife conservation and food security in both countries.
Consumers are concerned about rising packaging levels. Dealing with outsized delivery boxes is frustrating. Discarding dirty food containers is inconvenient. Deciphering recycling symbols can be bewildering....Today we release case studies from Sweden, Finland, Portugal, Chile and Indonesia which un-veil the environmental and human cost of switching to paper-based packaging.
The UN has released an advance unedited version of the UN Secretary-General’s annual report on SDG progress. This year’s “special edition” report updates on progress made since 2015 against the global SDG indicator framework. It will inform discussions during the July 2023 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) and the SDG Summit in September.
Shared labels used by smallholder producers can promote biocultural diversity, build climate resilience and drive social justice. An IIED report explores trailblazing shared label initiatives by smallholder organisations across Africa, Asia and Latin America.
The President of the United States, Joe Biden, has announced a contribution of USD 1 billion to the Green Climate Fund. Responding to the news, the Executive Director ad interim of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), Henry Gonzalez, stated, "GCF welcomes President Biden’s announcement of a significant contribution from the United States. This money will provide urgently needed climate finance for the most vulnerable countries in the world. The USD 1 billion will increase the resilience of populations in Least Developed Countries, protect Small Island Developing States threatened by climate change, and support the transition to low-emission, climate-resilient development around the world."
Four pillars for action in the 2020s. To support preparations for upcoming major events such as the COP28 Climate Change Conference, the IEA is releasing Credible Pathways to 1.5 °C: Four pillars for action in the 2020s, a new report on the key actions needed to keep within reach the Paris Agreement’s target of limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 °C. That possibility is narrowing rapidly, with energy-related CO2 emissions continuing to rise in 2022 despite declining costs for clean energy technologies and the dynamic deployment of renewables, electric cars and other solutions.
April 20, 2023. Today, President Biden will convene leaders of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF) for the fourth time since taking office to galvanize efforts needed to tackle the climate crisis and keep a 1.5°C limit on warming within reach.
“I was introduced to poaching by my father when I turned 20. It put fast money and food on the family table,” said Abraham, a Zambian man who served five years in prison after wildlife officers caught him in the act. “Many of my peers and I could not find work after graduating from high school,” said his contemporary, Noah. “The only option we had was to hunt”.
N’Djamena April 14, 2023, the technical meetings of the experts from the Centre and West blocks of the N'Djamena Declaration on cross-border transhumance between the Sahel and North Equatorial Africa regions ended today at noon. These last meetings of the three geographical blocks of the CBFP (East, West, Centre) had among other objectives to finalize the Action Plans and Country Investment Plans related to cross-border transhumance, Zoonosis, security and sustainable development.
With the pent-up need for countries to agree how to address climate finance, plastic pollution, biodiversity loss, and other pressing environmental issues, a tidal wave of in-person negotiations swept through 2022.
The year 2022 has been quite a year for ANI. In Gashaka Gumti National Park (GGNP), in the 3 years following the signing of the agreement with the National Parks Service we devoted our energy to putting in place basic infrastructure (office, accommodation, park roads) and deploying our first batch of rangers. The focus was on bringing security back to the area. In this past year, we conducted a big community recruitment drive to double the size of the ranger force on active patrols under the Gashaka ANI Project (GAP). A real highlight of the year was the arrival of our Robinson R66 helicopter.
As the second most heavily forested Amazonian country, Peru has attracted a steady stream of programmes aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from land-use change, the country’s largest source. Despite these conservation efforts, however, annual forest loss has increased over the past two decades, from about 84,000 hectares in 2001 to a record 200,000 in 2020.
The German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) and the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) convened an online event to discuss the UN Secretary-General’s policy brief on future generations, prepared as an input for the Summit of the Future in 2024. Experts shared perspectives on the strengths and weaknesses of the policy proposals contained in the brief and offered recommendations going forward.
The 2023 Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) discussed how the WBG and IMF could respond to the overlapping crises that are reversing development gains. Participants pledged to explore new solutions to risks in the banking sector, inflation, rising debt, the war in Ukraine, and climate change, among other shared challenges.
Investments in climate change mitigation continue to grow, driving the energy transition and rapid growth in net-zero technologies. At the same time, a lack of reliable data and a loose regulatory environment have led to declining investments in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) funds, while some nervous managers are shifting assets away from ESG funds to avoid future claims of greenwashing.
This is one of the decisions taken on Monday, April 10, 2023, 11 am at MINREX Cameroon, during the preparatory meeting of the second International Conference of Ministers on Transboundary Transhumance, Nexus: transhumance, protected areas and natural resources, development, peace and security.
The High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism (HLAB), appointed by the UN Secretary-General in 2022 pursuant to Our Common Agenda, has published a report that outlines “an ambitious plan to strengthen the multilateral system,” so it can better address current and future challenges, including climate change, rising inequalities, the lack of finance for sustainable development, and growing threats to democracy and stability.
Central African countries – which emit relatively few greenhouse gases on a global scale – have committed to conserve, protect, and restore the health and integrity of the Earth’s ecosystems under the principle of common but differentiated responsibility. But their mitigation commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) do not translate to effective engagement at national level, according to Chapter 7 of the Congo Basin Forests – State of the Forests 2021 report produced by the Central Africa Forest Observatory (OFAC). Specifically, inadequacy in reporting is constraining the sub-region’s governments from accessing critical funding streams that are intended for developing countries like them.
The G7 Ministers’ Meeting on Climate, Energy, and Environment is fast approaching, with ministers due to gather in Sapporo, Japan, at the end of this week, ahead of a leaders-level gathering next month in Hiroshima. At these meetings and throughout the rest of the year, G7 ministers and leaders have a key opportunity to make concrete progress on fossil fuel phase-out, which could in turn encourage other economies to follow suit.
Read : Final Communiqué of the eleventh ordinary session of the COMIFAC Council of Ministers… Burundi takes over the chairmanship of COMIFAC … Multilateral partners of the CBFP are satisfied with the performance of the Facilitation of the Federal Republic of Germany and are ready to work with the France – Gabon Facilitation…. Coordination meeting of the Center Block of the N'Djaména Declaration on Transhumance...
The 2023 edition of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum discussed the role of information and communication technology (ICT) in accelerating the achievement of the SDGs and building back better. The WSIS stakeholder community, representing governments, the private sector, civil society, academia, and international organizations, also assessed implementation of the WSIS Action Lines for sustainable development.
Before the UN SDG Summit to be held in New York, US, this September, UN Member States must decide on their priorities for accelerating progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We argue that Member States can prioritize some Goals above others, to boost progress on the 2030 Agenda. To be able to do this, while keeping to the commitment to achieve all SDGs, they need to incorporate “systems thinking” into SDGs and national decision- and policymaking processes.
February 22-28, 2023 - Yaounde - The Facilitator of the Federal Republic of Germany, Honourable Dr. Christian Ruck stayed in Cameroon to prepare for the 2nd International Conference of Ministers in charge of Forests/Protected Areas/Environment, Livestock, Agriculture, Peace/Security, on cross-border transhumance Nexus: transhumance, protected areas, natural resources, security and development from July 10 to 12, 2023 in Cameroon.
On Tuesday, March 21, 2023, the technical department of the East Block held a meeting in the heart of nature, in the calm and quiet premises of The Regional Post-Graduate Training School on Integrated Management of Tropical Forests and Lands (ERAIFT) in the DRC.This inaugural meeting of the technical departments of the three geographical blocks of the CBFP (East, West, Central) had among other objectives to finalise the preparations of the 2nd International Conference of Ministers in charge of Forests/Protected Areas/Environment, Livestock, Agriculture, Peace/Security, on cross-border transhumance Nexus: transhumance, protected areas, natural resources, security and development from July 10 to 12, 2023 in Cameroon, for the East block.
On March 28, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a historic resolution asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ)—the UN's principal judicial organ—to provide an advisory opinion clarifying what governments' obligations are under international law when it comes to tackling climate change.
The Project-specific Assessment Approach (PSAA) Pilot is one of two approaches to GCF accreditation, approved through updates to the Accreditation Framework of the GCF (decision B.31/06). The PSAA is a capacity assessment of an entity to meet GCF accreditation standards to implement one climate project or programme. The proposed project or programme is aligned with developing countries’ priorities and GCF’s strategic objectives.
GCF leadership met with ambassadors and representatives of its partner countries in the Republic of Korea as part of the 4th meeting of the ‘Group of Friends of GCF’. Representatives of 36 countries engaged in networking and discussed the latest climate change developments and the Fund’s vital work. It was also an opportunity to bid farewell to the GCF Executive Director, Yannick Glemarec who completed his term on 2 April 2023.
In a study by scientists from IITA–CGIAR and the University of Ibadan, in Nigeria, deficiency of micronutrients in the diet leads to ‘hidden hunger’, necessitating the need for the consumption of foods enriched with adequate content of bioavailable micronutrients. With micronutrient deficiency prevalent in developing countries where there is high reliance on maize-based foods, the low cost of maize production and its growing use in processed products in these countries make it a suitable means for biofortification.
The meeting between the CBFP Facilitator of the Federal Republic of Germany, Honorable Dr. Christian Ruck, and the members of the College of International NGOs of the CBFP took place this Tuesday, March 7, 2023, without taboos and with an open heart.
On Wednesday, February 8 at 15.00 CET (Berlin, Brussels, Kinshasa Time) on MS Team, the partners and co-leaders of the Eastern Block of the follow-up of the implementation of the N'Djaména Declaration on Transhumance held their first coordination meeting of the year 2023. This meeting followed the meeting of the Central block on Tuesday, January 31, 2023.
On Wednesday, March 8, at 3:00 p.m. (Yaoundé time) on MS Team, in anticipation of the end of the German CBFP Facilitation scheduled for July 2023, and with a view to preparing the handover from the German Facilitation to the France-Gabon Co-Facilitation, the Facilitator of the Federal Republic of Germany, Honorable Dr. Christian Ruck, held a meeting with the members of the Intergovernmental College and Multilateral Institutions of the CBFP.
Bujumbura, March 14, 2023, The CBFP Facilitator from the Federal Republic of Germany, Honorable Dr. Christian Ruck, took the floor at the 11th Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers of the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC), held from March 14 to 17, 2023 in Bujumbura, Burundi. The council was organized by COMIFAC in close collaboration with the Burundian Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock, and with the financial support of the German cooperation through the GIZ project.
Bujumbura, Burundi, March 17, 2023 - The opening of the ministerial segment of the eleventh COMIFAC Council of Ministers was marked by the handover ceremony of the Chairmanship between the Republic of Cameroon, outgoing Chair, and the Republic of Burundi, incoming Chair, represented by Pr Sanctus NIRAGIRA, Minister of the Environment, Agriculture and Livestock of the Republic of Burundi in the presence of the Prime Minister, Head of Government Lieutenant General Gervais NDIRAKOBUCA, Heads of Institutions, Ambassadors of COMIFAC member countries, technical and financial partners, regional and international organizations, and the business community.
On Wednesday, 1st of March 2023 from 12:00 to 13:30, the strategy meeting of the international coalition "Biodiversity Corridors in Africa" took place during the One Forest Summit. Please download below the minutes in English and French.
Bujumbura, Republic of Burundi, March 14, 2023 - The experts' segment of the 11th session of the Council of Ministers of the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) was opened by Prof. Sanctus NIRAGIRA, Minister of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock of the Republic of Burundi.
The Wildlife Conservation Society Central African Republic Program is deeply saddened by the death of Mr. Éric Rama Doungous, Ecoguard team leader and head of the Base Vie location in Bamingui. He died Monday, March 20, after he and his team, on patrol in the western sector of Bamingui-Bangoran National Park, were ambushed by armed bandits.
Bujumbura, Republic of Burundi, March 13-14, 2023 - The sub-regional workshop on the results of the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) ended today.
Organized by KfW on the occasion of the mission in Yaounde of the CBFP Facilitator of the Federal Republic of Germany, Honorable Dr. Christian Ruck, this meeting was in line with the meetings of the Consultation Circle of MINFOF and MINEPDED Partners (CCPM), whose activities were re-launched after a slowdown due mainly to the COVID crisis. It took place on Tuesday, January 25, 2022 at Hotel La Falaise in Yaoundé, still within the framework of the visit of the CBFP facilitator to Cameroon.
"Since March 1, 2023, the United Kingdom has taken over the chairmanship of the Central African Forest Initiative, CAFI, following Germany. The UK's new role in CAFI follows on from the work done at the COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland, which highlighted the importance of the Congo Basin.
As the world races to mitigate global warming, agricultural expansion generally characterized by the practice of slash and burn has been identified as the topmost driver of deforestation that leads to carbon emission in the world’s largest carbon sink. In a new report titled Congo Basin Forests – State of the Forests 2021 produced by the Central Africa Forest Observatory (OFAC), experts say population growth puts fresh pressure on the forests of Central Africa and consequently reduce carbon stock as thousands of arrival of agrarian households into forest areas leads to clearing to establish farmlands. The experts also listed logging, territorial development, land use, governance and need for energy as other factors driving deforestation.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH have signed an agreement with the Government of Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) for a USD 79.3 million project (USD 35.2 million in GCF financing), to address a much-needed transition to the climate resilient management of forests and landscapes at scale.
GCF and the World Bank have signed an instrumental legal agreement to rapidly begin implementing the second phase of a renewable energy facility. It will support nine countries in meeting their NDC commitments while increasing access to electricity for the most vulnerable populations. The mitigation/adaptation cross-cutting Facility aims to also increase the reliability of the grid infrastructure, improving the country’s economic resilience, and the resilience of vulnerable households to better adapt to the devastating impacts of climate change.
On 5 January 2023, during the ceremony to present New Year’s greetings to the President of the Republic of Congo, Denis Sassou N’Guesso reiterated the announcement he had made at the 27th United Nations Climate Conference (COP27) in Egypt. In his capacity as president of the Congo Basin Climate Commission, he announced that the summit of the world’s three major forest basins would be held in Brazzaville in June 2023. The Congo Basin in Central Africa, the Amazon Basin in South America and the Borneo Mekong Basin in Southeast Asia.
Bujumbura, Republic of Burundi, March 17, 2023, under the high patronage of His Excellency Major Evariste NDAYISHIMIYE, President of the Republic, Head of State of Burundi, the eleventh ordinary session of the Council of Ministers of the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) was held on March 17, 2023 in Bujumbura, Republic of Burundi.
As part of an effort to operationalize an integrated landscape approach in southern Zambia, the COLANDS (Collaborating to operationalize landscape approaches for nature, development, and sustainability) initiative has been developing and applying new tools and techniques designed to understand and integrate stakeholder visions for the Kalomo Hills Forest Reserve landscape.
The General Secretariat for Land Management has launched the study on the national forestry capital for the preparation of the national scheme of land management of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This study, which is expected to take1 year, aims at determining the ecological (conservation), economic and social potentials of the forest massifs for the whole national territory. The launching ceremony took place this Tuesday, March 14, in Kinshasa.
The thirty-fifth meeting of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board has ended with the approval of USD 587.7 million in new climate finance for developing nations, as well as the selection of a new Executive Director. Mafalda Duarte has been selected as the next Executive Director of GCF, with Henry Gonzalez, GCF Deputy Executive Director, appointed to serve as interim Executive Director until Duarte starts her tenure with GCF. The outgoing Executive Director Yannick Glemarec is reaching the end of his four-year term and will leave GCF on 2 April 2023.
“Working on gender issues requires the ability to understand questions such as ‘why’ and ‘how’,” said Stibniati Atmadja, Ethiopia’s Country Lead for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)’s Women’s Land Rights Initiative (WLR). “Qualitative data is key for this – but collecting and analyzing such data is a major skill gap in many countries.”
The third international conference of parliamentarians on the sustainable management of Central African forest ecosystems was held in Libreville, Gabon, from 27 to 28 February 2023.
On tuesday, March 7, 2023 at 11:00 am CET (Berlin, Brussels, Kinshasa Time) the partners, leaders and co-leaders of the Western Block held their last coordination meeting online, on the follow-up of the implementation of the Declaration on Transhumance across borders, on MS Teams.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board has selected Mafalda Duarte as its new Executive Director. Following an extensive global recruitment process, the Board made the selection during its thirty-fifth meeting at the GCF headquarters in Songdo, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
The "One Forest Youth Forum (OFYF)" was held from 27 to 28 February 2023 in Libreville (Gabon) as a prelude to the One Forest Summit. The event was organized spontaneously by the youth, members of AGRIDIS and the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA Gabon) in collaboration with the National Youth Councils of ECCAS, the Youth Network for Central African Forests (REJEFAC), and a hundred NGOs and youth associations involved in the tackling of environmental, climate and forestry issues.
Jean Christophe Bokika Ngawolo, Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the NGO Mbou-Mon-Tour, was among the few personalities to speak at the One Forest Summit in the presence of various heads of state including Emmanuel Macron, Denis Sassou Nguesso and Ali Bongo. His organization was created in 1997 by a few university executives from the village of Nkala, in the territory of Bolobo (Maï-Ndombe). This territory has one of the highest densities of bonobos, an endemic species of the country and endangered according to the IUCN Red List.
The Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock of Burundi and with the financial support of the German cooperation through the GIZ project to support COMIFAC are organizing the eleventh ordinary session of its Council of Ministers from 14 to 17 March 2023 in Bujumbura, Republic of Burundi.
In order to improve the efficiency of the management of Protected Areas, the DRC, with the involvement of its partners, had invested in the BIOPAMA project in order to contribute to the development of the IMET tool "Integrated Management Effectiveness Tool". The use of the IMET tool in 18 DRC Protected Areas, for an overall frequency of 33 assessments, contributed to the diagnosis of management problems and to generate structured information to guide decision making for the change of the conservation status.
In line with the CBFP "Fair Deal", the OFS advocates for "A fair deal" between forest countries and the international community: "Time for payment for services rendered to the rest of the world (with the support of the secretariat of the High Ambition for Nature and Peoples (HAC) has come. In return for the commitment of forest countries, the international community will make available more funding, but also a mechanism for payment for the services rendered by nature kept intact, including carbon sequestration.”
Tuesday, January 31, 2023 at 11:30 am (Bangui time) the first coordination meeting of the year 2023 of the partners Co-leaders of the Bloc Centre for the follow-up of the implementation of the Declaration of N'Djaména on Transhumance, took place on MS Team.
For developing countries who are part of the UN’s REDD+ scheme (to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and foster conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks), establishing baseline forest reference emission levels (FREL) is essential obligation to track progress towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions. FREL covers emissions from deforestation and – in some countries – from forest degradation and peat decomposition. In countries like Indonesia, Peru, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and the Republic of Congo (RoC), that have large amounts of standing forest – and which can contribute significantly to a country’s emissions due to land-use change – these reference levels are particularly critical.
Ghana has become the second country in Africa after Mozambique to receive payments from a World Bank trust fund for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, commonly known as REDD+. The World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) paid Ghana $4,862,280 for reducing 972,456 tons of carbon emissions for the first monitoring period under the program (June to December 2019).
Douala, Republic of Cameroon, February 23, 2023- The Executive Secretary of COMIFAC, Mr. Hervé Martial MAIDOU, today presided over the opening ceremony of the fourteenth workshop of the Sub-Group on Protected Areas and Wildlife (SGTAPFS).
Paris, 27 February 2023 – The One Forest Summit will be held in Libreville, Gabon, on 01-02 March, with the goal of making progress on climate action and protecting biodiversity by promoting solidarity between the three major forest basins of the world. Director General Audrey Azoulay will attend to highlight UNESCO’s unique mandate to protect forest areas and numerous conservation programs.
Mungu Amurinde Jeanne d’Arc, a resident of Rubavu District in the Western Province of Rwanda has expressed special gratitude to the President of Rwanda Paul Kagame for the positive impacts brought by the Sebeya Catchment conservation project.
Baroness Scotland is head of the Commonwealth Secretariat - the organisation's main intergovernmental agency. Getty Image. The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC, will be in Gabon from Wednesday 1 March to highlight the importance of protecting global biodiversity at the One Forest Summit in Libreville on Thursday.
The SOF 2021 four-part report highlights facts and figures on the Congo basin forests recognized worldwide for their essential role in carbon sequestration and the conservation of biological diversity. It also provides considerations that will guide decisions on forest management.
Following an initial call for proposals launched in March 2022, the RESSAC coordination committee is calling on scientific and academic institutions from Central African and European countries, as well as on forest and environmental resource managers from Central Africa, to form a grouping and submit research proposals for RESSAC funding. For this second call for proposals, the RESSAC programme will favour research proposals relating to the social and/or economic sciences. Proposals should be sent by 15 April 2023 at the latest.
For decades, Lake Chad has remained a mainstay for the Basin’s 45-50 million people, most of whom are fishermen, farmers, herders, and petty traders who depend on the Lake for their livelihoods and economic well-being. However, over the years, the combined effects of the Lake’s shrinking and variability due to climate change has resulted in the increasing loss of livelihood for the region.
Niamey is hosting a high-level international conference on the Lake Chad Basin since 23 January 2023. Co-organized by Germany, Norway, the United Nations System (OCHA, UNDP) and Niger (host country), this two-day meeting brings together the governments of the region (Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon) as well as international donors and partners, multilateral and international organizations.
The commitment was made during the High-Level Conference on the Lake Chad Region held in Niamey from 23 – 24 January 2023. The two-day Conference brought together over 30 countries, international organisations, and more than 100 civil society organisations in the capital of Niger. The Conference aimed to ensure that the people of this hard-hit region have humanitarian assistance and protection and foster solutions for durable solutions, including the voluntary return, reintegration, and resettlement of returnees and displaced persons (refugees band internally displaced persons) in a dignified manner.
Should the international community pay tropical forest countries for services to humanity? The countries concerned frequently request such payments to compensate for their loss of revenue as a result of being unable to convert forest areas to farmland and mining operations. The authors of the latest IDDRI Issue Brief are calling for "payments for environmental services" schemes to be included in a broader co-investment for sustainable development approach.
Agroecology sets out to make use of biodiversity and boost soil health to make farming systems more resilient. How can we apply those principles to crop protection? Can we do without ? What sort of research is still needed? An international team of around 50 researchers gives some answers in a reference article in the journal Advances in Agronomy.
The Carbon & Biodiversity Commission regularly reviews relevant news and information on carbon and biodiversity and prepares a summary. We share with you here the main points of the 6th watch. The newsletter is available on request for ATIBT members.
The threshold of 10 million hectares certified as being under sustainable management should be crossed in 2025, according to the analysis of forest certification data in the Congo Basin carried out by the ATIBT Certification Commission. This is also an opportunity to look at the incentives for certification in the different countries.
Over a decade from the adoption of seven safeguard principles for REDD+ by the United Nations 2010 Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP16), the national implementation of two safeguards that address Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPs and LCs) remains a work in progress.
Wild mammals, reptiles, birds and insects are eaten by people worldwide. But overhunting – driven mainly by the demand for wild meat in urban centres – is threatening hundreds of wildlife species with extinction. It also risks cutting off millions of families from a critical source of nutrition, especially Indigenous Peoples and local communities in tropical and subtropical regions. Widespread commercial trade further complicates the issue.
On 9 March 2023 representatives of the European Parliament’s Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) Working Group, the Greens/EFA and Fern will host an event “How Partnerships complement the EU Deforestation Regulation: A discussion on the EU Strategic Framework for Partnerships”. Speakers will include representatives from Tropical Forested countries, European Policymakers and civil society actors and the discussions will focus on the elements that would make Partnerships a success.
Caught between climate change and ever-growing global demand for wood, natural tropical forests are more vulnerable than ever. We urgently need to find new sources of timber, particularly since the current sustainability criteria are failing to guarantee stand renewal. Plinio Sist, Head of CIRAD's Forests and Societies research unit, looks at the alternatives.
After several decades in Cameroon, and despite their significant contribution to agricultural research and development in Cameroon, the CGIAR Centers and their achievements are still not well known in the country. The centers organized an open day in Yaoundé on 19 January to amplify CGIAR and its partners’ actions to transform food systems in Cameroon and beyond while enhancing environmental health and biodiversity, despite the ongoing climate crisis.
International Day of Women and Girls in Science, celebrated on 11 February, recognizes the often overlooked contributions of women scientists. Research shows that despite a shortage of skills in most technological areas, gender disparity still exists in the field. Women make up less than a third of the workforce across science, technology and engineering. Women scientists are typically given smaller research grants than their male colleagues, and their work tends to be underrepresented in high-profile journals.
Drought is one of nature's costliest disasters – across the globe, more frequent and prolonged droughts are up nearly by a third since 2000. No country or region is immune to their impacts, which cost the global economy billions of dollars each year and range from the loss of life, livelihoods and biodiversity to water and food insecurity, disruption in the energy, transportation and tourism sectors, as well as forced migration, displacement and conflicts over scarce resources.
Gracing every continent of the Earth, wetlands are essential to the planet’s health, often compared to its vital organs, acting as arteries that carry water and as kidneys that filter harmful substances. Wetlands serve as the watchful sentinels of our wellbeing: they form protective barriers against tsunamis and sponge up the excess rainfall to reduce flood surges.
Bonn, Germany, 10 February 2023 – Today, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the Korea Forest Service of the Republic of Korea signed a new Memorandum of Understanding to further support Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN).
Addressing the UN General Assembly (UNGA), UN Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted his priorities for 2023. Describing 2023 as “a year of reckoning,” he urged Member States to change the mindset of decision making from near-term thinking to long-term thinking and develop a strategic vision to act decisively “in deep and systemic ways.”
The resumed first meeting of the ad hoc Open-ended Working Group on a Science-Policy Panel for Chemicals, Waste, and Pollution (OEWG 1.2) continued its task of developing a science-policy panel, which will help scientists and policymakers inform one another on these issues. Delegates agreed on capacity building as a new function of the panel.
Permanent Representatives of Ireland and Qatar to the UN convened an informal meeting to hear delegates’ preliminary views on the scope and substance of the political declaration to be adopted by the 2023 SDG Summit in September. The co-facilitators also outlined their approach to the consultation process and timing of future meetings.
Peru has recognized the role of Indigenous Amazonian Peoples for ensuring the sustainable use of one the world’s most biodiverse biomes and realising its climate and conservation plans. However, community forest management, or CFM, has struggled to deliver on its promise of environmental and livelihood improvements. In Peru, as in many other tropical forest countries, communities are often unable to comply with forestry regulations and are pushed to the informal sector, where unjust commercial relations and unsustainable practices predominate.
The annual planning workshop of the Agenda for Agricultural Transformation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (ATA-DRC) program activities took place from 23 to 25 January in South Kivu. The meeting’s objective was to review the activities of 2022 and plan for 2023.
The research and innovation division of the Nova Alliance Group, Nova Genetic, visited IITA–CGIAR on 18 January to explore establishing ties with Nigeria through a partnership with the Institute. The team from the seed company, with several vegetable breeding programs, was received by the Deputy Director General, Partnerships for Delivery, Kenton Dashiell; Senior Director, Plant Breeding and Pre-breeding, John Derera; Molecular Geneticist and Breeder, Ismail Rabbi; Product Manager-Grain Crops, Dean Muungani; and Postdoctoral Fellow, Soybean Breeding, Abush Abebe.
A recent collection of essays, "Buon Vivere (Good Living) as relationship economy", looks at various aspects of the Good Living* concept. It includes an essay by two CIRAD researchers, detailing how agricultural research for development could help people live better in every sense, particularly in the global South, where living conditions and wellbeing are still highly dependent on primary production (food and other goods).
The actors of the forestry and wood sector now have at their disposal six video capsules on the professions of sustainable forest management in the Congo Basin. The forestry-wood sector does not generally attract vocations in the Congo basin region. However, there is a real need for skills at all levels of qualification, to meet the growing demand for quality finished wood products, as well as the desire of countries to develop further local processing.
Can we bring wildlife back to productive oil palm plantations? This is one of the questions posed by the TRAILS project, coordinated by CIRAD, in Malaysia. It associates the local authorities, a private firm, a university and an NGO, working to build innovative agroforestry strategies that combine biodiversity restoration with local socioeconomic development. We look at the initial results.
While women have made immense advances in scientific fields in recent years, the numbers still don’t tell an equitable story. Across the world, they’re typically given smaller research grants than their male colleagues, and researchers tend to have shorter, less well-paid careers; their work is underrepresented in high-profile journals and they are often passed over for promotion. They represent about a third of all researchers – and only 12% of members of national science academies.
The Climate Change Action Plan 2021–2025 aims to advance the climate change aspects of the WBG’s Green, Resilient, and Inclusive Development (GRID) approach, which pursues poverty eradication and shared prosperity with a sustainability lens. In the Action Plan, we will support countries and private sector clients to maximize the impact of climate finance, aiming for measurable improvements in adaptation and resilience and measurable reductions in GHG emissions. The Action Plan also considers the vital importance of natural capital, biodiversity, and ecosystems services and will increase support for nature-based solutions, given their importance for both mitigation and adaptation. As part of our effort to drive climate action, the WBG has a long-standing record of participating in key partnerships and high-level forums aimed at enhancing global efforts to address climate change.
What the Future Has in Store: A New Paradigm for Water Storage is an urgent appeal to practitioners at every level, both public and private, and across sectors, to come together to champion integrated water storage solutions—natural, built, and hybrid—to meet a range of human, economic, and environmental needs for the twenty-first century. Closing storage gaps will require a spectrum of economic sectors and stakeholders to develop and drive multi‐sectoral solutions. The proposed integrated water storage planning framework is grounded in sustainable development and climate resilience, with the potential to pay dividends for people, economies, and environments for generations.
Participants at the fifth International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC5) welcomed other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) as a tool for establishing conservation structures alongside marine protected areas (MPAs) that empower Indigenous leadership and governance. They reflected on the interconnectivity of the planet and on people’s relationship with its “life support system” – the Ocean.
According to the report titled Congo Basin Forests – State of the Forests 2021 and produced by Central Africa Forest Observatory (OFAC), sluggish economic growth in the last 20 years has stalled investment in commercial forest plantations in the region. This is compounded by the difficulty in finding financing for business operations like forest plantations which do not quickly generate profits. It takes between 5 and 8 years to get a positive cash flow after investing in forest plantations.
With international climate negotiations putting Indigenous Peoples and other local communities in the spotlight for climate funding, more attention is being paid to protecting those groups’ rights to their land and forest. That often takes the form of land titling programs, but titles alone don’t guarantee rights. And while tenure security can make communities more secure, exactly what that means varies from place to place, according to a new study by the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF).
IITA Board of Trustees and CGIAR have appointed Dr Simeon Ehui as Director General for IITA and Regional Director for Continental Africa for CGIAR. In this role, Dr Ehui will build on IITA and CGIAR’s proven track record of impact, working with teams and partners to improve livelihoods, enhance food and nutrition security, increase employment, and preserve natural resources across Africa.
Today, Transparency International released the latest results of our annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). The index ranks 180 countries and territories around the world by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, scoring on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). A blue map of the world against dark background with symbols of conflict, oppression, corruption, justice and people power
The Adaptation Fund capped off another successful year, providing tangible results on the ground for climate-vulnerable countries and raising more than US$ 230 million in new pledges and contributions in 2022 at the United Nations COP27 climate change conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, in November.
When the gavel came down on the resolution to end plastic pollution at the resumed fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2) in Nairobi last March, there were hugs and tears among the delegates. The emotion reflected the importance of this historic milestone: a legally binding global instrument toward ending plastic pollution.
Speech delivered by: Inger Andersen. For: 160th Resumed meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives. Location: Nairobi, Kenya....The last time we spoke, I was in Montreal at the negotiations of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. My connection with you was, unfortunately, cut short due to technical gremlins. My apologies for that, and my thanks to Sonja for delivering my remarks....
Quito, 27 January 2023 – A new tool aimed at reinforcing environmental education and was launched today by The Environmental Education Network, an intergovernmental platform of environmental education in Latin America. The Environmental Education Resources Guide is launched as part of Ecuador’s Environmental Education Week, organized by its Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition and the Ministry of Education in cooperation with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
Senior UN economists warned on Wednesday that intersecting crises are likely to add further damage to the global economy, with growth set to slow from three per cent in 2022 to 1.9 per cent this year. This will be one of the lowest growth rates in recent decades, apart from during the 2007-8 financial crisis and the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Swiss ambassadors meeting in the Ivorian commercial capital Abidjan invited a senior management team from the African Development Bank Group to exchange views on development and cooperation.The envoys held a working luncheon, hosted by the Swiss assistant state secretary for Sub-Saharan Africa, Siri Walt, on Friday 20 January. Ambassador Walt is the head of the Africa Division at the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland.
The African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Development Bank Group have a concluded a technical session on how to conduct an upcoming joint study on driving development in Africa. The goal of the study, titled Key Actions to Drive Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development in Africa, is to identify key actions that will allow Africa to rise and remain at a growth level of 7% GDP.
As the world moves toward energy transition, it is important that Africa’s ongoing challenges with access to clean, affordable and inclusive energy be addressed for the continent to achieve a fair and just energy transition, panelists said during the 2022 African Economic Conference (AEC).
Abu Dhabi, 16 January 2023 – As the Earth warms at a dangerous pace, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)-led Cool Coalition, with the United Arab Emirates’ incoming presidency of COP28, announced the development of a Global Cooling Pledge and a “Cool COP Menu of Actions” that will feature prominently at COP28. The Menu will be defined over the coming months in close collaboration with partners including the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL).
A new law will ensure that a set of key goods placed on the EU market, such as cattle, beef or soya, will no longer contribute to deforestation and forest degradation in the EU and elsewhere in the world. Since the EU is a major economy and consumer of these commodities, this step will help stop a significant share of global deforestation and forest degradation, in turn reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and biodiversity loss, according to the commission. This major agreement comes just before the start of the Conference on Biodiversity (COP15) which is set to define protection goals for nature for decades to come.
Forest Trends was founded with the mission of putting an economic engine behind nature conservation – the idea being that our economy, our society, and our wellbeing all depend in very real and material ways on healthy natural ecosystems. That idea’s time has come. The world is looking to “nature-based solutions” to combat climate change, mitigate water risks, prevent pandemics, protect biodiversity, support food insecurity, and so on. Forest Trends is fielding many new opportunities at a totally different scale than in the past, and at a much more systemic level.
23 January 2023, Fern is launching a report which outlines options for partnerships to accompany the new EU Regulation on deforestation-free products. Partnerships will be an essential part of maximising the Regulation’s impact in decreasing deforestation on the ground. They will also help mitigate risks linked to the Regulation: that it would cause “leakage” of unsustainable production to other consumer markets, or that smallholders would bear the cost of implementation.
Call for inputs for the global Stocktake in 2023 In the run-up to the conclusion of the first global stocktake in COP 28, submissions on views on the approach to the consideration of the outputs component of the first global Stocktake are open until 15 February 2023. Also, submissions for the third technical dialogue, scheduled to be held during the June SB session, are open until 6 March.
At COP 27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, President Emmanuel Macron and President Ali Bongo announced that a One Forest Summit would be held in Libreville, Gabon, on 1st and 2nd of March, 2023. Tropical forests provide an invaluable service both to local populations and to humanity by offering many resources but also by sequestering carbon and hosting biodiversity hotspots.
Of previous editions, the Global Synthesis Report is composed of stand-alone analyses that can be read independently, for a more thematic or sectoral reading. Discover in the report: infographics on the evolution indicators of emissions and activities, the existing and emerging trends in the strategies of actors, signals of change in the various sectors, and case studies of exemplary initiatives.
Protect the Campo Ma’an national park and stop Cameroun Vert SARL (Camvert) from destroying Indigenious Bagyeli people’s and ancestral lands! More than 28 communities call the Campo Ma’an area home. Now, a palm oil company, Cameroun Vert SARL (Camvert), has started clear-cutting these ancestral lands about seven times the size of Dakar illegally.
In the aftermath of COP27, where global leaders have gathered for over two weeks in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, those of us who regularly engage directly with developing countries know that the path forward is clear. Developing countries are committed to climate-compatible development and ready to implement. However, driving climate action on the ground requires unprecedented finance.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres announced he will convene a Climate Ambition Summit in September 2023, to generate “new, tangible and credible climate action” to “accelerate action at the mid-way point” of the SDGs. Going forward, he said he will push for a Climate Solidarity Pact, for all big emitters to “make an extra effort” to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in line with the 1.5°C goal and provide support for those who need it.
The Sustainable Ocean Initiative (SOI), a capacity-building programme established by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 2010, provides support, advice, and guidance to countries in their efforts to achieve global biodiversity targets in marine and coastal areas. The Initiative, the subject of an event held during the UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP 15), achieves these aims through such activities as the SOI Global Dialogue with Regional Seas Organizations and Regional Fishery Bodies and the SOI Training of Trainers programme.
The Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation (GPEDC) convened a three-day summit to take stock of the progress in implementing the Principles of Effective Development Co-operation since their endorsement in 2011, and to discuss the future of work. Stakeholders agreed to build on past commitments, achievements, and experiences and to address the “unfinished business of the aid effectiveness agenda.”
Seven safeguard principles for REDD+ were adopted at the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Cancun in 2010. Two of these principles address participation and respect for the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPs and LCs) directly. These principles are meant to be “interpreted” by REDD+ countries using their national legal frameworks, to decide, for example, who is recognized as an IP or LC, and what is meant by “respect” or their “participation”.
Indonesia’s forests are home to 10-15 percent of the world’s known plants, mammals, and birds, as well as vast carbon stocks. As such, any degradation or deforestation of these ecosystems will have important local, national, and international implications.
Partners call on CBD negotiations to commit to increasing agroecological food production practices. As environmental ministers at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (UNCBD COP15) negotiate an agreement to tackle catastrophic degradation of our planet, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and World Agroforestry (ICRAF) have announced a partnership to accelerate implementation of food-based actions that will help restore nature and limit climate change. The two organisations will partner on major initiatives that support farmers in utilizing the power of natural ecosystems to build healthy and productive food systems that provide enough healthy and nutritious food within planetary boundaries.
Chad is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to the effects of climate change. Because its economy is based mainly on the primary sector, Chad’s reliance on natural resources makes it particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events. Take for example the case of Lake Chad, where the water volume has decreased by 90% since the 1960s due to climate change and over-exploitation. Chad’s vulnerability to climate change is further exacerbated by the country’s relatively low level of preparedness when it comes to climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.
In December 2022, the European Union (EU) finally agreed on the text of its long-awaited Regulation on deforestation-free products (EUDR). For the first time companies selling certain products on the EU market will be punished if they are found to have contributed towards deforestation. This was the final stage in a long and often tortuous journey, in which forests were thrust centre-stage of EU policymaking. 2023 will be another crucial year for the EU and forests, especially since it will be followed by the EU’s ‘cooling off’ period, when no new policies are initiated, in the run-up to the 2024 European elections.
New research by the University of East Anglia (UEA) highlights the risks of countries relying on nature-based solutions to achieve net zero. The article summarizes the findings of the study. For example, the study found that once the bulk of emissions have been reduced, countries plan to "cancel out" the leftover difficult-to-decarbonize emissions, such as those from agriculture, by using forests and soils to remove carbon from the atmosphere. However, this may prove risky because forests and soils are also threatened by a range of impacts, such as fire, disease, changes in farming practices, and deforestation.
More than 650 scientists are urging world leaders to stop burning trees to make energy because it destroys valuable habitats for wildlife. Bioenergy has “wrongly been deemed ‘carbon neutral’” and many countries are increasingly relying on forest biomass to meet net zero goals, according to the letter, addressed to world leaders including Joe Biden, Rishi Sunak and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen. “The best thing for the climate and biodiversity is to leave forests standing – and biomass energy does the opposite,” it says.
This article is giving an introduction to the paper "Has global deforestation accelerated due to the COVID-19 pandemic?". Analysis of tree cover loss over time was used to determine whether deforestation observed in 2020 deviated from expected trajectories after the first COVID-19 cases were reported; both at the regional level for the Americas, Africa and Asia and at the country level for Brazil, Colombia, Peru, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Indonesia.
A growing body of research shows that even forests located far away from urban centers provide tremendous benefits in regulating the global climate, water and biodiversity systems that are essential to people’s health and quality of life. New research led by WRI and Pilot Projects through the Cities4Forests initiative synthesizes the benefits that forests at three scales — inner, nearby and faraway — offer cities. The report provides the scientific imperative for city-led policies, incentives and investments that help conserve, restore and sustainably manage forests at each of these scales. The article outlines the many benefits across four categories that forests provide to cities from the report.
Nature is a vital resource, necessary for our health, livelihoods and well-being. It also accounts for $44 trillion of economic value generation. In addition, nature-based solutions can provide more than one third of the mitigation needed by 2030 to keep climate goals in reach. Nature tech will be vital in helping facilitate and accelerate these solutions, making them valuable tools in tackling climate change.
The statement made by the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Eve Bazaiba, at the press briefing on Monday 28 November, on the lifting of the moratorium has raised the roof. Like a shockwave, the affirmation of the lifting of the moratorium established by the DRC's sovereignty over its forests in 2002 has provoked strong reactions in public opinion.
The SW4SW Dialogue - Timber Value Chains for Resilience and Carbon Neutrality seeks to identify effective approaches, concrete actions, and actors to be mobilised to make timber value chains, especially those focused on the domestic market, a lever for a forest sector with high environmental, economic and social added value.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) framework for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks (REDD+) refers to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). However, not all REDD+ countries have legal systems that build on UNDRIP and few, especially in Africa, have ratified other relevant agreements such as the International Labour Organization Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples.
Logging affects many of the world's tropical forests, and such forests are often considered degraded because they have lost vegetation structure, biomass and carbon stocks. But there has rarely been analysis of whether the ecological health and functionality of these ecosystems are similarly degraded. A new study by researchers at the University of Oxford, finds that logged rainforests are treasure-troves of healthy ecological function and should not be written off for oil palm plantations. This article gives some insights into the newly published paper.