Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) - Botswana has reiterated its plans to ban hunting by 2014, in favour for photographic tourism, amid concerns the move will deny government 8 million pula (US$988,000) revenue accrued from licence fees. Full text...

Doha, Qatar (PANA) - Greenpeace Central and Eastern Europe have expressed reservations at the prospect of Poland hosting the Conference of Parties (COP 19) climate talks next year. Full text...

Doha, Qatar (PANA) – The Chairman of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Rajendra Pachauri, has warned of the serious impacts that would face the world in the years ahead if governments do not take timely and adequate action to limit the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the earth’s atmosphere. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) – Developed countries are mixing issues related to climate funds with previous financing arrangements they have had with developing countries, according to the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA). Full text...

Doha, Qatar (PANA) - Chair of the 48-nation Least Developed Countries (LDC) group, Pa Ousman Jarju, has asked negotiators meeting at the UN Climate Change Conference in Doha, Qatar, to consider establishing an international fund for loss and damage for poor countries bearing the burden of climate change impacts. Full text...

Doha, Qatar (PANA) - A UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report released Tuesday at the Climate talks Doha, Qatar, says the expected accelerated thawing of the permafrost covering almost a quarter of the northern hemisphere and containing 1,700 gigatonnes of carbon, twice that currently in the atmosphere, could significantly amplify global warming. Full text...

Doha, Qatar (PANA) – The European Union (EU) has said it is prepared to adopt an amendment to the Kyoto Protocol that inscribes a new Quantified Emission Limitation Reduction Objectives (QELROs) for the EU and its member states in Annex B of the protocol. Full text...

Doha, Qatar (PANA) – Representatives of civil society groups around the world who are gathered in Doha, Qatar, for the UN climate conference say Doha is a crucial turning point in addressing the global emergency of climate change as the conference kicked off Monday with an ongoing battle over the rules of the international climate controls from now until 2020. Full text...

Doha, Qatar (PANA) – The UN climate change talks opened in the Qatari capital, Doha, on Monday with an urgent appeal for countries to heed the warning of the planetary emergency of climate change and expedite urgent response to climate change. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - Collectively, rich nations have failed to fulfil eight substantive pledges to provide poor countries with funds for tackling the effects of climate change, according to a detailed analysis released Monday by the International Institute for Environment and Development IIED). Full text...

Doha, Qatar (PANA) - As governments meet for climate talks in Doha, Qatar, Greenpeace has warned they must wake up to the reality that climate change is already gripping the planet and take urgent action to avoid catastrophic global warming. Full text...

Blantyre, Malawi, (PANA) - Malawi Energy and Mining Minister Cassim Chilumpha, has said the government will halt drilling and extraction of oil in Lake Malawi if an environmental impact assessment study found that the lake would be destroyed and livelihoods disrupted. Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - Flooding resulting from a torrential rain has killed four persons, displaced 700 and caused massive damage in Congo's economic hub of Pointe-Noire, PANA learned Thursday from the Congolese Ministry of Social Affairs, Humanitarian Action and Solidarity. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - Representatives of African member States and relevant stakeholders have requested the African Union (AU) and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) as well as other development partners to step up efforts in providing the necessary facilitation and coordination support towards the effective implementation of the Rio+20 outcomes to support sustainable development efforts in Africa. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) – As focus for the UN climate negotiations shifts to Doha, Qatar, next week, a UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) official has bemoaned the lack of enough African scientists participating in the report produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which defines the direction that negotiations will go, particularly on science. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - Ahead of next week's UN climate negotiations in Doha, Qatar, an official of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has bemoaned the dearth of African scientists on the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which defines the direction of the negotiations, particularly on science. Full text...

Blantyre, Malawi (PANA) - A 22-year-old man was seriously injured when a house fell on him during a heavy rainstorm that also destroyed over 100 houses in Malawi's central lakeshore district of Salima, a senior district official has said. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) – A meeting of experts in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, analysing the implications for Africa of the Rio+20 outcomes, is debating ways to engage high-level political leaders to provide policy guidance and ensure effective implementation of sustainable development following a proposal last June in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to replace the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) with a high-level forum. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - The world is barreling down a path to heat up by 4 degrees at the end of the century if the global community fails to act on climate change, triggering a cascade of cataclysmic changes that include extreme heat waves, declining global food stocks and a sea-level rise affecting hundreds of millions of people, according to a new scientific report released Monday. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Some 1.3 tonnes of African elephant ivory tusks have been seized in Hong Kong, raising the tally of contraband ivory confiscated in the Chinese city to five tonnes in less than a month, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). Full text...

Lusaka, Zambia (PANA) - Ahead of the 18th Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, beginning 26 November in Doha, Qatar, there are high expectations that the two-week gathering will agree on a comprehensive framework for responding to climate change. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - There is simply no longer time or cause for wealthy countries to continue to stall in taking real action to fulfill the promises they made to help the world’s nations adapt to the changing climate, the chair of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) group, Pa Ousman Jarju, has said in an open letter to re-elected US President Barack Obama. Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - The 10th Conference of the Parties to the Abidjan Convention relating to the protection, management and development of the marine and coastal environment of the Atlantic coast of Africa opened in Pointe-Noire, Congo, Monday, with the participation of ministers from over 20 African countries. Full text...

Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) – Environment ministers from Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe are slated to meet Wednesday in Livingstone, Zambia, to dialogue on fostering trans-national collaboration and cooperation among the states. Full text...

Johannesburg, South Africa (PANA) - Thousands of people from civil society groups across Gauteng on Saturday took part in a march to protest against South Africa’s nuclear expansion plans. Full text...

Lusaka, Zambia (PANA) - The UN Climate Change secretariat Wednesday announced that nine projects, four of them based in Africa, have been selected in the latest round of public-private “lighthouse activities” in developing countries which combat climate change and help the urban poor. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN Children Fund (UNICEF), UN Women, Government of Finland, WaterAid and the UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation have called on the international community to place equality, human rights and sustainability as the foundation of the post-2015 development priorities. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Kenya has lost US$ 68 million as a result of deforestation, which costs the national economy some 3.6 percent of its overall wealth, a new report by the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) and Kenya's Forestry Services revealed Monday. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Top legal minds came together in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday for a judicial discussion surrounding the need to enforce harsher penalties for wildlife-related crimes. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The government of Lagos State, one of Nigeria's coastal states, is bracing for the 'ripple effect' of Hurricane Sandy that has caused deaths and massive devastation in the US, according to the state's Commissioner for Waterfront Development and Infrastructure Adesegun Oniru Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Wildlife authorities have intensified their vigilance against suspected Ivory poachers in Kenya following a series of discoveries of Ivory hauls in Thailand, the wildlife body said Tuesday. Full text...

Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) - Africa’s first-ever hunting conference got underway at Sun City in South Africa's North West province on Monday, with the aim of encouraging dialogue between the Department of Environmental Affairs and the hunting community. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The floods that caused havoc across Nigeria has "sacked" the General Hospital, Patani, in Patani Local Government Area of the Southern Delta State, forcing officials to stack corpses evacuated from the morgue on an emergency platform constructed between the ceiling and roof of the endangered health institution. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) has donated US$ 1 million towards relief efforts in support of persons displaced by floods in 24 states across Nigeria, the oil giants said in a press statement, issued Thursday and received by PANA here Saturday. Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - The Congolese government and the United Nations agencies Friday signed a Co-operation agreement for the National Programme in support of Congo’s REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) project. Full text...

Addis, Ethiopia (PANA) – The African Development Forum (ADF), which ended its meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has urged African countries to undertake all-round domestic policy reforms in the mining and other sectors as the continent seeks to imbue activities in Africa with a much greater development role. Full text...

Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) - A South African man has mailed his toenails to the Chinese Embassy in Pretoria because he is upset with the escalating number of rhino killed by poachers. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) – Africa has been urged to address forests in the broader context of sustainable development by ensuring that they play significant role in accelerating growth. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) – The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Wu Hongbo, has described as alarming for Africa the loss of some 3.4 million hectares of forests between 2000 and 2010. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - Participants in the Urban Recycling Forum, an event held on the sidelines of the eighth ongoing African Development Forum (ADF) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, have called for an African joint solution to electronic-waste (e-waste) management. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - Africa must categorically and unequivocally reject the notion that its natural resources are a curse to the continent, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said Tuesday while addressing the 8th African Development Forum taking place in Addis Ababa. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) – Africa should consider deliberately including relevant stakeholders such as local communities, grassroots organizations and civil society in decision making processes as one way of ensuring that natural resources benefit the people of Africa, a forum in Addis Ababa has heard. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) – The African Development Bank (AfDB) has urged a meeting of the eighth African Development Forum (ADF VIII) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to collectively find solutions for an integrated approach to natural resources management. Full text...

Warang, Senegal (PANA) - Senegalese fishermen, fish packers and sellers from different communities in the country have formed a platform to protect their rights. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - Ahead of the next round of the UN negotiations on climate change in Doha, Qatar, in November, Africa is keen to advance its position well in order to achieve the desired outcomes on key issues such as finance and adaptation. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - Ahead of the next round of the UN negotiations on climate change in Doha, Qatar, in November, Africa is keen to advance its position well in order to achieve the desired outcomes on key issues such as finance and adaptation. Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - The countries of the Congo Basin are seeking more funding from donors to enable them to implement REDD + and preserve their forests. Full text...

Kampala, Uganda (PANA) - East African Environment Ministers have ended a meeting in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, to discuss a set of radical policy proposals to deal with environmental pollution, including the introduction of a pay-as-you-pollute taxes, according to a statement from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) on Saturday. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The Second Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA II) ended on Saturday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with participants urging African negotiators and researchers to step up efforts to further strengthen the role of science in the negotiations process. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) – As the forthcoming UN Conference on Climate Change scheduled to take place in Doha, Qatar, draws near, Africa is looking at advancing its development agenda within a changing climate. Full text...