Horn trade debate to hot up this week | news24

While no firm decision is expected on the fate of rhinos and horns, the rhino debate is one of the most anticipated at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which will see 183 countries converge in South Africa to debate the fate of the world’s most endangered wildlife species.

Countries are expected to ensure that endangered species are on the right lists for trading, or nontrading.

But the conference is fraught with internal politics, with pro-trade lobbyists and animal rights often in direct opposition to what they believe is best for the sustainable conservation of species. More: http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/horn-trade-debate-to-hot-up-this-week-20160917

Infographic: What Do Your Country's Emissions Look Like?

Infographic: What Do Your Country's Emissions Look Like?

How can civil society get involved in the SDGs? | CAFOD and SDGs

It’s important civil society groups understand how their governments should be doing this, so they can get involved and help push for positive action. How?

Kigali Declaration on Forest Landscape Restoration in Africa

During the Africa High Level Bonn Challenge Round table on 26-27 July 2016, ministers and government officials representing 13 African countries adopted a declaration of immense importance for reaffirming and increasing their commitment to the Bonn Challenge and their dedication to developing and implementing forest landscape restoration activities with the support of IUCN and partners.

Forest Landscape Restoration is key for Africa  in economic growth and poverty eradication, as well as meeting its global sustainable development commitments like the Sustainable Development Goals, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (for example the Paris Agreement), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the United Nations Convention on Combating Desertification (UNCCD) in those countries experiencing serious drought and / or desertification particularly in Africa.

The Declaration calls for, inter alia: coordination among African countries and the mobilization of public and private sector financial resources; mainstreaming restoration into national development policies; capacity building through technical expertise and environmental and social standards; collective climate action; and innovative financial schemes that enable domestic investments in FLR, including through national climate and land management fund mechanisms and tax incentives. The declaration will remain open for signatures through 1 September 2016, when it will be introduced at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawaii, US.   

Read the full Declaration from here

Earth Overshoot Day 2016 is on August 8

Our beautiful planet | eco@africa | DW.COM | 29.07.2016

Our beautiful planet | eco@africa | DW.COM | 29.07.2016

African Civil Society Call on the African Ministers’ Council on Water to Achieve Agenda 2030 and Leave No One Behind.

In light of the progressive commitments on water, sanitation and hygiene – including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) with Goal 6 on WASH, The Ngor Declaration on Sanitation and Hygiene
Adopted by the African Ministers responsible for sanitation and hygiene on 27 May 2015 at
AfricaSan4, Africa Water Vision for 2025 and the African Union’s Agenda 2063 – civil society, under the banner of the African Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation (ANEW) - call on the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) to achieve Agenda 2030 and leave no one behind.

We call upon African governments and ministries to:

1. Prioritise water, sanitation and hygiene as fundamental in the implementation and achievement of the SDGs. Goal 6 must be a core pillar of development plans.

2. Recognise the centrality of Goal 6 in the achievement of all other sustainable development goals, by fostering cross-sector, integrated and collaborative ways of working to achieve this agenda.

3. Ensure the implementation of the N’gor Declaration, and AfricaSan and Sanitation and Water for All Commitments, and align these clearly with national level Goal 6 implementation plans to achieve Agenda 2030.

4. Ensure a stronger role for civil society at various levels for coordination, communication and improved accountability in the implementation of Goal 6.

5. Increase domestic resource mobilisation - and improve allocation and utilisation - to achieve sustainable service delivery and performance, by allocating adequate funding for maintenance, rehabilitation and subsequent support to facilities.

6. Strengthen the performance of relevant institutions by providing clear mandates, sufficient resource allocation, effective coordination, and accountability and transparency mechanisms, to ensure that capacity, skills and resources are improved at all levels.

7. Set and meet specific national targets - based on the principles of the human rights to water and sanitation - so that public investments prioritise the poorest and most marginalised, aiming to progressively reduce inequalities, and are focused on areas that have the greatest needs.

8. Ensure integrated water resource management in all development projects, specifically extractives and construction activities, to secure sustainable water sources.

9. Establish and invest in a robust, centralised system for data collection and ensure open, accurate, disaggregated data.

Read the full Civil Society statement, under the banner of the African Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation (ANEW) from here