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Malawi’s vulnerability to the devastating impacts of climate change is caused by the country’s significant exposure to climate variability. Agriculture and rural livelihoods are highly sensitive to climatic change. They have very low adaptive capacity at the community and national levels. As a result, a wide range of climate-induced devastations have occurred in Malawi during the past 30 years, including ...

Despite inherent concerns, genetically modified mosquitoes (GMMs) will be released in the USA for the first time in 2018. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved a field trial (Phase 3) for a GMM strain of Ae. aegypti (Aedes aegypti) (OX513A) developed by Oxitec Limited to be released in Key Haven, Florida. This disclosure was made in a recently ...

Seven Central African countries have committed to restore some 34.56 million hectares of forest under the Bonn Challenge. The countries are: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Burundi and Rwanda. The Bonn Challenge is a global effort to bring 150 million hectares (ha) of the world’s deforested and degraded land into restoration by 2020, ...

Action on climate change will receive a high-level boost when ministers from eight countries in Africa and senior United Nations and other officials converge on Nairobi, Kenya, for the Africa Climate Week, scheduled to hold from April 9 to 13, 2018. Countries made an historic agreement in Paris in 2015. The work now is on implementation, to limit warming this century ...

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has distanced the organisation from the news making the rounds that it called for the decriminalisation of cannabis in Nigeria. Cannabis, also known as marijuana, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant intended for medical or recreational use. In a statement issued on Tuesday, March 27, 2018 in Abuja and ...

Benin and Samoa have become the latest Parties to endorse the Kigali Amendment, bringing the total number of nations who have ratified the alteration to the Montreal Protocol to 30. The 30 parties, listed alphabetically, are: Australia, Benin, Canada, Chile, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Ecuador, Finland, Gabon, Germany, Ireland, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Luxembourg, Malawi, Maldives, ...

The Government of the United Kingdom on Friday, March 23, 2018 deposited its instrument of ratification, thereby becoming the 91st Party to the Minamata Convention. Dominican Republic had the same week on Tuesday, March 20, 2018 deposited its instrument of ratification. The Caribbean nation thus became the 90th Party to the Minamata Convention. Belgium had several weeks before that on Monday, ...

Some rural communities in Benue State are being economically empowered and provided employment opportunities, thanks to an initiative by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) that is aimed at utilising renewable resources to meet their energy demands, especially for agro-processing. Via the establishment and operation of a “green” cottage industry, agricultural produce are ...

About every five years, the usually powdery white snow turns orange in parts of Eastern Europe. That happened again over the weekend, stunning skiers and snowboarders in Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, and other places in the region, with photos of the oddity appearing on social media. “We’re skiing on Mars today,” exclaimed one social media user as he skied down the ...

The Government of Dominican Republic on Tuesday, March 20, 2018 deposited its instrument of ratification. The Caribbean nation thus becomes the 90th Party to the Minamata Convention. Belgium had several weeks before that on Monday, February 26 deposited its instrument of ratification, thereby becoming the 89th Party to the mercury treaty. Nigeria had done likewise on Thursday, February 1 as the ...