As world leaders gather in Brazil for the COP30 climate summit, UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday called for urgent action to drive down global temperatures and keep the 1.5°C goal within reach. “Every fraction of a degree means more hunger, displacement, and loss – especially for those least responsible. It could push ecosystems past irreversible tipping…
Rising temperatures and increasingly erratic rainfall have reshaped Zimbabwe’s climate, with droughts now striking every two to three years instead of once a decade. This has resulted in 2.7 million rural Zimbabweans facing recurrent food insecurity. As the global climate crisis accelerates, hitting the South earliest and hardest, humanitarian responses are evolving from short-term relief…
Current climate pledges by governments have resulted in only a marginal reduction of the projected global temperature increase this century, leaving the world on a path to a serious escalation of climate risks and damages, a new report shows. The warning comes in the latest Emissions Gap Report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), issued on Tuesday ahead of the COP30 climate conference which opens…
Heat-related deaths are skyrocketing, increasing by 23% since the 1990s and reaching an annual average of 546,000 deaths, a new report shows. The 2025 Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change report, released in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO), says climate change is directly to blame for the escalating crisis. The report states…
Zimbabwe launched the Biodiversity Finance Initiative aimed at strengthening conservation funding and promoting sustainable natural resource use. Minister of Environment, Climate and Wildlife, Evelyn Ndlovu, said the initiative comes as Zimbabwe continues to bear financial burdens in managing elephant populations that exceed ecological carrying capacity. “Zimbabwe is endowed with exceptional natural capital, from our diverse…
Nearly 80% of the world’s poor, 887 million people, live in regions that are exposed to extreme heat, flooding and other climate hazards, a new report shows, highlighting the urgent need for global action to address the issue. The report released on Friday by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and Oxford University ahead of the COP30 climate…
Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rose by a record amount in 2024, reaching new highs and locking in further long-term warming and extreme weather, according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). The surge was driven by continued human emissions, more wildfire activity and weakened absorption by land and ocean “sinks” – a development that threatens to create a…
From 1970 until 2000, the costs of disasters averaged $70 to $80 billion. Those mainly preventable costs doubled this century to average $180 to $200 billion annually, according to a recent report published by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR). Most of the exorbitant costs of disaster are preventable with proper funding and planning —one…
The Minister of Agriculture, Anxious Masuka, says Zimbabwe is targeting 100% adoption of the Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme in the 2026 farming season to combat climate change impacts. The Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme uses conservation agriculture (planting basins, mulching) to ensure long-term, sustainable food security, even amid extreme weather. Speaking at the official opening of the 4th African Plant…
Over 200 African government and partner representatives reaffirmed their commitment to identifying opportunities to scale up national and regional action on climate. The affirmation came at the Green Climate Fund’s (GCF) Regional Dialogue, which convened key stakeholders from across the continent, including government focal points (Nationally Designated Authorities), implementing partners, civil society, and the private…
