NEW YORK, USA (PAMACC News) - A meeting of ministers and high-level representatives of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) on September 22 agreed to accelerate efforts to significantly reduce short-lived climate pollutants by the end of the next decade in order to put the world on a "pathway that rapidly reduces warming in the near term and maximizes development, health, environmental, and food security benefits". These efforts, they noted, must be complementary to aggressive carbon dioxide mitigation and a transition to a zero-carbon economy by mid-century.

Meeting a day before the United Nations Secretary-General's Climate Action Summit, the Coalition's High-Level Assembly put forward a 2030 Vision Statement that aims to ensure the earth's atmosphere continues to enable people and the planet to thrive by limiting warming to 1.5˚ Celsius and drastically reducing air pollution.

In a message to the Assembly, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö reiterated the urgency required: "Climate change impacts the Arctic faster than any other region in the world. Reducing black carbon emissions is the most immediate way to limit further damage. As a partner of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition Finland is committed to this work on a global scale. Because this is not just a regional emergency. If we lose the Arctic, we lose the globe."

Short-lived climate pollutants like methane, black carbon and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) – also known as super pollutants – are many times more powerful than carbon dioxide at warming the planet but because they are short-lived in the atmosphere, preventing emissions can rapidly reduce the rate of warming. Many are also dangerous air pollutants and reductions will benefit human health and ecosystems.

Miguel Arias Cañete, the European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, reminded delegates that mitigation efforts must be urgently stepped up across the entire global energy sector, and called on countries to work with the Coalition to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas production.

"We need a swift transition to a low-carbon and a more resource efficient economy to meet these goals. This also requires more action on short-lived climate pollutants," he said. "Given the scale of the challenge, the European Commission is exploring further ways to better measure and report methane emissions across all hydrocarbon industries and reduce methane emissions from energy production and use. There is still a significant potential to reduce emissions with low costs."

The Coalition's goal is to reduce short-lived climate pollutants beyond the recommendations made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its special report Global Warming of 1.5˚C. According to the report, there need to be considerable cuts in emissions of black carbon (35 per cent by 2030), methane (37 per cent by 2030) and HFCs (70 per cent to 80 per cent by 2050) if we are to keep warming below 1.5˚C. The control measures that the CCAC is working on can deliver all recommended methane mitigation, and substantially more with new research for agricultural methane, as well as a 60 per cent reduction in black carbon emissions by 2030 – with up to 80 per cent possible – a 90 per cent reduction in HFC emissions by 2050, and greater energy efficiency in the cooling sector.

Increasing action on short-lived climate pollutants can avoid an estimated 2.4 million premature deaths from outdoor air pollution annually by 2030, prevent as much as 52 million tonnes of crop losses per year, and slow the increase in global warming by as much as 0.6°C by 2050. It can also prevent the climate tipping points that can exacerbate long-term climate impacts and make adapting to climate change harder, especially for the poor and most vulnerable.

Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which hosts the CCAC's Secretariat, said the Coalition was tackling two of the world's most serious threats – air pollution and the climate crisis – at the same time.

"We need to urgently tackle climate change and keep temperatures from exceeding dangerous thresholds. Reducing short-lived climate pollutants is an essential ingredient of our strategy," she said. "Polluted air is killing millions of people around the globe prematurely and severely impacting their quality of life. The CCAC is addressing these two issues together. Action on either front contributes to the goals of the other."

The benefits of integrating efforts on climate change and air quality by taking a whole-of-government approach was reiterated by Xie Zhenhua, China's Special Representative for Climate Change, as he launched a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Tsinghua University and the CCAC called Synergizing Action on the Environment and Climate Change. The report shows how policies that address both air pollution and climate change can effectively rally national, local and societal support for a low-carbon climate strategy because people can see immediate benefits to air quality, urban infrastructure and clean energy development.

"By killing multiple birds with one stone, co-governance of the climate, environment and development is cost-effective and achieves greater economic, social, environmental and climate benefits. It works in China, and I am sure it will work in other countries," Mr. Xie said.

As the world warms, demand for refrigeration and cooling will soar. The Coalition launched its Efficient Cooling Initiative this year to ensure that as the world phases down HFCs that replacement cooling technology is also highly energy efficient.

Shinjiro Koizumi, Japan's Minister of the Environment said, Japan was committed to not just reducing the production of HFCs but was also investing heavily in helping countries recover HFCs from discarded cooling equipment.

New Zealand called on countries to spur action by incorporating ambitious and directed inclusion of agriculture and food systems in enhanced nationally determined contributions (NDCs), ideally by 2020. Agriculture is one of the largest manmade sources of methane; changes to the global agriculture and food system are necessary if we are to address climate change, eliminate hunger and halt biodiversity loss.

Aupito William Sio, New Zealand's Minister for Pacific Peoples, said: "We need to achieve the needed level of transformation in ways that support small-scale farmers, improve the productivity of farms, build resilience, and significantly reduce emissions, particularly of methane and black carbon, across the entire agricultural system. There needs to be a much greater level of targeted investment in the sector, I urge you all to consider how we can make this happen."

Oil and gas production and distribution is another large source of methane and black carbon – a climate problem that can be solved this decade. Fred Krupp, President of the Environmental Defense Fund, called on gas producing and consuming countries to commit to action and reduction targets of 45 per cent by 2025 and 60 per cent to 75 per cent by 2030, or to a near-zero methane intensity target for new developments.

"These targets are realistic and achievable, especially in a sector where technology and financing are largely available, and innovation supports even larger reductions," Mr. Krupp said. "Every oil and gas producing and consuming country can act and benefit. Countries' Nationally Determined Contributions need to become explicit about oil and gas methane emissions."

Patrick Pouyanne, CEO of Total, said: "We cannot do this alone. Involvement of government is essential to send the appropriate regulatory and economic signals to all concerned players. Strong and long-term policy support and regulations are critical to enable the oil and gas industry to invest in technologies and solutions."

Sweden's Deputy Prime Minister, Isabella Lövin, introduced the Coalition's Vision 2030, saying that the contributions of all countries "are key to us reaching our climate and other sustainable development targets". By adopting its Vision 2030 the Coalition acknowledges that its mission must be completed in the 10 years in order to keep warming to 1.5˚C and protect people and ecosystems from air pollution.

Closing the meeting, Carolina Schmidt, Chile's Minister of Environment and COP25 President Designate, said that the science shows that the world needs to work on both non-carbon pollutants and greenhouse gases to ensure the world prevents climate change.

"We must people first when it comes to climate change. Climate action is not about cost it is about opportunities to make a better life. In Chile we know there is a strong link between air pollution and climate action. Santiago currently has the second largest fleet of electric buses in the world after China and people are celebrating this by choosing electric buses over all other transport systems," Ms. Schmidt said. "We wait for all of you in Chile because now it is time for action."

NEWYORK, USA (PAMACC News) - Millions of people have taken to the streets today Friday September 20,2019 demanding their governments take greater climate action, in what  has been described as the largest climate protest in history.

On the eve of the UN climate Summit , record numbers of youth climate campaigners joined by parents, workers, trade unions, businesses and organisations in a global strike ramping up pressure on political leaders to respond to the climate crisis.

Rights groups including participants of the People' s Summit on Climate and human Survival organised by Amnesty International joined the youth protest today Friday September 20th.The protest rights groups say is also going on World wide, with picket lines and marches simultaneously going on from Russia to Johannesburg and Turkey to New Delhi.

One of the largest demonstrations took place in New York, where UN secretary general António Guterres has convened world leaders to, as he put it, “put climate action into higher gear” over one the most important climate Summit starting on Saturday September 21,2019.

What is the UN Summit AllAbout?

According to the UN secretariat the summit has been billed as a critical moment for political leaders to show their willingness to increase their climate plans, in a bid to bridge the ambition gap to limit global temperature rise to 1.5C – the tougher goal of the Paris Agreement demanded by vulnerable countries and backed by Guterres.

From Monday September 23, climate campaigners in Washington are expected to stage a protest against the lack of action of Donald Trump’s administration.

The strike is modelled on Swedish activist Greta Thunberg’s own weekly protests, demanding her government take action commensurate to the findings of the science and a landmark report on 1.5C.

The ‘Fridays For Future’ movement she inspired has dramatically increased public pressure on governments to listen to people’s demands for more ambitious climate action.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Guterres said the leadership and initiative showed by youth around the world was “remarkable”.

“The youth has been showing an enormous leadership, and I hope that that leadership will have a very strong impact on the societies as a whole, on their families and, based on that, on their governments of their countries,” he said.

Young people are due to play a key role throughout the high-level meeting, starting with a youth summit on Saturday.

Of governments that were not taking action, Alexandria Villaseñor, co-founder of US Youth Climate Strike and founder of Earth Uprising, said on Thursday: “They can listen to us now, or they can listen to us later… because our voice is going to continue getting louder as the climate crisis gets more urgent.”

“The audacity of simply asking for leaders to lead is extraordinary and we are indebted to young people the world over for pushing us to this place,” Guterres’ special representative for sustainable energy Rachel Kyte told journalists on Thursday.

The strike has also been supported by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), which boasts 200 million members globally.

“Your standing up to governments, demanding action around climate has in fact been a game-changer,” said Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the ITUC, addressing the youth. “The solidarity of the trade union movement globally is behind you.”

Dozens of trade unions and rights groups globally including the Australian Council of Trade Unions, the Irish union Fórsa, the South African Federation of Trade Unions and the UK’s Trade Union Congress, which is calling for employers to grant workers some 30 minutes to also join in the Protest.

The UK is also preparing for its largest climate protest yet, with hundreds of thousands of people expected to join more than 200 events on Friday.

John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace UK, said: “The school strikers have led the way in waking the world’s leaders up to the climate crisis,” which he said has “shown people power can move governments”. “It’s time for the rest of us to stand with them in solidarity,” he said.

In total, more than 4,600 strikes are registered in cities around the world on both Friday and 27 September, with and 1,240 actions being planned in Europe alone,reports say.

PAMACC News - Joseph Mithika Mwenda, a Kenyan climate activist and the head of the Pan Africa Climate Justice Alliance has received the prestigious Earth Care Award by the Sierra Club at a colourful ceremony held in the Marriott Oakland City Centre in Oakland, California.

The award comes just a few months after Apolitical, a global network for governments announced him among the 100 most influential persons especially on climate policy, nominated by hundreds of public servants from around the world, including experts at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Harvard University, Oxford University, Bloomberg Philanthropies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

The Sierra Club is the most enduring and influential grassroots environmental organisation in the United States which brings together 3.5+ million members and supporters who fight and defend everyone’s right to a healthy world.

“This is not a singular honour but the recognition of the work by thousands of PACJA members and partners in Africa and elsewhere who have sacrificed all what they have to ensure we reach this level,” said Mwenda soon after he was nominated in June “With profound humility, I accept this Award that will no doubt energise my resolve to continue fighting to accord voice to those at the frontline of climate crisis.”

Mwenda has been steadfast in the fight for climate justice from the country level in Africa, to the international conferences through the Pan Africa Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA).

The alliance is a consortium of more than 1,000 organisations from 48 African countries, and brings together a diverse membership drawn from Faith-based Organisations, Community-Based Organisations, Non-Governmental Organisations, Trusts, Foundations, Indigenous Communities, Farmers and Pastoralist Groups with a shared vision to advance a people-centred, right-based, equitable, just and inclusive approach to climate change response.

PACJA is implementing a variety of projects that traverse direct programming, policy and advocacy, sub-granting and capacity building, mainly focusing on the most vulnerable groups that are “unreachable” in traditional development paradigms.

The Alliance plays a central role in key African processes spearheaded by African Union, UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and African Development Bank (AfDB), among them, the flagship Climate for Development in Africa (ClimDev) Programme. It is a Partner in Adaptation of African Agriculture on Climate Change Initiative (AAA), whose main goal it to build resilience for the mainly smallholder agriculture from climate shocks.

TANGA, Tanzania (PAMACC News) - The first-time ever residential climate-science workshop took place in Tanga, Tanzania attracting around 40 participants. Climate scientists and journalists sat on the same table and dissectedclimate-science complexities to improve  climate reporting skills.

Organized by BBC-Media Action Kenya and Tanzania, Network of Climate Journalist of the Greater Horn of Africa (NECJOGHA) and SouthSouthNorth(SSN).
A diverse panel of journalist from various influencing media houseswere oriented on harmonizing their roles in empowering communities with accurate weather and climate information services.

The workshop saw the creation of an important bedrock of climate information dissemination, laid by Tanzania Meterological Agency, research consortias and journalist, that will transform climate reporting in Tanzania and across the East African region.

Patrick Luganda, NECJOGHA Executive Director, highlighted  the language factor has been a challenge in climate reporting, hence it was dealt in the workshop, appreciatinglanguage commonality so that the end-user at the grassroots (farmer, fishermen and etc.) can understand easily.
 

“We are here to build the capacity of the media to bring them to work together with the scientists in one room, now for one week these two systems merge together by understanding how the media works(scientists) and for media to understand how the scientists work” he adds.

Dr. ZabloneOwiti, Research Fellow for the Future Climate for Africa sweetened leveled various climate science parameters of importance to the journalists with elaborative infographics which made journalists understand clearly complex scientific issues which were cumbersome to report previously.

“ It was great to include some users (such as agriculture and fisheries extension officers) in the workshop to highlight the challenges they face in receiving and delivering climate information to end-users. This ensured that, beside learning about the available climate information and the inherent uncertainty, journalists were able to understand the information needs from end users and that their role is not just passing the information but also translating the information into actionable advisories targeting specific users”. He added.

Mr. Wilberforce Kikwasi, Meteorologist from Tanzania Meteorological Agency(TMA), who is a pivotal player across climate science information dissemination in enhancing efforts executed by early warning centers and disaster management departments in Tanzania, has helpedbridging the gap between the information gathers and journalists who relay complexscientific information to the audience.

“ I expect a lot of questions from journalists and wider coverage on climate issues, as they are now well informed on climate science matters, more importantly, improving cooperation between media and TMA, for effective reporting ” he added.

Climate reporting in Tanzania, will never be the same as Monica Mutoni, TMA-Communication Officer, ensures stakeholders for efficiency and accuracy in reporting.

“ it was clear that the complexity of scientific weather and climate information were simplified and scientists and journalists had time for consultation which was easier for both sides to understand the needs of each side and implement” she added.

Ms. Sophie Mbugua, science journalist from Kenya, highlighted the workshop’s ability to fuse collaboration between scientists from various areas and journalists, whereby she found the balance of participants to have driven key points home.

Mbugua intends to incorporate the rich knowledge and insights gathered into in-depth stories with credibility, researched facts and depth, resonating with what the Kenyan community need to read.

Radio Free Africa(one of Tanzania’s renowned radio ), Presenter/program managerYusuphMagasha,confidently cited his understanding level has heightened, but also, increased-weight on climate and weather services information reporting.

“ As journalists, we need to inform the listeners with efficacious and precise climate information that is significant to their lives, especially on farming, fishing, and livestock keeping, but also adding data journalism to give the information extra weight”Magasha adds.

Ms. Beth Mackay, Knowledge Manager at Future for Africa Programme for South South North (SSN) had high hopes for the workshop to create a two-way dialogue between journalists and scientists, adding “I had hoped for it to create an atmosphere of collaboration, which will allow a co-production of knowledge between scientists and journalists”.

Journalists across Tanzania working for various media houses, have been taking interest in climate reporting, something valuable to climate change communication. It is the matter of time, for communities to be well versed on climate related affairs.