Cotonou, Benin (PANA) - The Beninese government will release 425,082,000 CFA franc to assist the victim of the recent floods that affected nine communes in the country, official sources told PANA on Friday. Full text...

Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) - Nine elephants were electrocuted by a high volt 33kV distribution power line in Botswana’s Dukwi, in the Central District area, on Monday. Full text...

Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - Roofs of at least 169 houses, school buildings and churches were damaged during a downpour that hit several parts of Rusizi, a district in the southwestern Rwanda, near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), late on Tuesday. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – Leaders from various levels of government, the private sector and civil society have highlighted the need for climate action as they convened at United Nations Headquarters, where Secretary-General António Guterres warned that current pledges and plans are insufficient to keep global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees. Full text...

New York, (PANA) – Noting the ever-increasing impact of extreme weather events, top United Nations officials, including Secretary-General António Guterres and Miroslav Lajčák, the President of the General Assembly on Monday urged efforts to boost resilience and strengthen damage mitigation measures. Full text...

Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - Rwandan officials are wading into damage assessments after heavy rain early last week left hundreds homeless in several parts of southeast and Northern Rwanda, an official source confirmed Monday in Kigali. Full text...

Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) - Botswana has announced intentions to ratify Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, a global commitment to stop climate change. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – Commemorating the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, senior United Nations officials, including Secretary-General António Guterres, have highlighted the contributions of the Montreal Protocol – an international environment agreement on the elimination of ozone depleting substances. Full text...

Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - A downpour that hit a large part of southeast Rwandan district of Ngoma late on Tuesday has left at least 221 families homeless, after destroying their properties and crops, a senior local official told PANA on Wednesday in Kigali. Full text...

Ordos, China (PANA) – A new United Nations report warns that a third of the planet’s land is now severely degraded because of a doubling in the consumption of natural resources over the past 30 years. Full text...

Balaclava, Mauritius (PANA) - A three-day workshop aimed at improving Greenhouse Gas (GHG) inventory in the energy, transport, industrial process and product use and waste sectors opened on Monday night in Mauritius. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) – The United Nations and its humanitarian partners in Kenya have appealed for US$106 million to scale-up their response to the most urgent needs resulting from the egregious effects of the drought in northern Kenya. Full text...

Beijing, China (PANA) – The head of the United Nations body tasked with addressing desertification on Wednesday stressed the importance of financing for national commitments to combat land degradation, as a global summit on the issue got underway in China. Full text...

Stockholm, Sweden (PANA) - As a leading financing partner on water and sanitation services in Africa, the African Development Bank (AfDB), and two of its flagship water initiatives: the African Water Facility (AWF) and the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative (RWSSI), are participating in the 2017 World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden from 27 August to 1 September1, on the theme: “Water and Waste: reduce and reuse.” Full text...

Stockholm, Sweden (PANA) – Encouraging global action to support clean water and sanitation, United Nations General Assembly President Peter Thomson on Monday underscored that when it comes to the environment, everything is connected. Full text...

Zanzibar City, Zanzibar (PANA) - A new mobile application, know as "Ponya Mobile Game" developed by a team of young software engineers in Kenya that was officially presented Thursday on the sideline of the 47th regional climate outlook forum taking place in Zanzibar, is considered to be more effective in reducing global warming impacts associated with extreme weather events and other disasters across the East and the whole Greater Horn of Africa (GHA) region, experts said. Full text...

Zanzibar City, Zanzibar (PANA) - Adaptation to climate change and specifically to El Nino phenomenon in many countries across the East African region and the whole Greater Horn of Africa (GHA) might cost an annual average of up to US$ 5.8 billion by 2050 if residual damages are considered, according to a report released by the World Food Programme (WFP) experts. Full text...

Zanzibar City, Zanzibar (PANA) - A new official report released on Monday by the the Kenyan-based Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Climate Prediction and Application Centre (ICPAC) has listed top-ten factors that are described to be the likely key drivers of Climate Change vulnerability across the region. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) -The terrible aftermath of the mudslides in Sierra Leone, which have left more than 3,000 people homeless, grimly illustrates the human cost of the government’s failure to implement housing and land policies, said Amnesty International on Thursday. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The United Nations Environment Programme on Wednesday announced a shortlist of regional finalists for the Young Champions of the Earth prize – a global competition aiming to identify, support and celebrate outstanding individuals between the ages of 18 and 30 with big ideas to protect or restore the environment. Full text...

Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) – The United Nations Minamata Convention on Mercury, which went into effect on Wednesday, 16 August, could benefit millions of people affected by toxic mercury, Human Rights Watch has said. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) – The world’s first Convention to protect the environment and human health in close to a decade, the Minamata Convention on Mercury, enters into force on Wednesday, committing its 74 Parties to reducing the risks to human health and the environment from the harmful release of mercury and mercury compounds, the UN Environment Programme said. Full text...

Freetown, Sierra Leone (PANA) - Oxfam is providing clean water and hygiene kits to survivors of Monday’s mudslide on the outskirts of Freetown, Sierra Leone, the international humanitarian agency said Tuesday, indicating that it initially plans to help almost 2,000 households. Full text...

Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - The United Nations migration agency on Tuesday released US$150,000 in emergency, first-response aid relief for Sierra Leone following devastating floods and mudslides which on Monday left hundreds of people dead in the West African country. Full text...

Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - A new weather forecasting model, developed by Rwandan meteorologists and their partners, purports to improve the quality of the climate and weather data provided to citizens and make it available to as many people as possible, PANA learn Thursday from an official source in Kigali. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, on Friday received a notification from the delegation of the United States expressing America's intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change as soon as it is eligible to do so, his spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, confirmed. Full text...

Mogadishu, Somalia (PANA) – In the wake of a severe drought in Somalia that has displaced more than 800,000 people, the United Nations migration and development entities are helping the Horn of Africa country enhance its national drought response capacity. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – The head of the United Nations entity on protection of endangered species said on Monday that park rangers across the world face increasing challenges and risks due to a surge in poaching and illicit trafficking in wildlife, as he honoured the work of park rangers in protecting wild animals, plants and culture. Full text...

London, UK (PANA) - As UK government announced its commitment to ban all new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2040, human rights group Amnesty International has cautioned that child labourers must not pay the price for the shift. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) – UNESCO is engaged deeply in supporting the conservation of mangroves, while advancing the sustainable development of local communities who interact closely with them and depend on their goods and services, the Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, Ms Irina Bokova, said on the occasion of the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – As part of his 47th birthday celebrations, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Goodwill Ambassador and the actor playing the role of Jaime Lannister in the HBO series Game of Thrones, is calling on his friends, family and fans to help him raise funds to support UN climate action programmes. Full text...

Brussels, Belgium (PANA) – The European Union (EU) is ready for formal ratification of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol that will ensure the protection of the climate from the powerful greenhouse gases hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), the European Council said on Monday. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – Even though investments towards sustainable development in developing countries have fallen short by nearly US$2.5 trillion each year, emerging financial products and encouraging policies illustrate that both public and private sectors are serious about correcting that trend, the United Nations environment arm has said. Full text...

Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - Some 3 in 10 people worldwide, or 2.1 billion, lack access to safe, readily available water at home, and 6 in 10, or 4.5 billion, lack safely-managed sanitation, according to a new joint report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – Eleven major financial institutions around the globe, representing over US$7 trillion, have joined forces with the United Nations to promote climate transparency in financial markets, the Organization’s environment wing said on Tuesday. Full text...

Rome, Italy (PANA) - The Government of Mozambique, the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have announced a new project that will strengthen sustainable forest management and contribute to Mozambique achieving Sustainable Development Goal 15 on forests. Full text...

Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) - The Africa Climate Change Fund (ACCF), housed in the Climate Change and Green Growth Department of the African Development Bank (AfDB), has called for more proposals aimed at scaling up access to climate finance and support to climate resilient and low carbon development in African countries. Full text...

Maputo, Mozambique (PANA) - The World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Monday signed a US$6 million agreement to support the Government of Mozambique in its efforts to strengthen the sustainable management of its forest sector, promote good governance, improve forest concession systems, and enable private sector participation. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - UNESCO's World Heritage Committee on Saturday inscribed cultural sites in Angola, Eritrea and South Africa. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Worried that sea level change is already impacting coastal communities globally and will continue to do so, the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) is organizing a five-day international conference in New York, US, to address existing challenges in describing and predicting regional sea level changes, and in quantifying the intrinsic uncertainties. Full text...

Vienna, Austria (PANA) - With the support of its Investment and technology promotion office (ITPO) in Tokyo, Japan, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has arranged a study tour for African food processing industry representatives to demonstrate to them adaptation technologies for better climate resilience and low-carbon growth. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - East Africa faces one of the biggest humanitarian crises in its history, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned in a new report published on Friday. Full text...

Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) – In a year already marked by heatwaves and new daily temperature records, the United Nations weather agency and television weather anchors have joined forces to create video forecasts that explore how climate change would make future summers even hotter in major cities of the world. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - An estimated 761,000 Somalis have been internally displaced by drought between November 2016 and June 2017, with more than 22,000 displacements recorded between 1 and 23 June this year, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Regional Office for Southern and Eastern Africa reported on Tuesday. Full text...

Rabat, Morocco (PANA) - Morocco has received approval for a US$ 25 million loan from the Climate Investment Funds’ Clean Technology Fund (CIF CTF) for a project to generate solar power through an innovative hybrid Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) and Photovoltaic (PV) solution. Full text...

New Orleans, US (PANA) – Global entertainer and humanitarian Beyoncé has teamed up with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) through her BeyGOOD philanthropic arm to announce the launch of BEYGOOD4BURUNDI, a multi-year partnership to provide safe water to the most vulnerable children in Burundi. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – The majority of the world’s most vulnerable communities are in the Tropics, and will be most affected by environmental threats, according to the United Nations, which on Thursday marked the International Day of the Tropics. Full text...

Pointe-aux-Piments, Mauritius (PANA) - A two-day meeting for a global high-level panel on water opened Wednesday in Mauritius with the participation of delegates from Australia, Bangladesh, Hungary, India, Mauritius, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru and South Africa. Full text...

Cotonou, Benin (PANA) - The African Development Bank (AfDB), in collaboration with members of the Nairobi Framework Partnership (NFP), is showcasing the 9th African Carbon Forum (ACF) in Cotonou, Benin, from 28-30 June, 2017. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - More than 2,500 cities have now listed climate-change pledges on the Non-State Actor Zone for Climate Action (NAZCA) portal, launched as part of the 2014 Lima-Paris Action Agenda, HSBC notes, the UN said Friday. Full text...