A “perfect storm” of climate change and cyclical La Niña weather patterns have been fuelling the catastrophic flooding sweeping southern Africa for the past month, according to climate scientists. Torrential rains and floods have killed more than 100 people in South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Eswatini since December, and displaced hundreds of thousands of…
Nairobi — President William Ruto on Monday convened a virtual Special Africa Leaders’ Meeting on Climate Adaptation to rally support for scaled-up financing and coordinated action to strengthen climate resilience across the continent. The high-level meeting bringing together African Heads of State, senior government officials, international partners, and development institutions focused on aligning climate adaptation,…
Before global constraints become irreversible, countries must show how loss and damage can be measured and linked to development and debt. The 2025 COP30 in Brazil was a milestone moment in the global climate agenda, but for unexpected reasons. The United States (US) did not participate in the Conference of the Parties of the United…
Whenever rain clouds gather over her village, Ntombenhle Ndlovu finds herself checking the weather forecast again and again, bracing for what might come next. When the rain finally starts, she steps outside to feel the first droplets on her skin, measuring their intensity before she can breathe a little easier. “It has become a natural…
Climate refugees who abandon drying agricultural lands in frontier countries and head to South Africa to seek new livelihoods are encountering crushing hardship in this country. ‘Crop yield, livestock failed. That’s why we came to South Africa confident of a fresh start,” says Joshua Tuso (41), an undocumented migrant from Zimbabwe. But “it has been…
Nairobi — President Donald Trump has escalated efforts to further distance the United States from international organizations and entities focused on climate, the environment, and energy. This strategy is in step with his administration’s established approach to undermine and redirect funds and international cooperation away from climate and clean energy programs. But where some see…
African cities bear the brunt of climate impacts, and cannot afford to wait for international solidarity that may never come. Multilateral climate action and funding faced a major setback last week when the United States (US) announced its withdrawal from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and 65 other international bodies. It…
The Group of Twenty (G20) emerged from the financial turmoil that followed the collapse of the Thai currency in 1997, which rapidly spread financial instability from Thailand to the rest of Asia. At that time, the finance ministers and central bank governors convened to forge a strategy to stabilise the global economy and prevent future…
Climate change is no longer just about melting ice or hotter summers. It is also a financial problem. Droughts, floods, storms and heatwaves damage crops, factories and infrastructure. At the same time, the global push to cut greenhouse gas emissions creates risks for countries that depend on oil, gas or coal. These pressures can destabilise…
Just 20 countries produce 80% of the world’s oil, gas and coal. Since 2019, researchers have released regular reports analysing how these governments plan to continue drilling and mining for fossil fuels – and how those plans diverge from the global climate goal set out in the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit temperature rise…
