paris agreementlatest news & developments
Boon or doom: Cap des Biches in Senegal is an 86 MW thermal generation facility developed and constructed by Contour Global in two phases.
Photo: Contour

IFC’s new gas projects will destroy Africa

This is a familiar pattern. International financial institutions socialise risk and privatise profit, while invoking development rhetoric to justify fossil fuel expansion in the Global South. Similar projects would be politically untenable in the Global North

Can of worms: KwaZulu-Natal Police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi laid the ground work for the commissions and probes currently sitting.

A glance beyond the 6 July presser

The public confrontation between senior officials, the establishment of inquiries and the intense public debate surrounding the allegations all indicate that accountability mechanisms, although imperfect, are still functioning

Emissions are still climbing. In 2024, global greenhouse gas emissions increased by 2.3%, reaching 57.7 gigatons of CO₂ equivalent — a faster rate of growth than in 2023 and more than four times the annual average of the 2010s.

Off target: Unep warns that the world is still falling short of the Paris climate goals

A decade after the Paris Agreement united countries behind the goal of limiting global warming to well below 2°C, the latest Emissions Gap report from the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) delivers a sobering message: global efforts remain off target.  Despite new pledges and some policy progress, the world is still heading toward dangerous levels […]

Freshwater fish, sharks, rays, endemic plants and iconic mammals are among the country’s fastest-declining species, as invasive species, reduced freshwater flows and pollution intensify. (Wikimedia Commons)

Climate crisis: Coral reefs hit critical tipping point

The world has reached the first of many Earth system tipping points that will cause catastrophic harm unless humanity takes urgent action, report warns

Uncertainty still surrounds the Kariba REDD+ forest conservation project, which provides sustainable livelihood opportunities for poor communities in northern Zimbabwe. (Substack)

Fate of Zimbabwe’s Kariba REDD+ forest conservation project hangs in the balance

Kariba REDD+ has been prevented from trading after allegations of mismanagement and corruption

South Africa, the world’s seventh-largest coal producer, faces a climate challenge that has largely flown under the radar: methane emissions from coal mines.  (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Governments’ fossil fuel production plans threaten Paris climate goals, new report warns

It finds that the fossil fuel output will exceed 1.5°C limit by 120% by 2030

Outdoor air quality funding to sub-Saharan Africa collapsed by 91% in just one year, falling from $129 million in 2022 to a mere $11.8 million in 2023.
Photo: File

Reduce Africa’s dependency on climate aid finance to ensure a sustainable future

Digital sustainable finance is key to mobilising private funding as Africa’s climate transition faces a major hurdle with aid often as loans increasing debt

SA must use its G20 presidency to show it is serious about ending inequality and narrowing the gap between the rich of Sandhurst and the poor of Alexandra.

South Africa must use the G20 to reset its climate legacy

Advancing climate and sustainability action will require that all arms, spheres and levels of government lead an integrated and interdependent response to climate change

Sea levels are rising as a result of global warming. Photo: File

ICJ: Every country obligated by climate and other international laws to stop global warming

This obligation arises from human rights, maritime and the customary international law, as well as the Paris Agreement and other climate change treaties and laws

For Africa, climate action isn’t just about emissions — it is a development imperative. The continent faces a myriad of challenges: a population boom, rising energy demands, persistent poverty and fragile infrastructure.

South Africa must take the lead in pan-African climate solidarity

Changes in funding show how precarious Africa is in its reliance on foreign aid and the pressing need to find alternatives to ensure economic and climate resilience

A decade later, the implementation of the agreement is struggling to take hold, and disputes over fairness block real progress. Photo: Fatih Aktas/Getty Images

The Paris Agreement is a delusion

A decade later, the implementation of the agreement is struggling to take hold, and disputes over fairness block real progress

US President Donald Trump. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)

‘First They Came’: Global rise of authoritarianism is everyone’s fight for rights

If we do not speak out against the erosion of rights by authoritarian leaders, anti-rights movements will be emboldened everywhere

US President Donald Trump. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)

Trump’s Paris Agreement withdrawal will affect the Global South’s renewable energy future

This is an opportunity for the Global South to forge new paths, emphasising regional cooperation, community-driven solutions and innovative financing

US Pesident Donald Trump. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Trump’s return to power sparks uncertainty over US climate commitments

South Africa and other developing nations are pushing for a $1 trillion climate finance target

Kumi Naidoo, a leading voice for climate justice advocating for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty and fair finance, has been calling for governments to act on the ‘moral failure’ of continued fossil fuel expansion (Photo supplied)

Kumi Naidoo appointed president of global initiative to phase out fossil fuels

Naidoo’s leadership in the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative is seen as a critical step in the fight for a fair, sustainable future

Louis van Ravesteyn, Head Agri Business, Business and Commercial, Standard Bank Group.

Africa embraces the challenges of climate change to usher in new agricultural era

A combined approach of investment in infrastructure, education, access to affordable technology and financial solutions is required

Developing countries that are the most vulnerable to climate change are angry about a new text released at COP29 on Friday, which says developed countries must pay $250 billion a year until 2035 for climate action.(Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

SA companies should focus on meeting the requirements for a ‘green economy’

The public and civil society taking action to ensure compliance with environmental sustainability local and international laws and treaties is likely to gather momentum

A new report predicts that the effect of climate change will cause a 4% drop in visitors Kruger National Park by 2050. (Photo by Foto24/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Climate change threatens livelihoods in South Africa

A new report predicts that the effect of climate change will cause a 4% drop in visitors Kruger National Park by 2050

Wind of change: Turbines next to an informal settlement in Gouda, Western Cape. Photo: Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images

New report sings the praises of renewable energy

Green energy is not without its negative impacts but it is still better than that generated by fossil fuels

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters headquarters on January 31, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Economy braces for Trump 2.0

The American presidential hopeful’s world policies make him a bull in a china shop