By Tshilidzi Marwala



As the twentyseventh session of the United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) unfolded in Egypt in November 2022, it became a signifier of Africa taking climate change into its own hands. The continent has often been placed on the back burner of other nations.



Yet, it is no secret that climate change has impacted Africa the most, even though its contribution to the world’s greenhouse gas emissions is less than 5%. As the African Development Bank states, this is because of the continent’s relatively low adaptive capability, caused by financial and technological weaknesses, and an over-dependence on rain-fed agriculture.



In fact, in September 2022, the State of the Climate in Africa 2021 UN report revealed the convergence of climate shocks that plague Africa. For example, 2021 Africa experienced at least the fourth warmest year on record. It is expected that by 2030, between 108-116 million people in Africa will be threatened by rising sea levels.



Furthermore, the drought in East Africa is worsening, whereas North Africa is experiencing extreme heat. In the past 50 years, drought has claimed the lives of over half a million people and this resulted in $70 billion economic losses. Furthermore, there has been a 34% reduction in agricultural productivity growth since 1961 as a result of increased temperatures. Therefore, climate change is a significant driver of displacement on the African continent and currently, only 40% of people are covered by MultiHazard Early Warning Systems. Resounding cries from young activists that the future was being stripped from Africa were heard beyond the doors of COP27 – a necessary and powerful call to action as the conference began. The first ‘African COP’ since 2016 represented a rewriting of the continent’s narrative as African nations made a case for climate justice.



As Absa’s Group Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer Punki Modise phrased it: “COP27 marked a necessary – and overdue – concession to pragmatism and the recognition that if we are to effectively mitigate the impact of climate change at a global scale we need to slowly reframe climate issues, especially in the context of human dignity.” The impact of this shift was tangible.



Towards the end of November, the conference closed with a breakthrough agreement to reframe and create new funding avenues for vulnerable countries hit hard by climate disasters. New funding arrangements will be established alongside a dedicated “loss and damage” fund to assist developing countries. Additionally, a transitional committee was established to make recommendations on how to roll out funding, with the first meeting expected in March this year. 



The Santiago Network will accompany funding for Loss and Damage deployment to offer technical assistance to these nations.



Of course, as history has demonstrated, the implementation and fulfilment of pledges always fall short of what is needed for the world to deal decisively with climate change. It remains to be seen whether the money will flow – and whether this will be accompanied by necessary commitments from developed nations to phase out fossil fuels and curb the damage it has inflicted over the years.



In reframing the African narrative on climate change, however, there has also been a shift away from solely relying on the Global North to fulfil its commitments. The launch of the African Climate Risk Facility created by 85 insurers in the continent to protect against droughts, floods and tropical cyclones by providing climate risk insurance, represents Africa taking climate action into its own hands. The facility is a $14 billion local market-based funding tool to help African countries increase the resilience of their vulnerable communities.



This speaks to the argument made in the aftermath of COP26 in 2021 for localized solutions and inherently reframes the continent’s ability to respond when disaster hits in response to the often unfulfilled commitments of the Global North.



COP27 has been a valuable exercise in reaffirming developed nations’ commitments to vulnerable and less developed nations – a vital tool for tackling climate change and reframing the continent’s position. The messaging is clear: the Global North must continue acknowledging its role and providing funding and support, but Africa should no longer plead but take matters into its own hands.

Protest during the UN climate summit in Egypt

Climate Change Action Is A Necessity Africa Cannot Ignore, Anymore

Monitoring populations of the great ape in the thick equatorial rain forests of Gabon, one of the most carbon-positive countries in the world. 



By Ramdas Iyer 



Walking behind four machete-wielding villagers in the thick of equatorial rain forest in Gabon, I was participating in the unusual experience of preparing for a western lowland gorilla habituation project. Here we were creating multiple transect lines running over four kilometers through the forest; a well-established scientific methodology for estimating ape population size. 



“Monitoring populations of gorillas is a necessary protocol prior to establishing a habituation program. Camera traps and GPS locators along the transects will eventually give us an idea of the group density in the area,” says Antonio Anoro of Gabon Untouched, a conservation and eco-tourism organization, who, alongside researchers from the Research Institute for Tropical Ecology (IRET), is spearheading the habituation of wild lowland gorillas in the buffer zone next to the Moukalaba-Doudou National Park which covers an area of 1,700 square miles.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Large expanses of tropical rainforest in western Africa have been cleared, logged, and overhunted in recent decades. In contrast, extensive forest in Gabon has survived in an intact condition because the country has a sparse population and substantial petroleum and mineral deposits that have reduced the economic pressure on forests.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The Gabonese government is eager to consider alternative strategies to augment economic development, including promotion of an ecotourism industry. This commitment is evidenced by the government&#8217;s designation of 13 national parks that comprise over a tenth of the country&#8217;s land area. Gabonese forests have among the highest levels of species diversity and endemism in tropical Africa and are likely to play a critical future role in biodiversity conservation.&nbsp;



Gabon Untouched supports sustainable tourism by bringing eco-tourists into deep jungle to observe first-hand, lowland gorillas in their natural habitat. Gorillas were first habituated for human observation and scientific research by Kyoto University scientists 20 years ago at Moukalaba-Doudou National Park.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“The steady influx of tourist funds has helped economically sustain the local village of Doussala and gorilla research activities. By habituating a second group of gorillas, we not only protect the forest, home for great apes, but also provide a sustainable livelihood for the locals,” says Anoro, who has worked tirelessly for eight years in Gabon for conservation efforts.&nbsp;



This month, in March, Gabon hosted the ‘One Forest’ Summit attended by Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba, French President Emmanuel Macron and other heads of state, to highlight the environmental role and value of rain forests.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Forests potentially represent 20-30 percent of the solution to climate change,&#8221; Gabon&#8217;s Minister of Water and Forestry and conservationist Lee White, said in opening remarks. The host nation, Gabon, became the first African nation to be recompensed through carbon credits for protecting its forests.&nbsp;



Gabon &#8220;absorbs around 100 million tons of CO2 per year&#8230;three tons every second,&#8221; White told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting. &#8220;We are well on the way to becoming a sustainable economy.&#8221;&nbsp;

Gorilla conservation in Gabon; photo by Ramdas Iyer

Gorillas, Conservation And Climate Change In Gabon

Startups are aiming to solve big problems for agriculture, including labor and water shortages, climate-driven headaches and declining bee populations, by deploying artificial intelligence, autonomous driving technology and robotics.



f the vast farms of the Midwest are America’s breadbasket, California is its produce department. But the country’s biggest producer of fresh fruits and vegetables is in trouble, threatened by shortages of farm labor and water and rising temperatures due to climate change.



To combat these challenges—if a growing number of startups have their way—California’s fields and orchards will soon be staffed by autonomous flying drones that pluck fruit and nuts from trees, electric self-driving tractors that monitor each row for weeds and crop health and pollinating bees that make their homes on the farm in robotic hives. These futuristic-sounding technologies aren’t decades away —they’re deployed in the field right now.



“That’s the only commercially available electric autonomous vehicle you can buy today,” says Praveen Penmetsa, CEO and cofounder of Monarch, pointing to one of his MK-V tractors as it does test loops through a faux orchard for onlookers at World Ag Expo in Tulare, California, last month. His Livermore, California-based startup, which has raised about $110 million and counts wine scion Carlos Mondavi as a cofounder, started selling its $89,000 self-driving tractors last year, which are outfitted with sensors to monitor crop health.


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<figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://imageio.forbes.com/specials-images/imageserve/6401141f3e8031931c058201/robot-farm-tech/0x0.jpg?format=jpg&amp;width=960" alt="robot_farm_tech" width="-216" height="-216"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Monarch Tractor&#8217;s electric, autonomous MK-V is equipped with technology found on self-driving cars.ZUMAPRESS/NEWSCOM</figcaption></figure></div>


“Whether it&#8217;s labor or water, or even fertilizers and pesticides, those are all resources that are very expensive. With our tractor, with the data we&#8217;re collecting, (farmers) can be more efficient with all those resources,” Penmetsa told&nbsp;Forbes. “Instead of one driver sitting on a tractor going up and down a row, that same driver can manage three or four tractors at a time and finish the operation faster.”



The urgency to solve long-term challenges for food production coincides with AI-enabled tech advances — the same underlying tech that has automated factories and wowed millions with its ability to generate fanciful text and images (as well as promises to make robotaxis and self-driving semis a reality in the years ahead). And while venture funding has cooled for many emerging technologies, AG tech remains a money magnet, vacuuming up $10.6 billion from investors in 988 deals last year, according to PitchBook.



California, led by its highly productive San Joaquin Valley farms, last year generated more than $51 billion of revenue from grapes, almonds, peaches, lettuce, carrots and other high-value crops, or 12% of total U.S. agricultural production by value, according to the <a href="https://data.ers.usda.gov/reports.aspx?ID=17844#P32c32cdfed1241fb81d9443323da4aac_28_251iT0R0x29" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">USDA</a>. That’s far ahead of states synonymous with farming like Iowa and Nebraska. But finding enough people to work the fields grows harder year after year, particularly with the drop in migrant farm labor resulting from stricter border controls. The problem was glaringly apparent at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 when ripe crops were<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2020/04/06/lettuce-left-to-die-in-california-fields-as-produce-demand-withers-under-covid-19/?sh=2742e5286428"> left to fallow</a> in the field because there weren’t enough workers to harvest them, triggering shortages of some products at supermarkets.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">
“Pretty much every year our members have been concerned about not being able to get enough people to do what they need to do or would like to be able to do.”
<cite>C. Bryan Little, director of labor affairs, California Farm Bureau Federation</cite></blockquote>



“The lack of products on grocery store shelves was not because farmers stopped growing crops and raising livestock to provide a food source for the country,” the American Farm Bureau Federation said in a recent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fb.org/focus-on-agriculture/labor-shortages-continue-to-impact-farmers" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">blog</a>. “It was because every step of the supply chain lacked the labor needed to keep up with the demand.”



The problem is acute for California growers, who produce crops that are more labor-intense to harvest than the vast wheat and corn fields of the Midwest. “Pretty much every year our members have been concerned about not being able to get enough people to do what they need to do or would like to be able to do,” said C. Bryan Little, director of labor affairs for the California Farm Bureau Federation. That’s also made them receptive to labor-saving technology, like the use of machines that shake almond and pistachio trees starting about 20 years ago.



“California is the world&#8217;s primary producer of almonds now, and it used to be if you&#8217;re growing almonds you needed a crew of like 30 people with long sticks and bags to walk through the orchard and knock the almonds off the trees and then pick them up off the ground now,” Little said. “Now two or three people can do the work of 30.”



Monarch’s tractor, which has been working in Mondavi-owned vineyards since 2020, costs about twice as much as a similar-size diesel tractor. Penmetsa says savings on fuel and labor mean it pays for itself in about two years—and in California, it even qualifies for incentives for non-polluting ag equipment of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.caclimateinvestments.ca.gov/2021-profiles-1/2021/4/27/farmer-heavy-duty-off-road-tractor-trade-up-projects-san-joaquin-valley" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">as much as 80%</a>. Its cameras and software allow for precise watering and use of fertilizers and pesticides, resulting in further cost savings for growers, he said.



Backed by $110 million in funding from farm equipment maker CNH Industrial and VCs, including Trimble Ventures, At One Ventures, Tri-Valley Ventures and Western Technology Investment, the company is also moving fast to get them into widespread use. It’s licensed the technology to CNH and has a deal with Foxconn to rapidly boost production of MK-Vs at its Lordstown, Ohio, plant.



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While Monarch and other makers of robotic tractors, including industry heavyweight John Deere, are focused on crop maintenance and monitoring, Tevel Aerobotics Technologies is using autonomous technology to help with the harvest. The Israeli startup, which recently opened U.S. operations in the San Joaquin Valley, offers small flying, autonomous robots equipped with camera vision and algorithms to identify ripe fruit, pick it with a high-suction arm and gently deposit it into a conveyor.



In a demonstration at the expo, eight of the company’s “Alphabots” are tethered to the automated conveyor, picking and depositing one piece of fruit (including apples, peaches, plums, apricots and nectarines) every 2.5 seconds. The speed isn’t remarkable, but the system is designed to be precise and work round the clock, in light or darkness, something humans can’t do.



“Especially in California, with the labor laws, you can’t have pickers work more than eight hours a day,” said Ittai Marom, general manager of Tevel’s U.S. operations, as he watched the buzzy bots plucking apples that were attached with magnets to faux trees under a tent at the expo. “Working 24/7 is a game-changer to the entire chain.”



The first unit went into operation last year at HMC Farms, a large-scale fruit grower in Kingsburg, California, and Tevel’s flying harvesters are also headed for orchards in Italy and Washington. The cost of the unit, which is still being modified, will be “less than $200,000,” Marom said.



It’s also not intended to replace human labor but “fills in when a grower doesn&#8217;t have enough workers on a certain day or when two different plots are ripe for picking, and he doesn&#8217;t have enough people working at night or working overtime,” he said.



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human labor isn’t the only shortage for farmers. The dwindling bee population essential for pollination is becoming an even more fundamental crisis, especially for California’s fruit and nut farms. The problem of colony collapse disorder, where worker bees abandon their hive and queen, is linked to harm from pesticides, loss of habitat, threats from other species and poor nutrition, according to the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/pollinator-protection/colony-collapse-disorder#why%20it%20is%20happening" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">U.S. EPA</a>.



“We&#8217;re losing the bees on the planet, about 35% of the bee colonies every year,” said Saar Safra, CEO and cofounder of Beewise, which has raised $120 million to build robotic hives that grow bees in a safe, climate-controlled environment. “Considering the fact that bees pollinate 75% of all the fruit, vegetables, seeds and nuts on the planet, losing 35% a year puts us in a bind.”



His startup, with operations split between Oakland and Oshrat, Israel, has so far deployed 1,000 of its robotic hives, powered by integrated solar panels. The metallic boxes, containing 10 individual bee colonies (which can each have up to 100,000 bees), are equipped with cameras and AI-enabled software to monitor their needs and health and precision robotics to provide food, water and eliminate pests that threaten the bees.



“Basically it does 97% of what a beekeeper would do in the field for the bees the robot does automatically,” Safra said. “We put these in the field and the bees do their thing. They pollinate, collect pollen, they produce honey. And when they come back home, we make sure they don&#8217;t collapse. It&#8217;s not too warm. It&#8217;s not too cold. It’s a five-star hotel for bees.”



In fact, the company estimates that it’s reduced the annual colony collapse rate to just 8% from that 35% average.



Beewise’s robot hives are rented out to growers during pollination season for specific crops, and rotated to other farms as growing seasons progress. Safra declined to discuss financials but plans to expand production to 10,000 hives annually from 1,000 a year currently and sees potential to create a “multibillion-dollar business.”



“The bees are strategic for us. If we continue losing bees at a 35% rate in 20 years we&#8217;ll buy a tomato for $100 and eat it for Friday dinner and all celebrate around that tomato. That&#8217;s where we&#8217;re headed.”

Shortage Of Fruit Pickers Could Lead To Food Waste On British Farms

With Labor And Climate Challenges, Farmers Turn To Robot Beehives, Tractors And Fruit Pickers

Ghana is fast fashion’s dumping ground, and unwanted apparel is throwing up on the beaches leading to an environmental crisis.



At Oxford Circus in the heart of London, Rebecca Mossop, a store manager for George at ASDA, is getting ready to deliver October’s haul of clothing – that didn’t quite meet the exacting standards of the British consumer – to a delivery truck parked behind the store.



“The clothes are manufactured in China and sometimes some items fail quality control and that is where the store’s management decided on the idea of donating items of clothing they didn’t need to some of the poorest nations in Africa,” says Mossop.



The truck will make various stops on London’s high street retail stores before returning to its base in Lewisham, an area of southeast London. There, Michael Ofori, the Managing Director of A To Z Shippers, will ensure that the thousands of used and unused clothing piles are assembled and shipped to Tema, the largest port in Ghana, where his local team will transport it to the markets.



“We are providing a service to thousands of [informal female entrepreneurs] all over Ghana who rely on these items for their livelihoods,” says Ofori.



“But things have changed quite a bit from when we started this about 20 years ago. Back then, there was no fast fashion so the items that we had were of quality. Today, we have so many fast fashion brands and not to mention those individuals who can just set up their own stores online. The market is flooded and unfortunately it’s affecting the quality of stuff we send [off],” says Ofori.



Once loaded, the clothes get on shipping containers and are sent to the ports from where, after a month at sea, they reach the shores of Ghana.



According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), in 2020, the top exporters of Used Clothing (worn clothing and articles) were the US, China, UK, Germany and South Korea, while the top importer of Used Clothing was Ghana. With a population of over 31 million, Ghana took in over $180 million of Used Clothing, with Ukraine, Pakistan and Nigeria following suit.



Shippers like Ofori’s initially were seen as providing a vital lifeline for women in Ghana’s informal markets – until the advent of fast fashion. Today, the reality is different.



A fairly new concept, fast fashion has been popularized by high-street brands selling in-vogue trends at record speeds for affordable prices. These items are made cheaply in bulk due to their ready-to-wear, prêt-à-porter nature to cater to the frequent purchasing habits of middle-class consumers with disposable incomes.



The impact of fast fashion on the environment is dire. According to statistics published by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the fashion industry is the second-most-polluting industry after the oil industry.



Where fast fashion is creating a tidy profit for Western manufacturers, in Africa, it is stifling the garments sector.



“We have seen most ladies buy the same items multiple times simply because once they wash the items, most of them lose their quality. This is no longer an issue as some of these items only cost about $5 and so the idea is once it’s worn out, a consumer will discard it and buy more items,” says Mossop.



In Ghana, Sarah Bonsu, a trader in the country’s largest market at Kantamanto, is a regular customer of A To Z Shippers from where she frequently sources various items to sell in the market.



Kantamanto is home to over 30,000 traders with millions of items bought and sold each week. Bonsu has been making a living here for the past 10 years. She usually spends an equivalent of $150 on goods she cannot inspect until they are delivered at her stall in the market.



“There is no point inspecting these clothes. It is literally by luck. If you get quality in one batch, the next batch could be completely rubbish. That is just the way things work,” says Bonsu.



Once at her shop, Bonsu laboriously sifts through the new items and picks what she calls “the first selection”.



“First selection is for the fresh clothes that go quickly. Usually these are not worn yet or do not have any stains etc. The second selection comprises the ones that we know customers will not want and will be difficult to sell,” says Bonsu.



Heaps of unwanted clothing have now resulted in an environmental crisis in Ghana. In 2019, over 65 million tons of used clothing was sent to Ghana and of that figure, about 40% was not sold and was discarded, as per a report by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.



These items notoriously end up in landfills or worse – in the sea.



“Most people abroad go to bed thinking they have done something good for Africans by discarding their unwanted clothing but the truth is it is actually harming our economy. Local manufacturers cannot compete with the cheap prices and most of the clothing sent is not wanted by Africans. They end up as waste in landfills like this all over the country,” says Ernest Ijawan, a manager of the Kpone landfill in Ghana.



The negative effects are being felt in other sectors of the economy as well.



In Labadi beach, Accra, Kofi Sarpong and his team of fishermen have set sail in the hopes of netting enough fish to sell at the local market in Osu, a large township in the heart of Accra. Along the shores of the beach are groups of young boys and some of the female hawkers waiting for a signal from Sarpong and his men, who have carefully laid fishing nets from the shoreline to the open sea.



On their signal, all 20 hands on the beach begin the tedious ordeal of pulling on the fishing nets that take almost two hours to finally haul on to the beach. For their hard work, they are rewarded with one huge barracuda and entwined in the nets, heaps of clothing that have been discarded in the sea.



“This has been the trend for us for the past couple of years. We lose our nets because they get tangled up with clothing from the local markets and we don’t even get the fish that we used to. We cannot survive on just one fish,” rues Sarpong.



The Or Foundation, a human rights and environmental NGO from the United States, estimates that it takes about 200 years to decompose textile waste. When such waste makes its way to the sea, they invariably destroy marine life as well as the livelihoods of people like Sarpong.



“This means that when these clothes are not burned, they can be found everywhere because there are simply not enough landfills to deal with the waste. They go on the beach and form what we call



clothing tentacles and these trap fish and stop their growth. Fishermen all over Accra are struggling to make ends meet,” says Samuel Oteng, a volunteer at Or Foundation.



Ghana’s second-hand clothing market is second only to Pakistan with a global market share of 5.1% according to the Tony Blair Institute of Global Change. The country is in a Catch 22 situation when it comes to this issue. On the one hand, there is little it can do by way of a complete ban due to the number of consumers on the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum who rely on these textiles for their livelihood. On the other hand, the inflow of textiles is exacerbating an already difficult environmental crisis ultimately killing local economies like manufacturing and fishing.



There are those who believe that maybe a partial ban might go a long way in curtailing this crisis. Others opine that this presents a great opportunity for the recycling sector in Ghana. But whichever way the country decides to go, the one thing everyone agrees on is that, something needs be done sooner than later to limit the damage of the growing textile dump in a deteriorating economic climate.

Garments factory waste dumping sites

Rags, Not Riches: Why Ghana Is Fast Fashion’s Dumping Ground

By Paula Slier



The battle over Africa’s future energy infrastructure emerged as one of the key issues at the COP 27 United Nations climate summit recently held at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. Among the 35,000 attendees from 200 countries were government officials, campaign groups, scientists, business representatives and climate activists. The circumstances in which delegates met were very different to last year’s negotiations. The war in Ukraine, acceleration of renewable energy amid a clean energy transition and the impacts of climate change such as rising sea level, loss of arable land, groundwater salinity and biodiversity formed part of the discussions.&nbsp;



In welcoming delegates, Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi highlighted the impact of Covid-19 on the global economy, stressing that countries without a strong economy were among the worst affected.  &nbsp;



Many of the African representatives felt that most of the promises made at COP 26 had remained largely unfulfilled and expressed hope that this year countries would finally agree to pay for the loss and damage already caused by climate change.&nbsp;



South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, urged developed economies to honor their commitments, criticizing international funders for making it difficult for poorer nations to access aid to fight climate change. &nbsp;



Critics of the conference complained the showcase event was just another platform for the first-world West and Global North to dictate the politics and economics of climate change. The words most commonly uttered by most delegates from Africa were “loss and damage, just energy and climate justice”.&nbsp;



Almost every session dealt with the statistic that developed nations contributed more than 90% to global warming – and continued to do so by using coal and fossil fuels when it suited them.&nbsp;



Senegalese President, Macky Sall, lambasted the West for advising African countries to go green while they themselves did not, and pushed global leaders to help reduce the number of millions of people who are still without electricity. &nbsp;



&#8220;We are in favor of a just and fair green transition, instead of decisions that harm our development process,&#8221; he told some 100 world leaders at the conference.&nbsp;



&#8220;We have 600 million people in Africa who don&#8217;t have access to electricity at all. We have over 900 million people in Africa who do not have access to modern forms of energy for cooking or domestic heating… No progress can be made in any society without energy.&#8221;&nbsp;



The topic of economic entrapment was also raised – the fact that Africa boasted valuable minerals that could drive the manufacturing of clean energy projects, like batteries, solar and wind but these were controlled by global multinationals from Europe and the US.&nbsp;



On the positive side, delegates expressed the belief that Africa could reach its goal of going green if a means for a balanced change for a Green Economy and a much lower carbon footprint came to play. African delegates urged richer nations to set up a mechanism for providing financial support instead of granting loans to help curb climate change challenges. Negotiations, however, have proven tough with some of the richest countries united in pushing against the idea of setting up a new fund.&nbsp;

COP27 Climate Conference: Opening Ceremony And High-Level Summit

Africa’s COP: ‘Reduce The Number Of Millions Still Without Electricity’

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Austrian climate activists poured a dark, oily liquid all over the “Death and Life” painting by famed artist Gustav Klimt Monday morning at a Vienna museum, the latest a series of vandalism that activists hope will bring attention to climate change—although their tactics have generated condemnation from the art world.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h2>



Activists from the climate protest group Letzte Generation poured what they described as oil all over Klimt’s painting at the Leopold Museum, saying in a statement the move was meant to show how “new oil and gas wells are&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/letztegenAT/status/1592461949719437312?cxt=HHwWgIDT9Zftx5ksAAAA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a death sentence</a>&nbsp;for humanity” (the museum said in a&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/Leopold_Museum" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a>&nbsp;that neither the painting or the original frame was damaged thanks to a layer of glass protecting the work).



Spanish climate activists from the group <a href="https://twitter.com/FuturoVegetal/status/1591774504535347201?s=20&amp;t=RWXnn1R2T1Uyn0iI9llkYg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Futuro Vegetal</a> poured red and brown slime—which they said represented blood and oil—from plastic Coca-Cola bottles onto the case of a replica mummy at the Egyptian Museum in Barcelona over the weekend, holding a banner that read “COPca-Cola,” meant to argue the COP27 climate summit in Egypt is hypocritical for accepting a sponsorship from the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2019/10/29/coca-cola-named-the-worlds-most-polluting-brand-in-plastic-waste-audit/?sh=438cae9174e0">world’s leading plastics polluter</a> (the museum <a href="https://twitter.com/Museu_Egipci/status/1592177806628519940?s=20&amp;t=AFAplHeMI6qv-Y2GR0N5iw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">strongly condemned</a> the act).



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">Que els <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/museus?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#museus</a> s&#39;estiguin convertint en el focus de part del moviment ecologista no és una bona notícia. La defensa del medi ambient i l&#39;activisme han de ser compatibles amb la preservació de la <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cultura?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#cultura</a> i el <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/patrimoni?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#patrimoni</a>. Obrim fil 👇 <a href="https://t.co/SgvE40ORh9">pic.twitter.com/SgvE40ORh9</a>&mdash; Coordinadora Catalana de Fundacions (@CCFundacions) <a href="https://twitter.com/CCFundacions/status/1592178950423597058?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 14, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Four days later, three activists were arrested at the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, in the Netherlands, when a man wearing a “Just Stop Oil” T-t-shirt attempted to glue his hand to 17th century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer’s iconic “<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2022/10/27/climate-activist-arrested-after-gluing-his-head-to-girl-with-a-pearl-earring-painting/?sh=2bb014ed282e">Girl With A Pearl Earring</a>” while another poured tomato soup on the painting.



Earlier in November, four activists with the group Ultima Generazione threw pea soup at van Gogh’s 1888 painting “<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2022/11/04/pea-soup-thrown-at-another-van-gogh-painting-as-climate-activists-target-famous-art/?sh=441fc4e65fc4">The Sower</a>” at the Palazzo Bonaparte museum in Rome, and while museum officials said the painting’s glass screen protected it from any damages, Italy’s Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano condemned it, saying culture shouldn’t be “used as a megaphone for other forms of protest.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Activists have argued the devastating effects scientists predict climate change will have outweighs the damage a priceless painting might incur in the protests. Phoebe Plummer, one of the activists who threw soup on Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” asked in a&nbsp;<a href="https://juststopoil.org/2022/10/14/just-stop-oil-supporters-throw-soup-over-van-goghs-sunflowers-to-demand-no-new-oil-and-gas/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a>, “is art worth more than life? More than food? More than justice?” adding “we will look back and mourn all we have lost unless we act immediately.” For years, scientists have warned unchecked climate change caused by increased fossil fuel emissions will have a catastrophic effect on the planet. Last month, a U.N.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2022/10/26/greenhouse-gas-emissions-will-rise-10-when-they-urgently-need-to-drop-un-warns/?sh=638aebb77ebd">report</a>&nbsp;warned that under current conditions the world’s temperature will increase as much as 2.9 degrees Celsius by the end of the century—almost double the targeted 1.5 degree rise in the Paris Climate Agreement. “Everything that we would have the right to see in our present and our future is being obscured by a real and imminent catastrophe, just as this pea puree has covered,” activists with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.barrons.com/news/climate-activists-hurl-pea-soup-at-van-gogh-in-rome-01667571306" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Last Generation</a>&nbsp;said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">CONTRA</h2>



Museum officials and art world experts have questioned how targeting artwork held in public museums will help combat climate change. Last week, the International Council of Museums released a statement&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/museum-leaders-decry-stop-oil-protests-targeting-art-1234646235/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">condemning the attacks</a>. The museum group said the protestors “<a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/museum-leaders-decry-stop-oil-protests-targeting-art-1234646235/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">severely underestimate the fragility</a>” of the artwork they’re targeting. High-profile museum leaders that signed the letter include the Louvre’s director Laurence des Cars, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Max Hollein, the Guggenheim’s Richard Armstrong and the British Museum’s Hartwig Fischer.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2022/10/27/climate-activist-arrested-after-gluing-his-head-to-girl-with-a-pearl-earring-painting/?sh=2bb014ed282e">Climate Activist Arrested After Gluing His Head To ‘Girl With A Pearl Earring’ Painting</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2022/11/04/pea-soup-thrown-at-another-van-gogh-painting-as-climate-activists-target-famous-art/?sh=441fc4e65fc4">Pea Soup Thrown At Another Van Gogh Painting As Climate Activists Target Famous Art </a>(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2022/10/23/german-climate-activists-throw-mashed-potatoes-at-110-million-monet-painting/?sh=1340272a5453">German Climate Activists Throw Mashed Potatoes At $110 Million Monet Painting</a> (Forbes)



By Brian Bushard and Carlie Porterfield, Forbes Staff

Death and Life.

Climate Activists Throw Black ‘Oil’ At Gustav Klimt’s ‘Death And Life’—Here Are All The Recent Protests Targeting Museums

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



As hundreds of world leaders descend on Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, for the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, officials are calling on rich nations to do more to stop climate change, issuing strong warnings from the first day of the summit.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h2>



During the opening of the climate summit on Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told world leaders that the Earth is on “a highway to climate hell with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/07/cop27-climate-summit-un-secretary-general-antonio-guterres" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">our foot on the accelerator</a>.”



Guterres said the world is “in the fight of our lives, and we are losing,” adding that the Earth is fast approaching tipping points that “will&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/07/cop27-climate-summit-un-secretary-general-antonio-guterres" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">make climate chaos irreversible</a>.”



During a Monday speech, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore said world leaders have “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/global-leaders-have-climate-credibility-problem-former-us-vice-president-al-gore-2022-11-07/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a credibility problem</a>” when it comes to addressing climate change, saying “We’re talking and we’re starting to act, but we’re not doing enough.”



Gore slammed wealthy nations where leaders say sustainability is important while they attempt to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/global-leaders-have-climate-credibility-problem-former-us-vice-president-al-gore-2022-11-07/'" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">take advantage of</a>&nbsp;gas resources in Africa, saying, “We have to move beyond the era of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/global-leaders-have-climate-credibility-problem-former-us-vice-president-al-gore-2022-11-07/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fossil fuel colonialism</a>.”



French President Emmanuel Macron called on wealthy countries outside of Europe—like the U.S. and China—to<a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cop27-latest-germany-scholz-accused-112150105.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;“step up” and pay “their share”</a>&nbsp;to help poorer nations of the world deal with climate change, he told reporters Monday, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cop27-latest-germany-scholz-accused-112150105.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bloomberg</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h2>



At this year’s summit, one of the most contentious issues up for debate is the implementation of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/11/07/1132796190/faq-whats-at-stake-at-the-cop27-global-climate-negotiations" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a “loss and damage” fund</a>&nbsp;to help poorer countries recover from catastrophic effects of climate change, like typhoons and droughts. Developing countries argue that, despite putting out fewer greenhouse gas emissions than other countries, they are&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/07/loss-and-damage-issue-keeps-us-cop27-negotiators-wrangling-late-into-the-night" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">more vulnerable</a>to the effects of climate change and should be compensated. Wealthy countries have agreed to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/11/07/1132796190/faq-whats-at-stake-at-the-cop27-global-climate-negotiations" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">discuss the proposition</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">TANGENT</h2>



A study released by Oxfam on the opening day of the summit found that billionaires release&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/07/world/billionaires-greenhouse-gases-climate-intl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a million times more greenhouse</a>&nbsp;gases than the average person. The study, based on 125 of the wealthiest billionaires, found that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/07/world/billionaires-greenhouse-gases-climate-intl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">70%</a>&nbsp;of those emissions are tied to the billionaires’ investment portfolios.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



COP27 began November 6, 2022, and will last until November 18, 2022. During the 2015 meeting, countries signed the Paris Agreement and agreed to slash emissions in order to keep catastrophic effects of climate change at bay. However, the majority of nations have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2022/10/26/greenhouse-gas-emissions-will-rise-10-when-they-urgently-need-to-drop-un-warns/?sh=4383b7057ebd">fallen far behind</a>their promises.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/07/cop27-climate-summit-un-secretary-general-antonio-guterres" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">World is on ‘highway to climate hell’, UN chief warns at Cop27 summit</a>(The Guardian)



<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/global-leaders-have-climate-credibility-problem-former-us-vice-president-al-gore-2022-11-07/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Global leaders have a climate credibility problem &#8211; former U.S. Vice President Al Gore</a>&nbsp;(Reuters)



<a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cop27-latest-germany-scholz-accused-112150105.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">COP27 Latest: Germany’s Scholz Accused of ‘Energy Colonialism’</a>(Bloomberg)



<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/07/world/billionaires-greenhouse-gases-climate-intl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Billionaires emit a million times more greenhouse gases than the average person, study finds</a>&nbsp;(CNN)



By Carlie Porterfield, Forbes Staff

‘Highway To Climate Hell’: Officials Issue Stern Warnings At COP27 Summit

Rwanda’s approach to handling human-animal conflict through inclusivity and investment has changed the way the nation protects its wildlife. The southern white rhinos are proof as FORBES AFRICA found on a recent visit to the Akagera National Park.



BY RIDHIMA SHUKLA



WILD GRASS WITH GOLDEN TIPS SWAY under the blistering Rwandan sun. Below, the wet earth, is a carpet of green. Black leather boots crush the flora, as tourists on safari drives follow the rangers with bated breath, anticipating a chance sighting of the rare, near threatened white rhino.



Vulnerable to the scourge of trade in illegal animal parts or as victims of rhino horn poachers, they are found in protected areas and private game reserves.&nbsp;



In Rwanda though, they have a new lease of life as the country introduced them to the Akagera National Park (ANP), home to the Big 5 (lion, rhino, leopard, African buffalo and elephant) and Central Africa’s largest protected wetland and last remaining refuge for savannah-adapted species in the country. This is true wilderness for them.



“We can see they are happy here,” says Ladis Ndahiriwe, Manager of ANP, of the white rhinos.



Only 70kms northeast from the capital city of Kigali, the landscape drastically transforms from humid and dimly-lit verdant valleys and hill tops to the arid and stunning savannah of the park; the grazing ground of the second largest land mammal.



The transformation is stark as the difference between the two regions is not just evident in the scenery but the air itself, once close to&nbsp;the park.&nbsp;



Despite being gazetted as a protected area and national park in 1934 by the Belgian colonies, the park suffered land and biodiversity loss for years.&nbsp;This was followed by a greater tragedy in 1994 that further threatened the park and the natives that lived around it.&nbsp;



The horrid events of the genocide against the Tutsis led to the displacement of thousands of subsistence farmer families belonging to the surrounding communities. During these years, animals were reportedly poached for money and bush meat.



“During the genocide, people left Rwanda and escaped to neighboring nations. When they returned [after the events of] 1994, the government had to find a way to accommodate them and so a decision was made to further reduce the range of the park but also protect and conserve the national park,” says Karama Joseph, the Community Liaison Manager of ANP.



After years of revisions, the final change to Akagera’s geography has left it with just over a 1,000sqkm of fiercely-protected wilderness.



Strapped with military gear and trained in search-and-track tactics, the rangers of the park say they have immensely contributed to conservation in the last decade.



“We have a dog unit and active ranger units that patrol the park daily at different hours, we have caught about 20 poachers in the last year but have not lost even one animal to them,” says Washika Boaz of the Canine Unit at ANP.



Rwanda’s approach to handling human-animal conflict through inclusivity and investment has changed the way the nation protects its most vulnerable. As part of its national agenda, the tiny developing nation has made great strides in preserving its natural heritage.



“By working with the communities, we have turned poachers into protectors of the park,” says Joseph.



“It is our vision that we live together with nature, that nature when protected and utilized sustainably can give us benefits in return; investing in our communities has been a game changer!” says Ariella Kageruka, the Chief Tourism Officer at the Rwanda Development Board.



After years of loss of animal populations, two decades ago, the government, along with African Parks, began to repopulate the ANP.



“Once we knew we were able to protect the park from the outsiders, we brought in lions, the black rhinos and others,” says Ndahiriwe.



This image of Rwanda, backed with statistical evidence of thriving black rhino populations, led to the relocation of 30 white rhinos from South Africa’s Phinda Private Game Reserve to ANP in November 2021.



Akagera’s rolling highlands, vast plains, and swamp-fringed lakes contain incredible biodiversity and rare species like the white rhino now being rehabilitated into their new surroundings.



“It is important for conservation when you can expand the range of a species. The white rhinos are doing well, none have been lost to poaching and they are in good health,” says Drew Bantlin, a Conservation and Research Manager at ANP.



Otherwise called the square-lipped rhino, it can live to be up to 40-50 years old.



Adult white rhinos are particularly vulnerable to poaching because they are relatively unaggressive and live in herds. So, despite being surrounded by apex predators like lions, leopards and crocodiles, the biggest threat facing them, arguably, are humans.



As per reports, a pound of rhino horn sells at a higher rate than gold, diamonds and cocaine in the black market. The illegal wildlife trade economy is estimated to be one of the most lucrative illegal businesses in the world. In contrast to the southern rhino, which is currently thriving in six different nations of Africa, the fate of the northern white rhino appears to be bleak. After the death of the last male northern white rhino in 2015, only two are known to be living in the wild, both females thereby conclusively attributing to very little chance of population recovery.



Their existence crudely represents the status of biodiversity and is testament to all that has been lost.



In Akagera, the white rhinos roam freely in a vast enclosure for now, until they are ready to be one with the wild. When faced with a herd, they come across as endearingly docile. They barely make any sound and continue grazing in peace with one another. However, their sentience becomes more evident when they lift their stubby heads above the grass and stare deeply with beady eyes. Their curiosity and giant stature are overwhelming.



The 30 white rhinos in Agagera are male and female spread across varied age groups. While they are well-protected and fed, the success of their translocation will be truly measured by the birth of adorable baby white rhinos in the years to come, as expected by all those working with the rhinos at the park.



“They don’t have a mating season; they can reproduce through the year, and have a gestation period of up to 18 months,” says Bantlin.



The birth of a calf will mark a new age of white rhinos in Rwanda. The last black rhino of Rwanda was spotted in 2007 until they were re-introduced after more than a decade of absence.&nbsp;Although not native to the land, the southern white rhino&#8217;s&nbsp;introduction to the&nbsp;nation within the safety of Akagera’s green walls makes them a symbol of hope, change, and the future of wildlife in Rwanda.

White rhinos at Akagera National Park in Rwanda; image by Yves Irankunda

The Future Of Wildlife In Rwanda

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



The environmental cost of producing bitcoin places the digital asset alongside some of the world’s most environmentally unfriendly industries, according to a new&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-18686-8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a>&nbsp;published in&nbsp;Scientific Reports&nbsp;on Thursday, amid increasing scrutiny over the sector’s environmental footprint and debate over the sustainable future of cryptocurrencies.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



The climate-related damages of each bitcoin generated—the asset is “mined” using an energy intensive computer process—in 2021 was more than $11,300, according to the researchers’ estimates, which were based on the economic costs of carbon dioxide emissions.



Between 2016 and 2021, the average climate damages of each bitcoin mined stood at 35% of its market value, the researchers estimated, rising to nearly 60% between 2020 and 2021.



The researchers said the numbers place bitcoin, which is often described as a “digital gold,” much closer to environmentally unfriendly industries like beef production (33%), producing gasoline from crude oil (41%) and using natural gas to generate electricity (46%).



From a climate damages perspective, the researchers said bitcoin is more of a “digital crude” than gold, which has climate costs of just 4% its value.



In total, the global climate damages of bitcoin between 2016 and 2021 are estimated at $12 billion, the researchers said, and the carbon emissions have increased 126 fold over that time.<img decoding="async" src="https://img.connatix.com/pid-546f0bce-b219-41ac-b691-07d0ec3e3fe1/e8869d3f-0f3e-474a-a43d-be85f87597b4/ff66cfa6-6839-4b4b-83e8-8eb8a5da856d.jpg?crop=445:323,smart&amp;width=445&amp;height=323&amp;format=jpeg&amp;quality=60&amp;fit=crop" alt="Los Angeles Chargers Roll The Dice With Rookie Jamaree Salyer At Left Tackle Against The Houston Texans">



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



The environmental costs of cryptocurrencies, of which bitcoin is by far the largest, has become a key point in plotting the sector’s future. In 2021, the researchers estimated bitcoin mining used more energy than countries like Austria or Portugal. Sustainability has become a target for regulators around the world and China, which previously dominated the sector, sent miners&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/10/13/us-claims-top-spot-for-bitcoin-mining-as-miners-flee-china-crackdown---here-are-the-worlds-biggest-mining-hubs/?sh=22c3a7576af7">scrambling</a>&nbsp;in 2021 when it cracked down on the industry, at least&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/china-ban-bitcoin-cryptocurrencies" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">partly</a>&nbsp;for environmental reasons. There are more efficient alternatives available to create and use cryptocurrencies out there. Ethereum, the blockchain underpinning vast swathes of the crypto ecosystem and ether, the second largest cryptocurrency, recently switched to this more sustainable system, a massive undertaking dubbed the “<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2022/09/15/ethereum-merge-heres-what-to-know-about-the-hotly-anticipated-upgrade-turning-the-crypto-player-green/?sh=24d1189e5bf9">Merge</a>.” It’s possible the bitcoin ecosystem could undergo a similar shift in the future and others are trying to make the industry cleaner by using&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2021/08/02/green-bitcoin-mining-the-big-profits-in-clean-crypto/?sh=22c46a1034ce">greener</a>&nbsp;energy to mine.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2022/09/15/ethereum-merge-heres-what-to-know-about-the-hotly-anticipated-upgrade-turning-the-crypto-player-green/?sh=24d1189e5bf9">Ethereum ‘Merge’: Here’s What To Know About The Hotly-Anticipated Upgrade Turning The Crypto Player Green</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2021/08/02/green-bitcoin-mining-the-big-profits-in-clean-crypto/?sh=22c46a1034ce">‘Green Bitcoin Mining’: The Big Profits In Clean Crypto</a> (Forbes)



By <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/"></a>Robert Hart, Forbes Staff

Sakura Bitcoin Exchange Inc. Store in Shibuya

Bitcoin’s Environmental Damage Is On Par With Beef, Natural Gas And Oil, Study Suggests

For the first time in two years, the annual Gorilla Naming Ceremony, locally known as Kwita Izina, was held as a physical event on September 2 in Kigali, Rwanda, during which 20 newborn baby gorillas were named.



By Julius Bizimungu



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-large">“The name I give him is Ubwuzuzanye, which means Harmony since the restoration of harmony between nature, people and planet is the most critical issue facing humanity.”</blockquote>



Marking the 18th outing of the traditional custom (the event was held virtually the last two years), it drew together members of conservation organizations, renowned entrepreneurs and businessmen, philanthropists, athletes, and leaders of international organizations.



In addition to the Prince of Wales, Laurene Powell Jobs, the wife of the late Steve Jobs, Scottish billionaire Sir Ian Clark Wood, and Israeli businessman and founder of Pereg Ventures, Itzhak Fisher, were among the guests invited as ‘namers’. 



Renowned athletes such as former Chelsea football player Didier Drogba, Juan Pablo Sorin of Paris Saint-Germain and Gilberto Silva of Arsenal Football Club were also among this year’s distinguished namers.



Inspired by the ancient Rwandan tradition of naming a baby soon after birth, during the Kwita Izina ceremony, infant mountain gorillas born in Rwanda receive their names.



The practice has been held since 2005 as a celebration of nature as well as the preservation of the endangered mountain gorillas, whose numbers have now increased to over 1,000.



The 20 baby gorillas named this year are members of the Noheli, Musilikali, Ntambara, Mutobo, Igisha, Susa, Kureba, Pablo, Sabyinyo, Muhoza, Amahoro, and Hirwa families.



Prince Charles, who was in Rwanda in June for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, attended the Kwita Izina ceremony virtually and was the first to name an adorable baby gorilla.



“The name I give him is ‘Ubwuzuzanye’, which means ‘Harmony’ since the restoration of harmony between nature, people and planet is the most critical issue facing humanity,” he said while naming the barely four-month-old male gorilla from the Muhoza family.



Prince Charles commended Rwanda’s efforts to safeguard wildlife for generations to come, citing what he witnessed during his prior visit to the country.



American billionaire and founder and President of Emerson Collective, Laurene Powell Jobs, named another newborn gorilla ‘Muganga Mwiza,’ loosely translated as ‘Good Doctor’.



Powell said the name was chosen to honor the late Dr Paul Farmer, the American medical anthropologist who had devoted himself to providing health equity across the world, and in countries such as Rwanda and Haiti.



“Conservation thrives where there’s safety and security. We now have a good problem to solve — the growing population needs a bigger home,” said Clare Akamanzi, Chief Executive Officer of the Rwanda Development Board.



Rwanda is already embarking on an ambitious project to expand Africa’s oldest park — the Volcanoes National Park. The initiative, supported by the African Wildlife Foundation, will expand the park by approximately 23%.



“This expansion of the national park, I hope, will ensure a bright future for the mountain gorillas that call it home,” Prince Charles noted.



Rwanda’s conservation story



Currently, mountain gorillas generate significant tourism revenue, providing direct economic benefits to communities. In 2019, just before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Rwanda reportedly generated $498 million in tourism revenue, the majority of which was from tourists visiting the country to see its famed mountain gorillas.



Rwanda’s conservation and responsible tourism initiatives – including a successful trekking program to see the gorillas in their forest home – benefit animals and people. The tourism revenue is also shared with communities living around the park, and locals are employed as vets, researchers, trackers, porters and guides, while others work at safari lodges and camps

The audience at the 2022 Kwita Izina ceremony in Kigali, Rwanda

‘Harmony Between Nature, People And Planet’: Prince Charles And Other Celebrities Name Newborn Gorillas At Traditional Rwandan Ceremony

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Greenland’s rapidly melting ice sheet should push up global sea levels by about 10.8 inches even if the world slashes carbon emissions over the next century, according to a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01441-2#ref-CR32" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a> published Monday, the latest in a string of dire climate predictions this year.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h2>



The Greenland ice sheet could lose about 3.3% of its total volume—leading to a large jump in sea levels—if the ice keeps melting at the rate recorded from 2000 to 2019, according to the study, which was published in&nbsp;Nature Climate Change&nbsp;and conducted by researchers at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland.



The study&#8217;s authors didn’t estimate how long this process will take, but wrote that most of the expected melting could take place “within this century.”



Researcher Jason Box called the 10.8-inch estimate a “very conservative rock-bottom minimum” that assumes the planet won’t continue to warm: If Greenland’s ice melts at the rate recorded in an especially hot year like <a href="https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/summer-2012-brought-record-breaking-melt-greenland" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2012</a>, sea levels could rise by 30.8 inches.



Some other recent estimates were far less severe: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Chapter09.pdf#page=92" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said last year</a>&nbsp;Greenland could contribute between two and five inches to rising sea levels by 2100,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/un-climate-reports-five-futures-decoded-2021-08-09/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">depending on how successful</a>&nbsp;humans are at cutting greenhouse gas emissions and slowing climate change.



Monday’s paper <a href="https://eng.geus.dk/about/news/news-archive/2022/august/new-equilibrium-of-the-ice-sheet" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">used</a> satellite images and observations to estimate where Greenland’s <a href="https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-ice-sheets" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mile-thick ice sheet</a> is melting faster than it can be replenished by snow, distinguishing it from many other sea-level rise studies that rely on mathematical models.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">TANGENT</h2>



Ice-melting in other regions of the world will also contribute to rising sea levels, a serious threat to&nbsp;<a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.POP.EL5M.ZS" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">millions</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/29/risk-from-sea-level-rises-unless-emissions-reduced" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">of</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/stories/population-risk.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">people</a>&nbsp;who live in low-lying areas. The massive Antarctic ice sheet&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/23/melting-antarctic-ice-will-raise-sea-level-by-25-metres-even-if-paris-climate-goals-are-met-study-finds" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">is also melting</a>, though Greenland has been responsible for a greater portion of sea level rise in&nbsp;<a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2958/greenland-antarctica-melting-six-times-faster-than-in-the-1990s/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">recent decades</a>, and melting ice from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mountain-glaciers-are-major-contributors-to-rising-seas/#:~:text=Melting%20mountain%20glaciers%20could%20account,far%20more%20significant%20than%20Antarctica." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mountain glaciers</a>&nbsp;could make its way into the ocean.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Over the last year, the world has faced a string of increasingly dire predictions about the expected toll of climate change—much of which will be tough to reverse. The <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2022/02/28/a-dire-warning-about-the-consequences-of-inaction-climate-change-worse-than-expected-un-report-finds/?sh=7ae9a3f04db5">United Nations said</a> earlier this year global temperatures could climb by 1.5 degrees Celsius over the next two decades even if earth-warming carbon dioxide emissions are slashed. The Arctic regions are warming faster than the rest of the planet, according to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2022/08/11/arctic-heating-up-four-times-faster-than-rest-of-planet-study-finds/?sh=1af9cfdb69db">one study</a>, making the threat to Greenland’s ice sheet even more acute. Many experts think climate change has <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/what-is-behind-heat-waves-affecting-united-states-2022-07-24/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">contributed</a> to a recent stint of <a href="https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-drought" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">droughts</a>and <a href="https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-heat-waves#:~:text=Data%20%7C%20Technical%20Documentation-,Key%20Points,2020s%20(see%20Figure%201)." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">heat waves</a>, and a handful of studies find future warming could lead to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2022/04/28/marine-animals-may-face-mass-extinction-event-within-300-years-unless-climate-change-is-reversed-study-finds/?sh=4ba91e737f49">large-scale</a> <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2022/02/28/a-dire-warning-about-the-consequences-of-inaction-climate-change-worse-than-expected-un-report-finds/?sh=7ae9a3f04db5">extinction events</a> and make it easier for some <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2022/08/09/over-half-of-infectious-diseases-could-be-worsened-by-climate-change-study-finds/?sh=38a1b85ac296">infectious diseases</a>to spread.



By Joe Walsh, Forbes Staff

Royal Terns on the beach infront of hotels and apartment blocks on Miami Beach, Florida, USA. The Florida coastline is highly developed and low lying making it very vulnerable to sea level rise.

Sea Levels Will Rise 10 Inches—No Matter What—By 2100 Because Of Greenland’s Melting Ice, Study Suggests

Water crisis in Cape Town – Khayelitsha

Cry, The Beloved Soil: How Climate Change-Driven Droughts Threaten Food and Water Security in Southern Africa.

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Turkey is engaged in discussions with Russia and Ukraine to establish a corridor to resume Ukrainian grain exports, Reuters&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/turkey-talks-with-russia-ukraine-over-grain-export-corridor-senior-official-2022-05-26/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>&nbsp;Thursday morning, a crucial step in ending a global food supply crisis due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



Turkey is in talks to open a route for Ukrainian grain exports to leave the country’s Black Sea ports and travel through the Bosphorus strait running through Turkey, an anonymous senior Turkish official&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/turkey-talks-with-russia-ukraine-over-grain-export-corridor-senior-official-2022-05-26/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told</a>&nbsp;Reuters.



An&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/05/19/ukraine-says-may-grain-exports-down-more-than-60-compared-to-2021-in-latest-alarming-sign-of-international-food-crisis/?sh=73384d1c2cc6">estimated</a>&nbsp;20 million tons of grain are stuck in Ukraine, and the country is one of the world’s five largest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil and meal, making it a staple of countries’ food supply globally.



Grain exports from the country&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/05/19/ukraine-says-may-grain-exports-down-more-than-60-compared-to-2021-in-latest-alarming-sign-of-international-food-crisis/?sh=73384d1c2cc6">are down</a>&nbsp;more than 60% compared to 2021, according to the Ukrainian agricultural ministry, as exports can only travel by land due to port blockades.



A crucial step to re-opening is to clear Ukrainian ports of mines—something both Russia and Ukraine&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-says-it-has-completed-demining-azov-sea-port-mariupol-2022-05-24/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">have</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-25/mined-ports-polish-red-tape-among-issues-stopping-ukraine-grain" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">accused</a>&nbsp;each other of placing.



Turkish vessels may also serve as naval escorts for ships containing the Ukrainian grain, an operation&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/23/lithuania-calls-for-joint-effort-on-russia-black-sea-blockade" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">backed</a>&nbsp;Monday by the United Kingdom and Lithuania, but Russia may be more amenable to Turkish escorts given Turkey’s warmer stance toward Russia compared to other NATO members.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Andrei Rudenko, Russia’s deputy foreign minister,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-ready-set-up-corridor-ships-carrying-food-leave-ukraine-ifax-2022-05-25/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;Wednesday that Russia was willing to allow for humanitarian passage of Ukrainian grain exports on one lofty condition: the lifting of Western sanctions on Russian exports. Numerous leaders have sharply criticized Russia for its role in accelerating the global food crisis, including David Beasley, director of the United Nations’ World Food Programme, who&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/05/24/world-outrage-grows-toward-russia-this-time-over-food-crisis-sparked-by-invasion/?sh=1882ace3e655">said</a>&nbsp;the Russian blockade of Ukrainian ports may cause “millions” to die globally. Russia has denied its responsibility for the food shortages and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/kremlin-says-west-is-blame-ukraine-grain-export-problems-2022-05-26/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told reporters</a>&nbsp;Thursday the “illegal actions” of the West led to the crisis, according to Reuters’ translation of his comments.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-chief-critic">CHIEF CRITIC</h2>



British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/may/26/russia-ukraine-war-latest-russia-says-it-will-reopen-black-sea-ports-live" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">accused</a>&nbsp;Russian President Vladimir Putin of “trying to hold the world to ransom” by blocking grain exports during a Thursday press conference, continuing, “He is essentially weaponizing hunger and lack of food amongst the poorest people around the world.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/05/24/world-outrage-grows-toward-russia-this-time-over-food-crisis-sparked-by-invasion/?sh=1882ace3e655">World Outrage Grows Toward Russia—This Time Over Food Crisis Sparked By Invasion</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/05/19/ukraine-says-may-grain-exports-down-more-than-60-compared-to-2021-in-latest-alarming-sign-of-international-food-crisis/?sh=73384d1c2cc6">Ukraine Says May Grain Exports Down More Than 60% Compared To 2021 In Latest Alarming Sign Of International Food Crisis</a> (Forbes)



By Derek Saul, Forbes Staff

Wheat Supply Chain in Black Sea Port of Constanta

Global Food Crisis: Turkey Reportedly Trying To Free Ukrainian Grain Exports

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Pollution was responsible for more than 9 million deaths around the world in 2019, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(22)00090-0/fulltext" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a>&nbsp;published in&nbsp;Lancet Planetary Health&nbsp;on Tuesday, equivalent to one in every six, a growing global problem researchers warn poses an “existential threat” to humanity but receives little political attention or funding to mitigate the crisis.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



Air pollution, for example from burning fossil fuels, accounted for the vast majority of these, nearly 75%, and was responsible for 6.67 million deaths, the peer-reviewed analysis of global mortality data found, contributing towards higher rates of issues like cancer, heart disease and respiratory illness.



Water pollution and toxic chemicals like lead were also responsible for millions of deaths, the researchers said, 1.36 million and 1.8 million deaths, respectively, leading to issues like sickness from unsafe drinking water, damage to the immune system and hindering brain development in children.



The number of deaths due to toxic chemicals such as pesticides, arsenic, mercury and cadmium, which can contaminate food, water and a litany of commercial products—the researchers said toxic metals found in baby foods and turmeric contaminated by lead in Bangladesh and very likely elsewhere were of particular concern—has increased by 66% since 2000.



This figure is most likely an underestimate, the researchers warned, as only a small number of the thousands of manufactured chemicals used commercially have been adequately tested.



While the overall number of deaths attributable to pollution was the same in 2019 as it was in 2015, fewer people are now dying after exposure to more traditional sources of pollution like unsafe water and household pollution from solid fuels, the researchers said, largely attributable to improvements in sanitation, access to medicine and cleaner fuels.



This reduction was offset by an increase in deaths following exposure to more modern pollutants including traffic air pollution, toxic chemicals like pesticides, certain flame retardants and pharmaceuticals and chemicals leaching into the soil from electronic waste and batteries, the researchers said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



“Pollution is still the largest existential threat to human and planetary health and jeopardizes the sustainability of modern societies,” said study co-author Professor Philip Landrigan. While pollution has typically been viewed as a local or sometimes regional problem in high income areas, it’s “clear that pollution is a planetary threat” that is closely linked to climate change and biodiversity loss, added Rachael Kupka, another co-author and Executive Director of the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution. “Global action on all major modern pollutants is needed,” Kupka stressed.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



$ 4.6 trillion. That’s the total economic loss pollution was responsible for in 2019, the researchers estimate, around 6.2% of global economic output. This burden, as well as the number of deaths, is not distributed evenly around the world. Low- and middle-income countries pay a much heavier toll, accounting for 92% of pollution-related deaths, the researchers said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Pollution is by far the&nbsp;<a href="https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/345329/9789240034228-eng.pdf?sequence=1&amp;isAllowed=y" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">largest</a>&nbsp;environmental threat to human health and wellbeing. Studies consistently reveal that it plays a major role in precipitating or exacerbating health issues including severe&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/08/27/increased-air-pollution-boosts-chances-of-severe-mental-illness-study-finds/?sh=50703a1adaed">mental health</a>&nbsp;problems,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/09/28/air-pollution-linked-to-millions-of-premature-births-in-2019-study-finds/?sh=1210308f5f78">premature</a>&nbsp;birth, lower&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45326598" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cognitive intelligence,</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/26/style/skin-care-climate-change.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">skin</a>&nbsp;ailments, diabetes and a wide variety of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/air/health-impacts-of-air-pollution#:~:text=Both%20short%2D%20and%20long%2Dterm,asthma%20and%20lower%20respiratory%20infections." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cancers</a>, heart disease and respiratory illnesses. Despite the burden—pollution would have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/the-top-10-causes-of-death" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ranked</a>&nbsp;as the world’s leading cause of death in 2019 if counted as an independent cause of death—it attracts relatively little global funding or attention, especially compared to the climate crisis. There has been “strikingly little effort in most countries” to act on recommendations suggesting tackling pollution be prioritized, the researchers said, with only a minimal increase in funding since 2015.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-fact">SURPRISING FACT</h2>



Not a single one of the world’s 100 biggest cities&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/9feb8373-8e58-4497-995b-29d992dd84e0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">managed to meet</a>&nbsp;WHO air pollution guidelines.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://spiral.imperial.ac.uk/handle/10044/1/88568" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The impact of climate change on mental health and emotional wellbeing: current evidence and implications for policy and practice</a>&nbsp;(Imperial College London)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/08/27/increased-air-pollution-boosts-chances-of-severe-mental-illness-study-finds/?sh=50703a1adaed">Increased Air Pollution Boosts Chances Of Severe Mental Illness, Study Finds</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/19/opinion/air-pollution-fossil-fuels.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Enough About Climate Change. Air Pollution Is Killing Us Now.</a> (NYT)



By Robert Hart, Forbes Staff

Air Pollution In Dhaka

‘A Planetary Threat’: Pollution Responsible For 9 Million Deaths Each Year, Study Finds

By Yacine Fal



Of all continents, Africa is least responsible for climate change. It has contributed only a minute part of the greenhouse gas emissions that are responsible for the climate emergency the world faces today. Yet, Africa faces the same arduous battle as the rest of the world to tackle the impacts of climate change, and to make itself resilient to climate change.&nbsp;



Today, Africa remains one of the most vulnerable and the least climate-resilient regions in the world. This is manifest across all corners of the continent. In the Horn of Africa, millions are threatened as a historic drought looms. In the Sahel, climate change is fueling insecurity because of increasingly scarce resources. And southern Africa is experiencing lethal rain and floods. Action has never been more urgent.&nbsp;&nbsp;



These climate change-induced challenges cut across many countries and sub-regions of the continent. With improved regional integration and deeper regional cooperation, African countries could rally around collective climate adaptation solutions and accelerate a just energy transition. The regional approach would elevate the individual voices of countries and facilitate access to increased global climate finance.&nbsp;



The urgency of regional climate adaptation and climate mitigation action is critical to Africa’s future. This is why the African Development Bank is spearheading regional initiatives that intersect with climate adaptation, energy transition and sustainability across the entire continent. The Bank is integrating these initiatives into its country and regional strategies, anchoring them on its High 5 priorities and weaving them into every Bank-supported operation.&nbsp;&nbsp;



These operations encompass renewable energy, modernized transport infrastructure and logistics, industrialization and regional trade, and trade finance – initiatives all geared towards strengthening regional integration.&nbsp;



Bank financing in Kenya, Morocco, and Democratic Republic of the Congo has supported geothermal, solar and hydropower projects that are clean, renewable, and which bring electricity to underserved households and small business markets. In many cases, these investments are providing power across borders and encouraging growth in regional trade.&nbsp;&nbsp;



In agriculture, the African Development Bank is focusing on climate-proofing and modernizing agricultural systems. It is also increasing productivity. This is helping more African countries pursue sustainable practices and to graduate from subsistence to surplus economies. These efforts are tackling bottlenecks and practices that continue to cause food insecurity, displacements, and conflict.&nbsp;&nbsp;



More broadly, several African Development Bank initiatives are helping to lay an effective foundation for commodity-based regional value chains that will ensure African food security. Examples are the Bank’s Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) program, the Special Agro-Industrial Processing zones (SAPZs) initiative, and broader investments in physical infrastructure, logistics, information communications technology, and innovation. These initiatives are also helping to build a robust, surplus-generating, continent-wide agribusiness sector based on modern and sustainable practices.&nbsp;



As part of its strategic approach, the African Development Bank continues to collaborate closely with regional actors like Africa’s regional economic communities, African countries, and development partners to mobilize climate action and financing for the continent. The Bank’s leadership has full confidence that with all parties working together, it will achieve climate justice for Africa.&nbsp;



– The writer is Acting Vice President, Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery at the African Development Bank Group.

Girls carrying water buckets at a borehole in Malawi

What Can Be Done To Achieve Climate Justice For Africa  

Renowned women’s and environmental activist Cécile Ndjebet sits down for an exclusive interview with FORBES AFRICA as she is announced the winner of the prestigious Wangari Maathai Forest Champions award for 2022.



“Determined, considerate and principled,” is how renowned activist, conservationist and feminist Cécile Ndjebet was described, honored this week as the winner of the 2022 Wangari Maathai Award in Seoul, South Korea.



Decked in beautiful color, Ndjebet accepted the award with emotion and characteristic humility. The African activist sat down for an interview with FORBES AFRICA to discuss her history and her hopes for the future.



Growing up in rural Cameroon, Ndjebet’s upbringing was typical of life at the time, involving farming, with much of the hardship and labor being performed by women.



“I grew up with my mother and elder sister – they were rural women. I could see the challenges that they were facing to raise themselves up, to raise us up. The other women in the village were sharing the same challenges,” says Ndjebet. “We were quite a poor family. That’s how I started.”



With over half of Cameroon’s population involved in agriculture, much of which was subsistence-based (CIA, 2020) Ndjebet had a clear, early picture of the poverty in her surroundings, as well as the impact that farming for survival was having on the local environment. Commercial logging interests by primarily foreign-owned companies also contribute heavily to deforestation and environmental destruction.



With limited opportunities available and a clear image of challenges to those around her, Ndjebet decided to take the initiative to solve problems. “I only had two things I could do; either go into rural development or being a medical doctor… I knew that I had to pay great importance and attention to rural women,” says Ndjebet.



It is these efforts that led to her being nominated and winning the renowned Wangari Maathai Forest Champions award, presented by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), announced this week. The award recognizes the extraordinary efforts of an individual to improve and sustain forests, as well as those who depend on them, and is a highly recognized award for climate change activists.



The award is named for Nobel Prize winning environmental activist Wangari Maathai of Kenya, who was critical in engaging with environmental concerns of rural Kenyan women, founding the Green Belt Movement and helping stimulate dozens of social and environmental initiatives.



Ndjebet’s honoring is appropriate, coming full circle from meeting Wangari Maathai and being inspired to do more.



A tearful Ndjebet accepted the award on stage during an award ceremony in South Korea’s capital of Seoul Thursday afternoon. “This is a hard moment for me, but a beautiful moment for me, and for rural women,” and acknowledging the direct inspiration that Maathai had on her in a brief meeting which served to inspire Ndjebet; “she explained to me her love for nature, for forests… the dangers of climate change and human responsibility.”



“It is sad for me that Wangari Maathai is unable to witness this moment since she passed away so early,” said Ndjebet in closing. She will continue to fight for women’s rights and environmental conservation by using the $20,000 in prize money to help found a women’s college in Cameroon. “… but this recognition gives me the courage to continue this work.”

Screenshot 2022-05-08 at 10.12.43

Cameroonian Environmentalist Wins Award And Honors Rural Women

Plastic rarely gets recycled, ending up in landfills and our seas. From waste-reclaimers to waste-preneurs laboriously upcycling all kinds of material, will the circular economy become mainstream before we choke up our oceans and the planet with immutable rubbish?



DID YOU KNOW THAT THERE ARE FIVE DEBRIS islands – just waste – in our seas worldwide? For example, there is an entire floating island of trash, The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, somewhere in the North Pacific Ocean, now greater in size than South Africa, at 1.6 million square kilometers.



And how not?



Only 9% of polymer ever gets recycled, the UN Environment Program reports, so this is not surprising. After disposal, plastic gets exposed to water, sunlight, wind, and various elements causing it to degrade into smaller particles, or ‘microplastics’, a word thought to be used first in Africa by Ryan &amp; Moloney in their research on South African beaches in 1990.



So how is Africa doing in this regard?



Greenpeace says out of 54 African countries, 34 have either passed a law outlawing plastics with implementation, or passed a law with the intention of implementation. Of those, 16 have totally banned carrier bags or have done so partly, without yet introducing regulations to enforce the restrictions.



The East African state Eritrea was the first to embrace an outright sanction on plastic bags in 2005. The outstanding achievers though are Kenya and Rwanda. Importing, manufacturing or selling single-use plastic bags could earn companies a fine of $40,000, while using one could see individuals fined a whopping $500 in Kenya. In Rwanda, a national ban in 2008 on non-biodegradable plastic bags was instituted, prohibiting the making, use, import and sale of bags.



Rwanda also famously introduced Umuganda, a community clean-up campaign held on the last Saturday of every month, one of the reasons the country is impeccably clean and green.



In October 2019, Rwanda became the first country in Africa to issue a complete prohibition on all single-use plastics. These are prohibited from the moment you land in the airport.



South Africa has only banned thin polymer carrier bags, with a levy on thicker plastic bags.



The African Reclaimers Organisation (ARO) in Johannesburg, South Africa, functions as an umbrella organization for 5,500 reclaimers – a more respectable term for waste-pickers – doing the important eco-friendly work of sorting through trash to separate cardboard, bottles and plastic.



Speaking with FORBES AFRICA, a representative of ARO, Luyanda 



Hlatshwayo, says the locally attributed name of ‘bagerezi’ translates loosely to ‘hustler’. These men certainly are hustling; sorting through waste, while using trolleys to cart kilograms through the busy streets of Johannesburg – but keeping the environment and the localities clean at the same time.



In 2021, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) awarded ARO the Living Planet Award for Organisations. Hlatshwayo says this is one of the first glimpses of recognition for the environmental workers at ARO.



In South Africa, Cape Town citizens heard of ARO through word of mouth, and initiated meetings in December 2021. Hlatshwayo says this organic growth is what ARO is about; if it makes sense in Brixton, then it makes sense in other places.



“Giving the reclaimers a platform to engage stakeholders and city officials in Cape Town, created traction and a positive reaction with the local municipalities,” Hlatshwayo says. He explains that education programs for residents are highly important so they sort their rubbish appropriately.



ARO, alongside the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa, conducted a registration drive in February, identifying reclaimers. Hlatshwayo says it is important to engage government, so policy change can be enacted and environmental workers can be integrated.



“Industries do understand the role of integration; Unilever started paying a service fee for work done – this was piloted in 2019. By the end of 2022, we would like to see every municipality paying a service fee, and with records of the reclaimers,” says Hlatshwayo.



He adds that the organic growth of ARO is based on social upliftment and the work that goes with it. “Where do I leave my daughter if I need to go to work, and [leave the house] at 3am?” he says.



So, ARO is opening an informal crèche with retired teachers volunteering their time. The crèche will also provide meals. ARO also has a food garden. “This is a way we change their fate,” he says, about the children.



Rubbish does not always end up in landfills, but also goes into the waterways and stays in communities. Litterboom is a South African NPO founded by surfers who want to clean up the oceans. They use a rudimentary but effective design: a tube that catches floating waste before it reaches the ocean.



In January, when masses of waste blocked the Umhlanga river in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, Litterboom jumped into action, clearing 190,000kg of rubbish from the river. Their first mandate is to clean rivers, while their second is to offset landfills and recycle. Usually, vigilant teams are able to recycle 95% of the rubbish they collect from the waterways.



“The informal waste sector has been going for many years now and contributes to probably about 70% or 80% of recycling in South Africa. So they play a huge role in that ecosystem,” says CEO of Litterboom, Cameron Service.



2022 is a pivotal year for Litterboom, initiating land- based programs in communities to innovate ways to deal with waste. A number of companies have approached Litterboom about meeting extended produce responsibility (EPR) offsets.



Service thinks there should be a subsidized, incentive model for the estimated 80,000 informal waste reclaimers around South Africa and the communities. Connecting corporate to the informal workers would stimulate the informal economy, he suggests.



“I’ve been doing a lot of work on decentralized innovation hubs, so you know what’s happening at a community level in terms of shredding, in terms of making things, in terms of creating a supply chain of products so that the plastics accumulating in these areas are being used either shredded and increased in 



value,” says Service. “So if you can shred it and be moving it out of the communities



more efficiently, then there’s more money in the whole value chain. Then on top of that, how do you stimulate innovation in terms of making things? So there’s lots of waste beneficiary action projects that are popping up everywhere and that’s great,” adds Service.



He says the process is fragmented, questioning how an ecosystem of reclaimers and entrepreneurs working together to make products out of polymer can be created.



“So it’s more just kind of the precedent that is being set, that yes, there’s emerging opportunities for fixing problems. The best businesses are built because they fix problems and that for me is exciting,” says Service.



Rivers are symbolic for Service, as a geographic connector through society, where most communities in South Africa don’t have enough service delivery.



“Whether you’re on the coast and we’re the last line of defense before the ocean or whether in Johannesburg, the principle remains the same. We need to start and I think the challenges are universal. We’re going to be facing illegal dumping, we’re going to be facing lack of waste infrastructure, we’re going to be facing lack of education,” he says.



They want to look at mechanisms to pull resources out of the rivers and deal with things on land, as it will be more cost- effective. He says if you’re living on the breadline and there’s a financial incentive, that’s a big motivator.



He also speaks to business engagement.



“They need to start reinventing the system at a consumer level, so that they can retrieve their plastic before it reaches the environment, because it makes more business sense to do that. It’s more feasible for them to do that, than to pay the Litterboom Project to collect stuff out of the river. It’s going to be a lot easier for them to have collection points and some sort of subsidy mechanism at a very local level,” says Service.



“So, these sorts of companies are looking at these circular models. I don’t necessarily believe that recycling is the answer. I believe it’s one of the mechanisms we can use, but I also believe wholeheartedly that we need to minimize the amount of single-use plastic being circulated,” adds Service. Even if recycling is ramped up to 50%, Service questions what will happen to the rest.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Circular economy – possible or just a pipe dream?</h2>



To speed up the adoption of a circular economy mindset, and establish what has worked in the past, the Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa (IWMSA) is hosting WasteCon 2022 in October.



“We will soon shift from a period dominated by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic to a period of focus on realizing the concept of a circular economy,” says Brendon Jewaskiewitz, President of the IWMSA, in a press statement. “The sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of environmental health is something that can’t remain on the bottom of the agenda any longer.”



The circular economy model suggests an indefinite reuse and recycling of products.



In this model, products ideally would be designed for durability and re-use, with disposal considered a last resort.



“Single use items started as a convenience, then some became a symbol of luxury, and during the pandemic it became a necessity to protect human health,” says Jewaskiewitz.



“The reality is however one that very few want to face; we are running out of landfill space at a frightening rate, and alternative waste disposal solutions are simply not popular or affordable enough to compensate for the vast amounts of waste created every minute,” adds Jewaskietwitz.



Another project underway by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), supporting a number of African circular economy enterprises under the MARPLASTICCs initiative have borne fruit in 2021, operating in Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, as well as Thailand and Vietnam. About 15,959kg of waste was collected in Vilanculos, Mozambique, and 29,794kg of material upcycled in Durban, South Africa, with 21,081kg stopped from leaking into the bay. In Kenya, 1,000kg of plastic is being processed each month at the EcoWorld center, with 100 waste-pickers receiving an income and 30 community members upskilled on making upcycled products.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-from-waste-to-wearables">From waste to wearables</h2>



The problem with polymer is the single-use production and consumption. In Kampala, Uganda, 500 tonnes are produced daily, reports Faith Aweko, founder of Reform Africa.



Upcycling plastics into colorful schoolbags, waterproof toiletry kits, fanny packs, tote bags, and durable clothes pegs, Reform Africa is turning one man’s trash into another woman’s treasure.



One of the founders, Aweko, grew up fending off the garbage that came with floods. Alongside a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mema Rachel, and Naluyima Shamim, she founded Reform Africa.



Notably, ‘Buy a bag, give a bag’ is a subsidized project where the bags bought by customers mean another is given – either a backpack or pencil case – to rural school children in Uganda. Growing up in Uganda and Congo, they say they know how hard it is for most families to pay school fees, and came up with a way to keep kids’ books safe.



“Then we also still distribute the bags for free; like last year, we worked with UNFPA and distributed 1,000 bags to refugee communities here in Uganda. Then we also worked with Giving Joy Grant where we distributed 500 bags to the refugee community,” Aweko says.



She adds that along with the bags, scholastic supplies, re-usable pads and manuals on how to use menstrual products were packed inside, partnering with a third-party organization.



It all paid off.



Reform Africa won the Social Impact Award held at the Social Innovation Academy (SINA) in Uganda in 2019. More recently, Reform Africa has been awarded the ‘Impact your Community’ grant from ShareYourself. Bottles are the next item on the agenda for Reform Africa, and they are looking to make jewelry and furniture, using the money awarded.



Besides the three founders, they include seven permanent workers and over 25 part-time women who collect, sort and wash, along with a few tailors and designers who fuse the materials.



They manage to upcycle 300kg-500kg of plastic a month with this small team. Despite a ban in 2007, Aweko says it is ineffective and there are few recycling facilities. She says awareness is important, as people don’t embrace ethical or upcycled items.



“So I’m creating awareness about sustainable ways of living, and also training them on recycling, but the bigger picture is to see that there are government regulations on companies that utilize plastic as a resource. Because with the competition among different companies comes a lot of plastics, like the soda companies introducing different prices or different flavors,” says Aweko. She adds the introduction of an environmental tax would be useful, so that tax can be financed back into recycling, providing dustbins or even investing in small companies doing this work.



She says there can be a shift, if it’s a collective effort, where people separate their waste, and perhaps



that would reduce dumpsites. “There is a lot of waste that cannot even be recycled. But if we embrace the circular economy, then we are able to separate organic wastes, and we’re able to recycle plastic, we’re able to actually provide employment or even business opportunities for people out there,” says Aweko.



“It’s getting people opening their eyes to us, and to climate change. Because climate change in Africa, even in Uganda, is something we see as a Western world thing. And yet, in Uganda, 80% of our economy relies on agriculture and we are not industrialized. So any change of wet weather patterns mean there’s no food. The plastic being polluted on our soils mean we’re having less and less quality produce, so people need to open up their mind and realize that climate change is not something that’s going to happen in 2,000 years to come. Climate change is something that is happening now. And we just have to open our eyes and move into sustainable ways of living,” Aweko explains.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Sustainable style</h2>



Shamyra Moodley is a South African designer whose creations are handmade and homemade, using donated or reused fabrics in traditional and trendy ways. Her fashion label is Laaniraani. Previously an accountant, she moved from the corporate to the creative space.



“I want to stick to this, I think sustainability in fashion hasn’t cracked the equation, no one has got it right. Multiple little elements of a few things that need to happen. And the key – coming from an audit background – has to be legislation,” says Moodley.



She adds consumer education is also important.



“It’s key to change. As designers, we should know that the only way to move forward in fashion is through sustainability, there isn’t really any other choice. You know things have been going on the way they have for many generations, and they just can’t continue to go that way. So as a designer, I’m very excited to be here at the brink of this change,” says Moodley.



As a consumer and a mom, she feels passionately about sustainability, while acknowledging what a huge challenge it is for designers. Patience and passion are key, she says.



As a self-taught designer, she uses every last scrap of material, whether for embellishments or for the inner lining of clothes, to make something she hopes will be passed down to future generations.



Just like the planet.

A man rides a tricycle past an agricultural field littered

A Waste of Time: When Will The Circular Economy Come Around?

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Man-made climate change has caused hurricanes and tropical storms to drop more rain, according to an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-29379-1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">article</a>&nbsp;published Tuesday by&nbsp;Nature Communications&nbsp;that analyzed data from the record-breaking 2020 North Atlantic hurricane season, when storms inflicted around&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/billions/summary-stats/US/2020" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$37 billion</a>&nbsp;in damage across the United States.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



During the 2020 hurricane season, man-made climate change caused three-hourly rainfall for the heaviest storms to increase by 10%, according to the article, which compared real-world data to simulations of weather patterns as they might occur without human impact.



Hurricanes during the 2020 season were impacted more strongly by climate change than other storms that either reached tropical storm strength or fell within the 99th percentile for rainfall, with three-hourly rainfall amounts for hurricanes increasing by 11%, according to the study, which was authored by researchers at Stony Brook University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Pennsylvania State University.



Accumulated three-day rainfall amounts increased by 5% for the heaviest storms and by 8% for hurricanes, a change that researchers said will probably also occur for storms in ocean basins outside the North Atlantic.



Greenhouse gas emissions have contributed to a sea surface temperature rise of about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-sea-surface-temperature" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">0.14 degrees</a>&nbsp;per decade since 1901, creating warm, moist atmospheric conditions that researchers said have fueled increasingly frequent and intense hurricanes.



The&nbsp;Nature Communications&nbsp;article confirmed previous studies published in&nbsp;Nature&nbsp;and elsewhere indicating climate change could increase storm rainfall by between 2% and 20%.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Precisely measuring the impact of warming seas on hurricanes and other storms is difficult due to the numerous overlapping climate and environmental factors that cause storms to form, according to the authors of the&nbsp;Nature Communications&nbsp;article. However, previous research has suggested a strong link between global warming and intense hurricanes. A 2021&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1920849117" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a>&nbsp;published by&nbsp;Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences&nbsp;found the probability of a hurricane reaching&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshws.php" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Category 3</a>—with winds of at least 111 miles per hour—was increasing by about 8% per decade, driven mainly by climate change. As hurricanes and other storms have grown more intense and more frequent, they have also grown more deadly: In 2021,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/billions/summary-stats/US/2021" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">114</a>&nbsp;people in the U.S. were killed by severe storms, up from an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/billions/summary-stats/US/1980-2020" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">average</a>&nbsp;of 45 per year for the prior 40 years, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



“It isn’t this end-of-the-century problem that we have to figure out if we can mitigate or adapt to,” Stony Brook University weather researcher Kevin Reed, one of the authors of Tuesday’s study,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/12/climate/climate-change-hurricane-rain.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told</a>&nbsp;the&nbsp;New York Times. “It is impacting our weather and our extreme weather now.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<a href="https://coast.noaa.gov/states/fast-facts/hurricane-costs.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$2.16 trillion.</a>&nbsp;That’s about how much damage weather and climate disasters inflicted in the U.S. between 1980 and 2021, according to the Office for Coastal Management.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forbes">FORBES</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2021/08/31/yes-global-warming-is-changing-how-hurricanes-work/">“Yes, Global Warming Is Changing How Hurricanes Work”</a> (Forbes)



By Zachary Snowdon Smith, Forbes Staff

A beautiful tree showing signs of decades of withstanding onshore winds

Climate Change Made Hurricanes More Intense During Record-Breaking 2020 Season, Study Says￼

56-year-old Burkina Faso-born architect, Diébédo Francis Kéré, became the first African to win the prestigious Pritzker Prize in early March. 



According to BBC Africa, the prize is often referred to as the Nobel Prize of architecture. As an architect, educator, and social activist, Kéré’s work including permanent and temporary structures, has been erected in Burkina Faso, but also across other parts of Africa, Europe and the United States.



“I am hoping to change the paradigm, push people to dream and undergo risk. It is not because you are rich that you should waste material. It is not because you are poor that you should not try to create quality,” Kéré said in a statement released by the Pritzker Prize. 



“Everyone deserves quality, everyone deserves luxury, and everyone deserves comfort. We are interlinked and concerns in climate, democracy and scarcity are concerns for us all.”

Francis KÇrÇ Portrait @ Lars Borges

First African To Win Architecture Award

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Mosquitoes can learn to avoid pesticide after a single non-lethal pesticide exposure, according to a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-05754-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a> published Thursday in Nature, highlighting an overlooked challenge in fighting the spread of diseases and parasites like malaria, which has grown <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/06-12-2021-more-malaria-cases-and-deaths-in-2020-linked-to-covid-19-disruptions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">more widespread</a> and severe due to Covid-19 healthcare disruptions.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



Researchers studied two mosquito species that are common in tropical and subtropical areas around the world: Culex quinquefasciastus—which spreads avian malaria, Zika virus and West Nile virus—and Aedes aegypti—which spreads dengue fever and yellow fever.



Mosquitoes learned to associate the smell of pesticide with the negative effects of pesticide contact, and were willing to forgo blood-feeding to avoid landing in an area that smelled of pesticide, researchers said.



Aedes aegypti mosquitoes conditioned to avoid pesticide were three times more likely than unconditioned mosquitoes to survive an experiment in which they were offered a chance to fly across pesticide-treated nets to feed on blood.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Mosquitoes have grown more resistant to pesticide in recent years, and researchers identified mosquito cognition as an overlooked factor in this change. However, new pesticide solutions could be developed with a delayed reaction, so that a mosquito that survives exposure will not learn to associate the smell of the pesticide with the negative experience, Frederic Tripet, director of the Centre for Applied Entomology and Parasitology at Keele University in the U.K., <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/mosquitos-smart-learning-avoid-pesticides-kill-study/story?id=82929670&amp;cid=social_twitter_abcn" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told</a> ABC. Mosquito learning could also be disrupted by adding an attractive smell to pesticide, Tripet said. Mosquitoes are responsible for spreading numerous diseases and parasites, most notably malaria, which infected about <a href="https://www.who.int/teams/global-malaria-programme/reports/world-malaria-report-2021" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">241 million</a> people worldwide in 2020, according to the World Health Organization. Though malaria occurs across the globe, it is most widespread and deadly in sub-Saharan Africa, which accounted for about 95% of malaria cases and 96% of malaria deaths in 2020, the WHO reported. About 80% of deaths in the region were among children under 5. In October, the WHO <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimberleespeakman/2021/10/06/who-backs-widespread-use-of-first-malaria-vaccine/">endorsed</a> GlaxoSmithKline’s Mosquirix, the first malaria vaccine.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<a href="https://www.who.int/teams/global-malaria-programme/reports/world-malaria-report-2021" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">627,000.</a>&nbsp;That’s about how many people died of malaria worldwide in 2020, according to the WHO, a rise of about 69,000 deaths over 2019. About 47,000 of these additional deaths were linked to healthcare disruptions during the Covid pandemic.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



&#8220;Mosquitoes have been learning,&#8221; Tripet&nbsp;<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/mosquitos-smart-learning-avoid-pesticides-kill-study/story?id=82929670&amp;cid=social_twitter_abcn" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told</a>&nbsp;ABC. &#8220;We just didn&#8217;t know about it.&#8221;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimberleespeakman/2021/10/06/who-backs-widespread-use-of-first-malaria-vaccine/">“WHO Backs Widespread Use Of First Malaria Vaccine”</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2017/09/13/what-would-happen-if-we-eliminated-the-worlds-mosquitoes/">“What Would Happen If We Eliminated The World&#8217;s Mosquitoes?”</a> (Forbes)



By Zachary Snowdon Smith, Forbes Staff

Biting mosquito

Mosquitoes Can Learn To Avoid Pesticide After A Single Exposure, Study Says

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



By 2030, almost all countries will experience “extreme hot” weather every other year due mainly to greenhouse gas pollution by a handful of big emitters, according to a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-021-00320-6" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">paper</a> published Thursday by Communications Earth &amp; Environment, reinforcing forecasts that the coming year will be one of the hottest on record.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h2>



Ninety-two percent of countries will experience “extreme hot” temperatures, or temperatures that would have been observed just once per century in pre-industrial times, every other year, according to the study.



Without the influence of the five biggest emitters—China, the U.S., the European Union, India and Russia—only about 46% of countries would be likely to experience extreme heat with that frequency, researchers found.



Tropical African regions will be most severely impacted due to their low temperature variability from year to year, the study concluded.



The projections were based on emissions goals set before the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, and researchers said that the scenario they predicted could be averted if “substantial improvements” were made to national climate policies.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Global warming has already had a dramatic effect on Earth’s climate, with average temperatures for the year&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharysmith/2021/12/21/2022-will-be-one-of-earths-hottest-years-uk-climatologists-predict/?sh=2e64efcc37c6">forecast</a>&nbsp;to rise 1.96 degrees over pre-industrial averages, contributing to increased&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharysmith/2021/12/16/floods-will-cost-us-businesses-49-billion-next-year-study-says/?sh=3375154d33ad">flooding</a>&nbsp;that could cost U.S. businesses $49 billion. Climate change has also yielded some unpredictable effects, such as a boom in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharysmith/2021/12/14/melting-arctic-creating-new-crises-from-infrastructure-collapse-to-a-beaver-invasion-researchers-say/?sh=66054a82ea01">beaver populations</a>, leading to increased dam-building and subsequent flooding in the Arctic tundra.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">CONTRA</h2>



Though <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharysmith/2021/12/13/declining-car-emissions-saved-us-270-billion-in-one-year-researchers-say/?sh=4e6050983de4">transportation</a> still accounts for roughly 29% of greenhouse gas emissions, new vehicles are among the least polluting ever manufactured. Thanks in part to increasingly stringent environmental standards, carbon dioxide emissions reached a <a href="https://www.epa.gov/automotive-trends/highlights-automotive-trends-report" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">record low</a> for new cars in 2020. In 2017, reduced vehicle emissions saved about $270 billion in the U.S., according to a Harvard University <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/118/51/e2107402118" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220106-most-countries-may-see-annual-heat-extremes-every-second-year-study" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">“Most countries may see annual heat extremes every second year: study”</a>&nbsp;(France24)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharysmith/2021/12/21/2022-will-be-one-of-earths-hottest-years-uk-climatologists-predict/?sh=2e64efcc37c6">“2022 Will Be One Of Earth’s Hottest Years, U.K. Climatologists Predict”</a> (Forbes)



By Zachary Snowdon Smith, Forbes Staff

Global warming, Heatwave hot sun, Climate Change, Climate emergency

By 2030, Earth Could Experience Once-Per-Century Heat Waves Every Other Year, Study Says

From a young age, Natania Botha learned resilience, and she’s taken all of her skills to drive empowerment and innovation focused on green entrepreneurship in South Africa.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-large">“I was walking on a beach in Durban, and the beach was covered in plastic. I thought to myself, ‘wow, why isn’t anyone doing anything about this’?”</blockquote>



As the battle to combat climate change becomes more intense, the world is directly experiencing the consequences and forced to make critical decisions on the planet’s future. It is the youth of today who will bear the brunt of the consequences, and it is youth who are taking charge of the narratives and activism in that battle. One such activist from South Africa making strong inroads in green entrepreneurship and youth climate activism is Natania Botha.



No stranger to challenges, Botha was born in Brits into an environment of economic hardship. Having left school at 16 due to a need to work and support her family, she managed to complete her high-school education by night. “Being a headstrong woman, I made a silent promise to myself that I will never again let my circumstances interfere with my potential…” says Botha to FORBES AFRICA.



Botha continued her education, completing a variety of courses through various entities focused on the green economy, small business development and climate change, which formed the fundamental basis for her climate advocacy. During this time however, Botha was working in marketing, and a beachfront walk changed the course of her life forever.



“I was walking on a beach in Durban, and the beach was covered in plastic. I thought to myself, ‘wow, why isn’t anyone doing anything about this’?” Botha launched a social media campaign to drive the beach clean-up, which took off. “I called my boss and I said ‘I’m resigning with immediate effect, the planet needs me more’,” she says, laughing. “My boss asked me, ‘are you crazy’?” This was the catalyst for Botha’s environmental and conservation work, mobilizing thousands in her efforts to clean up Durban’s beachfronts, including local and national government. It was during the course of this work that Botha was identified by the United Nations Environment Programme to represent South Africa at the African Youth Conference in Kenya. The idea behind the program was to facilitate advocacy for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which Botha brought focus to through education for youth in rural areas, formalizing SDGs in a South African classroom context, and which led her to the climate activism work she performs today as part of Indalo Inclusive.



The ultimate burden of the impact of climate change will be on the generations to come, which is where Botha finds her focus today – despite the world’s increasing awareness of the negative impacts of climate change, reform is not yet on a strong enough track to meet the goals outlined in the recent COP26 meeting in Glasgow. “The problems that we face are technical and complex… but it cannot be allowed to prevent us from achieving our overall goals,” says Botha. “The significance of COP26 is that it’s when world leaders need to take the commitments they’ve made seriously.” Botha’s work at Indalo aims to facilitate exactly that; the non-profit supports and promotes sustainable and responsible entrepreneurship, and has recently launched initiatives with partners



such as the South African Youth Climate Innovation Awards in partnership with the British High Commission.



“Young people will be resolving problems that were created in the past, and young people need to create innovations that will save the world.”

Processed with Lensa with Magic Correction & PT2 filter

A Beachfront That Changed The Landscape For This Climate Activist

TOPLINE At least 92 people died and more than 100 were injured after an oil tanker exploded following a collision with a bus in the suburbs of Sierra Leone&#8217;s capital, Freetown, on Friday evening, according to authorities.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



A mortuary at a hospital in Freetown said it saw 92 bodies by Saturday morning, while the chances of survival were slim for around 30 people being treated with severe burns, according to the<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-africa-explosions-sierra-leone-julius-maada-bio-face14a7564fa650a8ae0a73ce2ece3f?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&amp;utm_medium=AP&amp;utm_source=Twitter" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;Associated Press</a>.



Victims included people who gathered to<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/fuel-tanker-blast-sierra-leone-capital-kills-least-91-says-morgue-2021-11-06/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;collect</a>&nbsp;oil leaking from the tanker, according to Reuters.



The explosion happened at an intersection outside a busy supermarket in Wellington, a crowded suburb east of Freetown, the<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-59188753" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;BBC</a>&nbsp;reported.



Photos taken after the explosion showed piles of burnt cars and motorcycles.



Freetown Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr<a href="https://www.facebook.com/yakisawyerr/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> said</a> the extent of property damage in Freetown was unclear.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">My heart ❤️ goes out to all who have been killed by this tragedy&#8230; I send my condolences to family and friends and my deepest sympathy to the community. I ask Sierra Leone 🇸🇱 government to support all who have been affected by this very sad &amp; dangerous incident.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SaloneTwitter?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SaloneTwitter</a> <a href="https://t.co/bMLNpyYAnA">pic.twitter.com/bMLNpyYAnA</a>&mdash; Catherine For Madina (@CathyForMadina) <a href="https://twitter.com/CathyForMadina/status/1456904991801741314?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2021</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio<a href="https://twitter.com/PresidentBio/status/1456904073941299201" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;said</a>&nbsp;that he is “deeply disturbed” by the tragedy. He added that his government “will do everything” to support families who have been affected.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



In March, a fire that broke out in one of the city’s slums left more than 80 injured and 5,000 people displaced, the<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-59188753" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;BBC</a>&nbsp;reported.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/fuel-tanker-blast-sierra-leone-capital-kills-least-91-says-morgue-2021-11-06/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ninety-nine killed in fuel tanker blast in Sierra Leone capital</a>&nbsp;(Reuters)



<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/06/world/africa/tanker-truck-explodes-sierra-leone.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tanker Truck Explodes in Sierra Leone, Killing at Least 98</a>&nbsp;(New York Times)



<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-59188753" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sierra Leone explosion: Scores dead after Freetown oil tanker collision</a> (BBC)



By Lisa Kim, Forbes Staff

A woman approaches a community-manned checkpoint in Mafaray

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TOPLINE Leading companies like Nestle, Delta Air Lines and Clorox are among dozens of global firms &#8220;highly exposed&#8221; to climate hazards, a leading group of investors warned Thursday, as they urged businesses to do more to address the risks of climate change.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



Fifty at-risk companies around the world are more likely to be threatened by natural disasters like floods, wildfires, extreme heat and hurricanes, according to the Institutional Investors Group On Climate Change (IIGC).



More than 50 IIGCC members—who represent some $10 trillion in assets and include Lombard Odier and Impax Asset Management—urged the at-risk businesses to do more to identify and respond to the threats in a letter Thursday, Reuters&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/exclusive-centrica-nestle-swatch-among-companies-exposed-physical-climate-risks-2021-09-23/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>, and the IIGCC issued guidelines for what it expects all companies to be doing to tackle the issue.



The investors’ recommendations include developing strategies to cope with physical climate risks, building resilience to these risks, including the risks in climate governance frameworks and reporting them over time to better measure progress.&nbsp;



The physical risks of climate change also present some opportunities to business, the IIGCC report&nbsp;<a href="https://www.iigcc.org/download/building-resilience-to-a-changing-climate-investor-expectations-of-companies-on-physical-climate-risks-and-opportunities/?wpdmdl=4902&amp;refresh=614c38d2ea3961632385234" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>, like providing businesses with the opportunity to develop and adopt new technology, offer new products and services and improve their processes and infrastructure.&nbsp;



IIGCC chief executive Stephanie Pfeifer said it is “more important than ever” for investors to understand and account for the risks of climate change, adding that “companies cannot afford to ignore the impact” it might have on business.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



While investor pressure has been building for businesses to reduce carbon emissions, the more tangible physical threats can be overlooked. Marion Maloney, Head of Responsible Investment &amp; Governance at Britain&#8217;s Environment Agency Pension Fund, told Reuters there are “two parts to the climate change debate” and physical risks are often sidelined.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND&nbsp;</h2>



While critics often deride the costs of moving towards a greener economy, climate change is far more&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/a9dca460-f083-4b2d-91b5-94add3676e31" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">expensive</a>, according to the European Central Bank. In the U.S. alone, there have been a number of climate-related disasters this year, including severe heat waves,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/09/03/extreme-us-cold-snaps-including-texas-winter-storm-linked-to-rapid-arctic-warming-study-finds/?sh=42c74d226edc">cold</a>&nbsp;snaps, droughts, wildfires, storms and hurricanes. Around the world, the number of weather-related disasters have increased fivefold in the past 50 years and have become more&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/09/01/weather-related-disasters-skyrocketed-fivefold-over-past-50-years-says-un-weather-agency/?sh=3c18650858e9">costly</a>&nbsp;but less lethal, according to a new report by the World Meteorological Organization. Seven of the costliest ten disasters—including the top six spots—were driven by storms and hurricanes in the U.S., the WMO found, and U.S. losses from extreme-weather events account for 38% of all global economic losses ($1.4 trillion). Estimates&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/08/hurricane-idas-damage-tally-could-top-95-billion-making-it-7th-costliest-hurricane-since-2000-.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">suggest</a>&nbsp;Hurricane Ida, which made landfall in late August, could join this list. Experts&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/08/09/code-red-for-humanity-humans-driving-unprecedented-climate-change-un-report-finds/?sh=68272b675d93">overwhelmingly</a>&nbsp;attribute this increase in severe weather to human-driven climate change.&nbsp;&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/exclusive-centrica-nestle-swatch-among-companies-exposed-physical-climate-risks-2021-09-23/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Exclusive: Centrica, Nestle, Swatch among companies exposed to physical climate risks &#8211; investors</a>&nbsp;(Reuters)



<a href="https://www.iigcc.org/download/building-resilience-to-a-changing-climate-investor-expectations-of-companies-on-physical-climate-risks-and-opportunities/?wpdmdl=4902&amp;refresh=614c38d2ea3961632385234" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Investor expectations of companies on physical climate risks and opportunities</a>&nbsp;(IIGCC)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/09/01/weather-related-disasters-skyrocketed-fivefold-over-past-50-years-says-un-weather-agency/?sh=6773423258e9">Weather-Related Disasters Skyrocketed Fivefold Over Past 50 Years, Says U.N. Weather Agency</a> (Forbes)



By Robert Hart, FORBES STAFF

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