New York, US (PANA) - Governments, the private sector, civil society and other groups Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - A report published by the UN-backed Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) said that elephant poaching levels are the worst in a decade and recorded ivory seizures are at their highest levels since 1989, Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki has hailed the agreement reached in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to strengthen the role of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as the leading global environmental authority. Full text...

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (PANA) - In a new joint report, 'Africa Ecological Footprint Report - Green Infrastructure for Africa’s Ecological Security,' the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) have called on world leaders to invest in Africa’s natural capital. Full text...

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (PANA) - Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan has reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to sustainable development. Full text...

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (PANA) - The focal point of the TerrAfrica programme at the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) Agency, Mr. Ousmane Djibo, has said that about US$ 2 billion has been set aside to support the Great Green Wall project in the Sahel and West Africa regions, according to the Information and Communication Service (ICS) of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The 196 UN member states have reached an agreement on the outcome document of the 20-22 June UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), the conference's top official said in a statement on Wednesday. Full text...

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (PANA) - Innovative sources of finance and resources from the private sector are key to achieving sustainable development in Africa, African leaders and world experts said Monday at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN and its partners have unveiled a new initiative Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - A Kenyan local authority has stopped construction work, occupancy and business operations of ten major buildings at Mlolongo in the eastern fringes of Nairobi following the collapse of a building that was under construction on 9 June. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria will depart Abuja Tuesday to attend the United Nations’ Earth Summit (Rio 20), opening in Brazil on Wednesday. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki was due in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday evening to attend the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20) where he will push for the upgrading of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) office here. Full text...

Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - Tunisia is to upgrade its national programme to rejuvenate its fight against desertification and lead integrated projects at the regional and national levels to develop land and reduce land degradation. Full text...

Rome, Italy (PANA) - A new report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says the world's forests have a major role to play in the transition to a new, greener economy, a theme being discussed at this week's Rio+20 Conference in Brazil. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Top UN officials have called for greater efforts to preserve the soils on which human subsistence depends and to halt and reverse land degradation. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), Mr. Sha Zukang, said ''encouraging progress" was made by countries on the final day of the last round of talks aimed at reaching an agreement on the conference's outcome document. Full text...

Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group is already at Rio+20 to voice Africa’s agenda until 22 June, with fellow African institutions such as the African Union Commission and the UN Economic Commission for Africa and many leaders from across the continent, according to a press statement issued here Friday by the bank. Full text...

Menongue, Angola (PANA) - The Angolan government-funded "Water-for-All" project is benefitting more than 20,000 families in the south-eastern Kuando Kubango Province of Angola, PANA reported here, quoting the Angolan News Agency (ANGOP). Full text...

Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) - A regional workshop on toxic wastes opens Monday in Mauritius with delegates from eight African countries -- Bostwana, Lesotho, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and hosts Mauritius -- participating, PANA learnt from official sources here. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - Partner states of the East African Community (EAC) have begun working on a common structure and road map for promoting, developing and coordinating conservation of transboundary natural resources for the region’s economic growth. Full text...

Benghazi, Libya (PANA) - The first national conference on the environment in Libya has recommended the establishment of an environment ministry as well as the inclusion in the constitution of a clause focusing on clear legal provisions to protect the environment Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - Though the mining and minerals industry has made major advances towards sustainability, it faces new challenges as governments in the global South reassert control over their natural resources, despite lacking the capacity to ensure mining can contribute to sustainable development. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) – A new, far-reaching report on the state of municipal solid waste around the world has predicted a sharp rise in the amount of garbage generated by urban residents between now and 2025. Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - Africa is confronted by six challenges in its bid to promote sustainable development, Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso, said here Tuesday in his capacity as the spokesman for Africa at the upcoming Rio 20 conference. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - African mayors and leaders Thursday rose from their two-day meeting on urbanization in Africa, unanimously agreeing that innovative technologies can transform the way African cities manage critical functions like traffic, water, taxes, electricity, waste, security and social services, among others. Full text...

Arusha, Tanzania (PANA) – The African Development Bank (AfDB) and global conservation group, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), on Friday launched a joint report on the state of Africa’s environment. Full text...

London, UK (PANA) - A company specialising in providing affordable solar power products to remote rural communities has won a coveted Ashden Award for its work in Africa. Full text...

Johannesburg, South Africa (PANA) - Some Greenpeace activists were beaten and detained on Tuesday after demanding a halt to discussions aimed at expanding nuclear activity around the African continent. Full text...

Johannesburg, South Africa (PANA) - Greenpeace Africa has demanded a halt to discussions aimed at expanding nuclear power not only in South Africa but also the rest of Africa. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) – As the current UN climate talks are abut to conclude after two bitter weeks of negotiations, global civil society said Thursday that some rich countries were pulling international climate regulation apart at the seams. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - Young people from the youth constituency, under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), on Wednesday asked developed countries not to 'jump ship' from the Kyoto Protocol (KP) and Long-term Co-operative Action (LCA) negotiating tracks at the ongoing climate talks in Bonn, Germany. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - As negotiations continue at the UN climate talks in Bonn, Germany, the African Group of Negotiators (AGN) has emphasised that there must be a greater focus and support for farmers in poor countries to adapt to the impact of an already changing climate. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - Civil society is critical to policy processes that aim to tackle climate change and protect the poorest and most vulnerable communities from its impacts, according to a new report released Monday by a coalition of non-governmental organisations at the UN Climate Conference in Bonn, Germany. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - As the UN talks on climate change continued Friday, experts have warned of the risk of extending expensive 'market mechanisms' that have not produced significant emission reductions to date. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) – Ministers responsible for agriculture, livestock and arid lands in member nations of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Thursday called on UN agencies to support the bloc to establish a regional early warning system linked to mechanisms for early response to drought emergencies afflicting the region. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - African countries attending the opening of the 'Durban Platform' climate talks in Bonn, Germany, on Thursday expressed worry that there had been no change in proposed emission cuts, even though the current inadequate pledges risk 2.5-5C of warming. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - FAO is helping scientists and policymakers in Tanzania to evaluate how much carbon is stored in forests and forests soils, which will enable them to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – Mai Ahmed Fatty, the leader of opposition Gambia Moral Party (GMC), has challenged the government to clarify an alleged land deal between the latter and some Bangladeshi mercantilists, PANA reports Tuesday. Full text...

Lusaka, Zambia (PANA) – Government representatives started meeting Monday in the German city of Bonn to embark on the next essential steps required to curb global greenhouse gas emissions and help developing countries adapt to the inevitable effects of climate change. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - The world’s poorest countries have issued a bold plan to make the UN climate change talks resuming Monday in Bonn, Germany, more likely to reach their goal of having an effective and legally-binding agreement ready for governments to adopt by 2015. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) – A meeting of experts and stakeholders meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to deliberate on the latest scientific findings of a Special Report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) ended on Thursday with the recognition to get the key decision makers in Africa to take on board some of the key findings from an African perspective. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The advent of the 2012 rainy season in Nigeria has brought severe windstorm warnings from the country's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to states in the South-South geopolitical zones. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - A new report says a number of Africa countries lack institutional mechanisms and legal frameworks important for coordination at national level in achieving local Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and climate adaptation planning. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged countries to make progress in their negotiations of the outcome document for the UN Sustainable Development Conference (Rio+20) next month. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) – As climate change impacts become more extreme, the international community is being urged to support African countries strengthen their capacities to reduce, prepare and manage disaster impacts in a continent where many countries are not prepared to manage climate change disaster. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - A report launched in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Wednesday has warned that high levels of vulnerability, combined with more severe and frequent weather and climate extremes, may make some places such as African coastal cities increasingly difficult places in which to live and work. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Representatives of governments negotiating the outcome document for the UN Sustainable Development Conference (Rio 20) have agreed to add five more days of deliberations to bridge differences that have kept them from making further progress in negotiations, PANA learnt. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - A UN survey has said sustainable water reforms are having a positive impact on countries’ development, Full text...

Blantyre, Malawi (PANA) - A mild earth tremor, measuring 2.6 on the Richter Scale, hit Malawi's eastern district of Zomba on Thursday, causing anxiety among the people. Full text...

Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) - The South African government Tuesday revealed that the country has lost 199 rhinos to poaching this year alone, and warned that the game parks are now facing a crisis. Full text...