Climate Change

The future of transport should not only be electric. It should be lighter, healthier, more affordable and less car dependent.

Seaweed-based materials, which are fully compostable, are emerging as a promising substitute for plastic - particularly in packaging. Seaweed is especially promising because it is a rapidly renewable resource that grows without freshwater, fertilisers or agricultural land.

The Bonn meetings take place annually in the lead-up to COP conferences, the latest of which was held in Belém, Brazil, last November.

Hot classrooms can affect concentration, memory, behaviour and academic success. Extreme heat also increases risks to children’s physical and mental health, especially in schools with poor ventilation, overcrowded classrooms and limited access to drinking water.

The High Commissioner said his Office, OHCHR, has recorded nearly 600 environmental and land defenders killed or disappeared worldwide over the past three years.

Some players in the carbon credit sector are already committing to revenue-sharing arrangements that exceed the minimum benefit threshold required by law.

The group also raised alarm over what it describes as increasing commercial encroachment at Ngong Road Forest, citing the construction of a luxury hotel and plans to allocate 10 hectares of forest land for a road linking the Bomas of Kenya to Talanta Stadium.

At 6°C above average, tropical Pacific Ocean temperature readings are fuelling concerns that this El Niño could feed on this extra heat and devastate vulnerable and unprepared communities worldwide.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has echoed concerns over the broader implications of El Niño, warning that the developing conditions could intensify existing climate pressures.

The effects of rising temperatures are already being felt in many parts of the world through harsher droughts, severe floods, destructive heatwaves and pressure on food and water supplies.

Instead of depending on certain countries or regions for fertiliser production, it would be possible to produce homegrown fertiliser when the sun shines and the wind blows.

Just over half of the global increase is from the expansion of rice-growing areas. In Africa, for example, the rice-growing area has roughly doubled since the 1960s, helping drive a twofold rise in methane emissions in the region.

The President of the Pan-African Parliament Fateh Boutbig urged governments, legislatures, civil society and development partners to work together to improve access to clean water and safe sanitation systems across the continent.

The outlook noted that evolving climate conditions resemble the strong El Niño years of 1997 and 2023, when several parts of Ethiopia and neighbouring countries experienced poor seasonal rainfall and reduced agricultural production.

According to officials, the region is increasingly focusing on turning forecasts into early action rather than waiting for conditions to worsen.

The amendment seeks to empower the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) to issue easements for public roads and installations, as well as wayleaves for utilities within public forests.

Study warns rising temperatures could shift crop pests and diseases into new regions, threatening staple crops and food security for millions of smallholder farmers in Africa’s Great Lakes.

New research reveals a “triple whammy” of ocean and atmospheric changes has pushed the Southern Ocean into a new state, triggering a rapid Antarctic sea ice decline that could speed up global warming.

The cost of solar-plus-battery power systems has fallen from over $100 per MWh (about Sh12,919) to $54–$82 per MWh (about Sh6,976–Sh10,613) in 2025.

Truphena Muthoni's performance averaged nearly 20 trees every minute, highlighting both her endurance and commitment to environmental conservation.

Scientists and seasonal forecasting systems are watching warming in the tropical Pacific that could develop into El Niño later in 2026. Some models hint at stronger events, but uncertainty remains, with potential rainfall disruptions in Eastern Africa.

The coalition is expected to serve as a long-term platform for collaboration between governments, institutions and young people, with stakeholders stressing that its impact will depend on sustained investment and effective implementation across the region.

A regional consensus study led for the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) says extreme heat is already worsening health, livelihoods and food security across southern Africa, especially where people have limited ability to adapt.

A Columbia University researcher argues that legacy credit rating rules, guarantee limits, and short loan maturities prevent renewable projects in African countries from accessing finance, even when long-term contracts exist.

Researchers at the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health say critical mineral mining for batteries and clean energy can increase water pollution and health risks for communities, especially in poorer regions, unless supply chains are regulated.

Heat, floods and drought increase demand for climate risk assessments, but a new review argues they can overlook how race, class and power shape women’s exposure, vulnerability and ability to adapt and recover in South Africa.

A Guinness World Record attempt to plant 40,000 young mangroves over 24 hours will take place April 30, 2026, at Mirarani, Tudor Creek in Mombasa County, led by Antoine Moses with Kenya Forest Service support.

El Niño is typically associated with increased rainfall in parts of southern South America, the southern United States, the Horn of Africa and central Asia, and drought over Australia, Indonesia, and parts of southern Asia.

In 2025, more than 90 per cent of the global ocean experienced at least one marine heatwave, according to WMO’s State of the Global Climate 2025 report.

A research team reconstructed a continuous rainfall record for south-western Madagascar from baobab tree ring isotopes, supported by radiocarbon dating. The record spans to the year 1300 and is paired with pollen, charcoal and wetland signals.

A Nature Microbiology study reports that when soil dries out, processes that create and spread antibiotic resistance can speed up. Researchers say climate change-driven drought could therefore make the problem harder to manage for human health.

A dual approach can help to establish more effective governance and engage an increasingly diverse set of people in resolving conflicts for the benefit of all of society.

Recent satellite data, cited by IUCN, already shows that emperor penguin numbers have fallen by 10 per cent between 2009 and 2018, the equivalent of more than 20,000 adult birds.

Daily sea surface temperatures increased steadily throughout the month and approached the record levels observed in 2024, it said.

A new study maps where large‑scale tree planting and energy crops for carbon removal overlap with biodiversity refuges and hotspots, showing both risks to ecosystems and options for biodiversity‑sensitive planning.

The ClimCam will be integrated on the International Space Station’s Columbus module and launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, at 3:51 East Africa Time (EAT).

Some countries with rapid rates of deforestation were particularly affected: 49 million people in Indonesia, 42 million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo and 22 million people in Brazil were exposed to hotter temperatures caused by deforestation.

In parts of Kenya and particularly in Nairobi County, disasters have ranged from severe drought to killer floods that submerged residential areas and displaced hundreds of families.

Africa's only nuclear power station is located near Cape Town. The two reactors at Koeberg came online in the mid-1980s with support from a French consortium during the Apartheid regime.

The decision was finalised at the 44th GCF Board meeting, held in Songdo, South Korea from March 25–28, 2026, and comes as part of the Fund’s strategic effort to decentralise operations.

The findings stem from a major international collaboration involving 30 researchers from 19 institutions worldwide and were published in Nature Geoscience on March 16.

Without stronger policy intervention, improved collection, and better recycling systems, global waste generation is projected to climb to about 3.9 billion tonnes by 2050, representing roughly a 50 per cent increase from current levels.

Population growth and climate change do not operate independently. Where a region is simultaneously getting hotter and adding large numbers of people, the number of people exposed to dangerous heat will get much worse.

In 2025, the world experienced its second or third warmest year on record, depending on which dataset you use. The average temperature was about 1.43°C above the pre-industrial average.

IQAir’s 2025 World Air Quality Report ranks Chad and the DRC among the most polluted countries, with South Africa’s Nieuwoudtville recording the cleanest air, underscoring stark global pollution disparities.

Waves surge on the beach at Kuakata, Bangladesh during a golden sunset, with the sun low on the horizon and boats visible in the distance.

Two development economists outline a proposal for a state-owned African green bank to pool climate finance, fund green industry and stabilise currencies across the continent.

The World Meteorological Organisation confirmed that 2025 was either the second or third hottest on record, at around 1.43 Celsius above the 1850–1900 average, with the past 11 years, from 2015 to 2025, ranking among the hottest ever recorded.

The current frameworks and institutions for global decarbonisation were built for a different era. Net-zero plans and mitigation targets obscure the way in which energy systems have transformed, expanding opportunities and enabling emissions reductions through systems optimisation.

In Africa, cassava is now grown in humid and sub-humid tropical regions, including Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda and Mozambique.

African sea levels are rising by approximately 3.54 millimetres each year, which exceeds the global average of 3.45 mm/yr. Perhaps more troubling is that the pace of rise is speeding up, especially in African waters.