Tag Archives: Environment

Washington, United States | AFP |  The number of birds in the United States and Canada has fallen by an astonishing 29 percent, or almost three billion, since 1970, scientists reported Thursday, saying their findings signaled a widespread ecological crisis. Grassland birds are the most affected, because of the disappearance …

Wildlife protections tightened as southern Africa protests Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | A global wildlife summit has decided to regulate trade in giraffes and tighten protections for endangered animals including elephants, triggering a threat from disgruntled southern African nations to leave an international treaty. Parties to the Convention on International …

  Kampala, Uganda | AFP |  Uganda has scrapped plans to construct a hydro power station near Murchison Falls, an official said Wednesday, a project tourism operators had warned would irreversibly scar one of East Africa’s natural wonders. Cabinet agreed the proposed 360-megawatt project on the Victoria Nile in Murchison …

Wildlife summit mulls trade rules to counter ‘unprecedented’ species declines Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | Conservationists warned of “unprecedented” species declines Saturday as countries met in Geneva to tighten rules on trade in elephant ivory and products from other endangered animal and plants. Thousands of conservationists and policymakers from more …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT |  Ugandan farmers are demanding that the government addresses deforestation through a deliberate investment in alternative sources of energy.    They say that the approach should be integrated with the operationalization of the tree fund stipulated under the Environment and the National Tree Planting Act and implemented …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  South Africa’s new carbon tax has provoked a storm of criticism from environmental campaigners who say it is too weak — and from industry that predicts it will cause mass job losses. The new tax, the first of its type in Africa, was cautiously …

Electric scooters: not so eco-friendly after all? Paris, France | AFP |  E-scooters touted as zero-carbon urban transport are flooding city streets worldwide, but just how green they are remains an open question. The companies — from multinationals to local start-ups — distributing them insist the omnipresent two-wheel vehicles are a …

Cotonou, Benin | AFP |  The last time that cartographers mapped Benin, Elvis Presley had just released “Jailhouse Rock,” the Soviets had launched Sputnik — and the country was still a colony named French Dahomey. Things in the West African state have sure changed since 1957, and the old maps were …

UN biodiversity meet wraps up, report due Monday Paris, France | AFP | Diplomats and scientists from 132 nations wrapped up six days of negotiations in Paris Saturday over the wording of a landmark report on the dire state of Nature and its impact on humanity, a UN official told …

Paris, France | AFP | Revamping global food production, retooling the financial sector, moving beyond GDP as a measure of progress and other “transformative changes” are needed to save Nature and ourselves, a major UN biodiversity report is set to conclude. Delegates from 130 nations wrap up week-long negotiations in …