A recent paper released by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) has argued that gender inclusion should be a central part of climate policy. The study states that this goes beyond what it calls ‘softer’ areas, like encouraging more women to join climate negotiations. It also advocates for more women to be included in the design and use of technologies for climate mitigation and their transfer to various developing nations. The study tracks the recognition of gender issues in climate negotiations over the last two decades. Mentions of gender have increased over the last five years in these negotiations. However, references to gender and technology are still weak. An example of this is the lack of the recognition of gender in the draft text of the new international climate change treaty.

Stella Gama, one of the authors of the study, stated, “We are expecting women, who make up the highest population of farmers in least developed countries, to ensure [their fields] are managed according to practices such as climate-smart agriculture, but these interventions have been designed for men.” 

Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201511270299.html?aa_source=nwsltr-environment-en

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released a report yesterday ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris stating that climate change has caused droughts, floods, storms, and other disasters to rise significantly in frequency and severity over the last thirty years. This is causing damage to agricultural sectors in many developing countries and may start to put them at risk for growing food insecurity. The study analyzed the effect of climate change worldwide from 2003 to 2023 and concluded that the average number of disasters caused by natural hazards has nearly doubled since the 1980s. This has caused an estimated $1.5 trillion of economic damage.

The report shows that extreme weather related events regularly have a large impact on agriculture and severely hinder any attempts to eradicate hunger and poverty or to achieve sustainable development throughout developing countries. If measures are not taken to strengthen the agricultural sector’s resilience and increase investments for the purpose of boosting food security and productivity, the situation is likely to worsen.

The FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva stated, “This year alone, small-scale farmers, fisherfolk, pastoralists and foresters - from Myanmar to Guatemala and from Vanuatu to Malawi - have seen their livelihoods eroded or erased by cyclones, droughts, floods and earthquakes.” He continued to state that efforts to curb the catastrophic effects of climate change are essential. 

Source: ​http://allafrica.com/stories/201511271546.html?aa_source=nwsltr-environment-en

Recent data on refuse and urban population growth has revealed that energy that is generated from garbage could work to power up to 40 million homes in Africa by the year 2025. Researchers investigated Africa’s urban solid waste from incineration and methane produced from various landfills and measured their total energy potential. The journal, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, recently published the study last month.

Fabio Monforti-Ferrario, the author of the study, stated, "Our analysis shows that waste, and in particular municipal solid waste, is a renewable energy resource that could provide a meaningful share of both gross energy consumption and electricity on the African continent."

The study shows that over 62.5 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity could have been produced by garbage from urban areas in 2012 if the garbage had been used in waste-powered plants. Doing this could increase 122.2 TWh in 2025 as these plants become more efficiently run and more common throughout the region. 

Source: ​http://allafrica.com/stories/201511110427.html?aa_source=nwsltr-energy-en