Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - The African Development Bank (AfDB)'s support to Africa through the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) increased exponentially in 2014 to include one regional and 25 national investment plans, with an additional nine poor countries being funded for renewable energy solutions, according to a new report released Thursday. Full text...

Lusaka, Zambia (PANA) – The negotiating text for the global climate agreement to be reached in Paris in December this year has been released, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat announced Thursday. Full text...

Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - An intense rainfall that could trigger flash floodings are expected in many parts of the Eastern African, including the Southwestern and Northeastern Rwanda between March and May 2015, weather experts warned in a statement issued Wednesday here. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - The African Media Initiative (AMI) has entered into an agreement with the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) with the aim of solidifying media involvement in wildlife conservation efforts on the continent, AMI said in a statement Tuesday. Full text...

Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - Sudanese Ismail El Gizouli has been appointed acting chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to replace Rajendra Pachauri from India who stepped down amid claims that he sexually harassed a subordinate, according to a statement issued Tuesday by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday in New York said this year is pivotal for global action on climate change, emphasising that all the major advances of 2014 have set the stage for success in 2015. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has announced the delivery Full text...

Khartoum, Sudan(PANA ) – The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) countries have failed to agree on a mechanism of taking decision on use of common water resources, and on notification to member states in case one of them wanted to establish a project, as well as on previously concluded agreements on water sharing in the region. Full text...

Lomé, Togo (PANA) – A four-nation meeting of West African forest and environment management officials, held Sunday in the Togolese capital, Lomé, has called on the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) to back the fight against illegal trade in wood within the framework of environmental security. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - A key milestone on the route to a new, universal agreement on climate change was reached on Friday in Geneva, Switzerland, with a week of UN-facilitated discussions among over 190 states. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN agencies joined the wider humanitarian community and non-governmental organizations in Mozambique to launch on Friday a US$30.1 million response and recovery proposal to meet the needs of more than 160,000 people affected by hard-hitting floods in the Zambezia Province of central Mozambique. Full text...

Lusaka, Zambia (PANA) – The Geneva climate change talks concluded Friday after seven days of negotiations with governments, successfully preparing the negotiating text for the 2015 global climate agreement set to be reached in Paris, France, at the end of 2015. Full text...

Ebony, Mauritius (PANA) - The Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) has expressed its willingness to work closely with the African Union (AU) for the effective implementation of the security aspect of the African integrated maritime strategy by 2050 (AIM 2050). Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Ministers responsible for meteorology in Africa are meeting in Praia, Cape Verde, to coordinate and accelerate regional efforts to strengthen resilience to extreme weather hazards and adapt to climate change, according to an official press statement obtained here by PANA. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - Coordination and acceleration of regional efforts to strengthen African countries' resilience to extreme weather hazards and adaptation to climate change will be the focus of the Third Session of the African Ministerial Conference on Meteorology (AMCOMET) to be held from 10-14 February in Cape Verde, the meeting organizers said Monday. Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) – Robin D. Meyer, the director of affairs for Central Africa at the US State department, currently on a visit to Brazzaville, said on Friday that the US was supporting Central African countries in their fight against poaching and maritime piracy, the Congolese public radio reported Saturday. Full text...

Lusaka, Zambia (PANA) – The first round of UN Climate Change talks in 2015 begin in Geneva, Switzerland, on Sunday where governments will continue work to advance the draft text of a new, universal climate change agreement which they are due to conclude at the end of this year in Paris, France. Full text...

Lusaka, Zambia (PANA) – As countries negotiate the shape of the 2015 Paris Agreement at the first UN climate session for this year taking place 8-13 February in Geneva, Switzerland, Christiana Figueres, the UN’s top climate official says the Geneva meeting is not expected to produce a finalized draft text. Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - The Russian Federation will support Congo to organise the 27-30 April international conference on illegal logging and illegal trade in wildlife products, Russian Ambassador in Congo Valery Mikhaylov has announced. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) – The situation in flood-hit areas of Malawi is expected to get worse as heavy downpours are forecast in the southern Africa region in the coming days, a spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday at a press briefing in Geneva. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says devastating Full text...

Pointe d’Esny, Mauritius (PANA) – Mauritius Agro-industry and Food Security Minister Mahen Seeruttun Monday said despite their value wetlands are the most declining and devastated ecosystem in Mauritius and elsewhere in the world. Full text...

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - Burkina Faso has banned the use of non-biodegradable plastic packages with effect from 21 Feb., and anyone who contravenes the ban risks 2-5 years imprisonment, in addition to a hefty fine, according to director of Environmental Protection Paul Savadogo. Full text...

Praia, Cape Verde (PANA) – The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has released US$ 50,000 to the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Cape Verde, to enable it assist local authorities in meeting the emergency needs of the victims of the volcanic eruption on 23 November, says a USAID communiqué Thursday. Full text...

Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) - Botswana says it will soon align its national action plan (NAP) to combat desertification with the United Nations' Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) ten-year strategy. Full text...

Praia, Cape Verde (PANA) – The Cape Verdean minister of foreign relations, Jorge Tolentino, on Monday delivered a thank-you message from the Cape Verdean president, Jorge Carlos Fonseca, to his Angolan counterpart, José Eduardo dos Santos. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – Greenpeace, an independent global campaigning organisation acting to protect and conserve the environment, on Monday urged African leaders to adopt emergency and concrete measures for greater transparency aimed at elimination of illegal maritime fishing. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - The African Risk Capacity Insurance Company Limited, a financial affiliate of the African Risk Capacity (ARC) of the African Union (AU), said Friday it will pay US $25 million in drought insurance claims to three countries of the Sahel this month. Full text...

Johannesburg, South Africa (PANA) - Two rescued lionesses are settling into their new home at the Born Free Foundation’s Big Cat Rescue and Education Centre at Shamwari Game Reserve, South Africa, following an epic 6,000-mile journey across two continents earlier this week. Full text...

Yaoundé, Cameroon (PANA) – Cameroon will next month launch a programme to recycle 10,000 tons of plastic waste annually in the main cities such as Douala and Yaoundé. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) has welcomed Full text...

Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) – Mauritius plans to set up an Early Warning System for incoming storm surge, swells and tsunamis before the next cyclonic season that starts mid November 2015 with funding from the Global Environment Fund and the UN Development Programme (UNDP). Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - The African Water Facility (AWF) has approved a 1.07-million-euro grant for the development of a 10-year Integrated Comprehensive Sanitation Plan for Seychelles, the African Development Bank (AfDB) said Tuesday. Full text...

Blantyre, Malawi (PANA) - A total of 415 schools have been affected by the severe flooding ravaging parts of Malawi, with 234 either having their roofs blown off or submerged, Vice President Saulos Chilima said on Sunday. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN agencies are gearing up for relief efforts in Malawi and neighbouring Full text...

Blantyre, Malawi (PANA) - The death toll in Malawi's raging floods has climbed to 176 with hundreds others still missing especially in the southern Lower Shire Valley, Vice President Saulos Chilima confirmed Friday in Blantyre. Full text...

Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) - The Mauritian Meteorological Services Thursday issued a cyclone warning class III in the country as tropical cyclone ‘Bansi’, which hit the Island nation earlier this week, approached Rodrigues, PANA reported from here. Full text...

Blantyre, Malawi (PANA) - Malawi President Peter Mutharika has declared ten of the country's 28 districts 'disaster areas' following the devastating flood that has engulfed almost half of the southern African country. Full text...

Blantyre, Malawi (PANA) - Twelve more people have been killed across Malawi after they were washed away by flood, PANA reported Thursday. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - Residents of Indian Ocean coastal areas in Tanzania are advised to take necessary precautions in view of strong northerly winds and large waves that are likely to gust across the country during the next three days, the Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA) warned late on Wednesday. Full text...

Blantyre, Malawi (PANA) - Malawi President Peter Mutharika has declared 10 of the country's 28 districts 'disaster areas' following devastating floods that have engulfed almost half of the southern African country. Full text...

Blantyre, Malawi (PANA) - At least eight people were killed Tuesday in the southern district of Mulanje, about 100 km south of Malawi's commercial capital, Blantyre, after flash floods washed them away their homes, a district administration official has confirmed. Full text...

Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) - Botswana’s Department of Meteorological Services on Tuesday forecast normal rainfall, especially in the north and eastern areas of the country, for the remainder of the season. Full text...

Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) - The Mauritian Meteorological Services Monday announced a cyclone warning class II in the country as tropical cyclone ‘Bansi’ approaches the island from the North-west, PANA reported from here. Full text...

London, UK (PANA) - Oil giant Shell’s long-overdue compensation pay out to a community devastated by oil spills in the Niger Delta is an important victory for the victims of corporate negligence, the Amnesty International and the Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD) said Wednesday. Full text...

Pamplemousses, Mauritius (PANA) - Mauritius' Agro-Industry Minister Mahen Seeruttun said Tuesday that legislation and policies would be reviewed to better control the felling of trees and encourage land owners to plant more trees in order to preserve the island's natural ecosystems. Full text...

Blantyre, Malawi (PANA) - The death toll from the violent rainstorm buffeting Malawi has reached five, after a 10-year-old girl was electrocuted and a 42-year-old man was crushed to death by a falling wall in the capital, Lilongwe, PANA reported from here Monday. Full text...

Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA) - China will help to finance the cleanliness of Nouakchott, the Mauritanian capital, with the sum of 10 billion Ouguiya (about US$3.3 million), the Mauritanian government announced on Friday. Full text...

Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - An earth tremor of magnitude 4.9 rocked Algeria's Blida region early Tuesday (at around 09:00 hrs local time) and caused damage to buildings in the locality of Chebli Hammam Melouane, said sources at the Research Centre for Astrophysics and Geophysics. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Africa’s largest wind power project is to be constructed in Lake Turkana, Kenya, with financial support from Africa Development Bank (AfDB), European Investment Bank (EIB), host government and other international financial institutions, the bank said. Full text...