The Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) has announced its first ever climate forecast for March 2023. The climate information provided by the agency will be useful for planning and implementing activities in climate sensitive sectors such as agriculture, water resources, energy and health.
Toute l'actu sur la protection de l'environnement
The Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) has announced its first ever climate forecast for March 2023. The climate information provided by the agency will be useful for planning and implementing activities in climate sensitive sectors such as agriculture, water resources, energy and health.
A climate forecast is an estimate of the future development of average and/or extreme weather conditions. Unlike weather forecasts, climate forecasts do not aim to predict the weather on a specific date, but to predict the likelihood of a particular change. This is what the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) will be able to do from March 2023.
This service capability is made possible by the financial support of the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI), following a memorandum of understanding signed with GMet. Since its establishment in 1986, the agency has been unable to make climate forecasts due to limited staff and the lack of the required technical infrastructure. « Making climate projections is expensive. To develop a climate atlas, you need qualified and equipped meteorologists. And this is expensive. Previously, we had only six people in the department of applied research and meteorology, of which only two were in the climate department, » explains Eric Essuman, the director of GMet.
Thanks to the partnership with Denmark, 50 newly recruited GMet meteorologists are being trained in data collection, processing and archiving techniques for climate forecasting.
The Danish Meteorological Institute’s three-year support project in Ghana also includes an economic impact assessment of how the agency influences various sectors of the Ghanaian economy. This is because the climate forecasts and information provided are useful tools for planning and implementing activities in climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, water resources, energy and health. According to official figures, smallholder rain-fed agriculture accounts for 45% of Ghana’s labour force.
Fanta Mabo
BirdLife promotes the consideration of migratory birds in wind farm projects in Africa. The nature conservation organisation offers several tools such as Avistep and Shut Down on Demand, which help to avoid bird collisions in wind farms.
Green energy plants do not necessarily operate in a « clean » way. Especially in Africa, wind farms sometimes pose a threat to biodiversity, especially birds. The long-distance migratory Egyptian vulture, listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as globally endangered, is one of the birds at risk from wind farms in Africa. Thousands of the species have died from electrocution and collisions with poorly designed power lines or wind turbine blades along the species’ migration corridors.
According to studies conducted in South Africa by the conservation organisation BirdLife, 2,294 dead birds were counted at renewable energy production sites between 2006 and 2011. The Amur Falcon (Falco amurensis), the Jackal Buzzard (Buteo rufofuscus) and the Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) paid the highest toll.
Preventive methods
To prevent migratory birds from falling on wind energy sites, BirdLife has developed risk screening tools, such as the Avian Sensitivity Tool for Energy Planning (AVISTEP), which is being rolled out in Africa and elsewhere. Avistep is an open source online application to help decision-makers identify where renewable energy infrastructure could impact on birds and should therefore be avoided, ensuring that energy facilities are developed in the most appropriate locations.
BirdLife also advocates the use of mitigation measures such as Shut Down on Demand (Shod) to prevent bird collisions at wind farms. Shod involves stopping the rotation of turbines to avoid collisions with vulnerable birds coming in the opposite direction. The device restarts the turbines when the threat of collision is no longer present.
Another solution is to paint the blades of the wind turbines black. According to Norwegian researchers, this technique could reduce bird strikes in wind farms by 70%. But tests are planned, notably in wind farms in the Netherlands and South Africa, to confirm that this significant reduction is not only due to the specificities of the bird species tested in Norway.
Fata Mabo
AFRICA: How to protect biodiversity in wind farms?
BirdLife promotes the consideration of migratory birds in wind farm projects in Africa. The nature conservation organisation offers several tools such as Avistep and Shut Down on Demand, which help to avoid bird collisions in wind farms.
The Kruger National Park, South Africa’s largest, was the only one of the country’s 20 or so parks to be affected by rhino poaching in 2022. The majority of rhinos poached were in regional parks, with 324 rhinos killed out of a total of 448.
In 2022, rhino poaching in South Africa showed a slight decrease from the previous year. At least 448 animals were killed compared to 451 in 2021. However, the phenomenon has shifted from the large national parks, which are under heavy surveillance, to regional parks and private reserves, where 324 rhinos were killed in 2022. The Kruger National Park, the country’s largest, is the only one of South Africa’s 20 or so national parks to have been affected by poaching. At least 124 rhinos were killed there, about 40% less than the previous year.
In a statement issued on 6 January 2023, South African Environment Minister Barbara Creecy explained that the decline in rhino poaching in the national parks was due to « the relentless war waged by our formidable anti-poaching machinery as well as the comprehensive dehorning programme ». Dehorning is an anti-poaching measure that involves cutting off all or part of an animal’s horns.
In addition, the public authority that manages national parks announced in December 2022 the use of lie detectors on national park employees, as poachers sometimes benefit from their complicity.
Rhino poaching in KwaZulu-Natal
The province of KwaZulu-Natal, in the south-east of South Africa, has the highest rate of rhino poaching in regional parks. In 2022, KwaZulu-Natal regional parks recorded 244 rhino kills, 16 of which were in private reserves. South Africa’s environment minister has urged the province’s authorities to follow the national model, « before it’s too late », warns Barbara Creecy.
A total of 132 arrests were made in 2022 for rhino poaching. South Africa is home to nearly 80% of the world’s rhinos, making it a priority area for poaching driven by Asian demand. In Asia, rhino horns are used in traditional medicine for their supposed therapeutic or aphrodisiac effects.
Fanta Mabo
SOUTH AFRICA: Rhino poaching moves to regional parks
The Kruger National Park, South Africa’s largest, was the only one of the country’s 20 or so parks to be affected by rhino poaching in 2022. The majority of rhinos poached were in regional parks, with 324 rhinos killed out of a total of 448.
The Joseph Sonar Ndiaye primary school is representing Senegal in the 2023 edition of the « Ocean for All » competition. Organised each year by the Oceanographic Institute of Monaco, the competition allows the realisation of a concrete project for the protection of the Ocean. The three best of the 25 schools selected in the French-speaking world will share a 5,000-euro prize pool to carry out their various ecological projects.
Previously reserved for primary schools in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region of France, the « Oceano for All » competition, organised since 2014 by the Oceanographic Institute of Monaco, is expanding its scope. It is now open to secondary schools in Monaco, mainland France, the French overseas territories and departments, and is also open to international and French-speaking countries.
Senegal, in its first participation in this competition, is represented by the Joseph Sonar Ndiaye primary school, located 70 km east of Dakar, the capital of the West African country. This participation is precisely ensured by the pupils of the second year (CM2) of the Joseph Sonar Ndiaye primary school. The state-owned school is one of the 25 schools selected this year, with a total of nearly 600 students.
Throughout the school year, teams from the Oceanographic Institute will accompany the pupils and their teachers in the discovery of the marine world. This operation aims to raise the ecological awareness of the younger generation through a collective, creative and committed project. « In order for pupils to become true ambassadors for the Ocean and be able to put their projects into practice, we will be offering innovative and interactive tools to help them discover the ocean from all angles: discovering ecosystems and their biodiversity, understanding the role of the Ocean in regulating the climate and analysing the impact of human activities », explains Tiziana Caporale, Head of the Animation and Education Department at the Oceanographic Institute of Monaco.
On 13 June 2023, at the prize-giving ceremony at the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco, the three winning classes will receive a two-day trip to Monaco and a grant of 5,000 euros for organising activities to raise awareness about the ocean.
Fanta Mabo
SENEGAL: first participation in the « Ocean for All » competition
The Joseph Sonar Ndiaye primary school is representing Senegal in the 2023 edition of the « Ocean for All » competition. Organised each year by the Oceanographic Institute of Monaco, the competition allows the realisation of a concrete project for the protection of the Ocean. The three best of the 25 schools selected in the French-speaking world will share a 5,000-euro prize pool to carry out their various ecological projects.
Today, I am on board the Greenpeace Arctic Sunrise ship, as we confront the fossil fuel company, Shell, for its role in causing climate devastation around the world – while paying nothing for this destruction. It is now a trend almost everywhere in the world, fossil fuel and oil.
Extraction are becoming the new trend and a real treasure, to a chosen few. True, governments do need money, and it seems easier and quicker for them to have it through the exploitation of fossil fuels.
Just a few days ago, Uganda launched its first drilling activities at the Kingfisher oil fields in Lake Alberty, despite criticism around the project by environmentalists. From Uganda to the DRC, it is almost the same scenario, or even worse. In 2021, the DRC government approved the auction of 27 oil blocks and three gas blocks for exploitation. This initiative, presented as a way of saving the DRC economy, is a threat to the Congo’s rainforest and peatlands. Of importance is the fact that three of the oil blocks straddle one of the world’s largest carbon sinks, estimated to store 30 billions tons of carbons.
Shell, the company activists confronted on the 31st of January, has been causing a lot of damage worldwide for many decades. Since Shell’s arrival in the Niger Delta in the 1950s, it has been involved in human rights and environmental violations. Data shows that since 1965, Shell’s carbon emissions made up 2.3% of the whole world’s TOTAL emissions.
Behind false promises, communities lives are still in danger
For more than a decade now, world leaders have been preaching a well prepared message on climate action. During global events that are becoming more like a kind of exhibition parade, they showcase themselves as being committed to fighting climate change. But the reality is totally different. While all these leaders are delaying action, thousands of people have been and are still suffering under climate impacts. In Cameroon, we have recorded several extreme weather events. In 2019, landslides caused by heavy rains killed 42 and left hundreds homeless. In September 2022, reports said floods destroyed thousands of homes. The Littoral and North regions of the country were the most affected. Data from relief web shows that in September 2022, more than 37 000 people were affected by floods and that affected populations are living with host families, in schools, or in makeshift camps.
It is saddening to think of the suffering linked to climate impacts. The destruction, displacement, loss of lives and general misery.
The confrontation at sea we organized with our activists is our way to stand firm and say enough is enough. It is our way to name and shame Shell and the wider fossil fuel industry who are shamelessly profiting from climate injustices and driving climate change. We targeted Shell, but the message we want to send to the world is for all companies in the fossil fuel and polluting industry “Stop drilling. Start paying”. This action is our way to join our voice to those of all the communities who are also rising up to take action and stand against climate criminals.
How many more people need to die or be displaced and how much more of nature needs to be destroyed before it is enough? Now is the time for these companies and governments to stop destroying and start paying for the loss or damage they have caused to lives, homes, livelihoods, language and culture. Of course there is no amount of money that can make up for the lives lost because of climate change, but people and communities who are suffering these impacts, especially in low income countries, really need help and support to rebuild their lives. We are in this together since climate change is global and not local. There is therefore a need for us to build a strong sense of community, which brings to mind Ubuntu, an African Nguni Bantu term which means “I am because you/we are”.
For a safe, fair and healthy world, we need climate justice. It is time for Shell and all other fossil fuel companies to pay for the loss and damages from their emissions and to stop expansion of their activities. Instead we must have a speedy transition to clean, accessible and affordable energy for everyone. Shell must stop drilling, and start paying. That would be justice.
Victorine Che Thoener, Senior Campaign Adviser, Greenpeace International.
Victorine Che Thoener of Greenpeace denounces the ravages of fossil fuels on the climate
Today, I am on board the Greenpeace Arctic Sunrise ship, as we confront the fossil fuel company, Shell, for its role in causing climate devastation around the world – while paying nothing for this destruction. It is now a trend almost everywhere in the world, fossil fuel and oil.