CELEBRATING KOFI ADU DOMFEH, YOU DESERVE IT... Journalists from across Africa converged at the Panafric Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya for the first African Climate Change and Environmental Reporting (ACCER) Awards. Shaping the climate change and environment narrative in Africa was the theme for the event, which coincided with the 2013 World Environment Day commemoration. Luv Fm’s Kofi Adu Domfeh emerged second runner-up for his radio piece on the role of community radio in helping local people mitigate the impact of climate change. Other winners in the Africa-wide competition included Peter Labeja (Uganda), Pius Sawa (Kenya), Elias Ntungwe Ngalame (Cameroon) and Mwadalitso Mwando (Zimbabwe). The Awards is organized by the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) in liaison with the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), and supported by Christian Aid, Oxfam Novib, SIDA, Finn Church Aid, Diakonia, and BrandKenya Board. PACJA Secretary-General, Mithika Mwenda, emphasized that national economies, livelihoods and social welfare across Africa are getting disrupted “as communities’ vulnerability to climate change becomes obvious and can no longer be ignored”. He noted that “Sub-Saharan Africa is the region that has contributed the least to the global accumulation of green house gas emission but it is the most vulnerable to the impact of climate change”. Mr. Mwenda therefore expects the media to be allies and agents in driving the climate change agenda, hence PACJA’s commitment to building media capacity and encouraging reportage on the subject. Dr. Wilbur Otichilo of the Kenyan Parliamentary Network on Renewable Energy and Climate Change enjoined media practitioners to simplify the difficult subject of climate change for local people to appreciate its impact on their lives. According to him, there are efforts to link up various parliaments in Africa to champion the cause of climate change. Kenya is hoping to become one of the first countries in Africa to have a law on climate change with the expected passage of a bill this year. “Our main concern is to come up with a policy and legal framework to govern the issues related to climate change and we are currently fine-tuning a climate change bill which was prepared in the last parliament,” stated Dr. Otichilo. Food, building and transportation are critical sectors mainly contributing to climate change, said Desta Mebratu, UNEP Deputy Director, Regional Office for Africa. He therefore called for the issue of food waste and food loss to be addressed at all levels to give meaning to the World Environment Day.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 09:25:36 +0000
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