COP27 and our action against climate change in Malawi
What is COP27?
COP27 is the 27th climate change COP. The conference has been described as an “African COP” with the event’s tagline “Together for implementation”. It’s expected the severe impact countries in Africa are facing due to climate change, including droughts, floods, erosion and desertification will be key topics of discussion.
Title
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
Read more
You probably heard a lot last year about COP 26, as it was held in the UK. This year, COP27 is taking place in Sharm el Sheik in Egypt between 6th and 18th November.
One of the main objectives of COP27 will be the pledge to limit global warming to below 2C and how to keep the 1.5C target. Other key areas include addressing extreme weather events such as flooding or forest fires, with the objective to enhance “global agenda for action on adaptation”, climate finance and support and collaboration to turn what was discussed at Glasgow COP26 into action.
Rania Al Mashat, Egypt’s Minister for International Cooperation outlined the importance of climate finance in an article in the Guardian in May 2022,.
“For us, what we want this COP to be about is moving from pledges to implementation. And we want to highlight what are the practical policies and practices, the processes that can actually push the pledges, to bridge that gap.”
She added: “We want this COP to be about the practicalities: what is it that we need to do to operationalise the pledges into implementation?”
A ‘COP’ means ‘conference of parties’ and the parties are the governments which have signed the UN Framework Convention of Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol or the Paris Agreement. They meet once a year to discuss how to jointly address climate change the first such meeting – ‘COP1’ – took place in Berlin, Germany in 1995.
How is climate change affecting Malawi?
Malawi is among the World Bank’s top 10 nations to be worst affected by climate change. The climate crisis is already bringing more intense rainfall, and more frequent floods and drought to the country, with temperatures predicted to rise by up to 5° Celsius before the end of the century. Per capita Malawi emits only a fiftieth of the green-house gases of people in the UK.
Title
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
Read more
As more than 80 percent of Malawi’s population live in rural areas, the vast majority depend on agriculture for their livelihood. The impacts of climate change threaten the production of staple foods that families rely on and are putting lives at risk. Climate change also affects other sectors such as fisheries and forestry – all of which provide food and income to rural communities throughout Malawi. Erratic rainfall poses a challenge to crop production, as do higher temperatures and droughts as well as dry spells in the rainy season, all of which are becoming more and more common.
Climate predictions are that there will be increased frequency of heavy rainfall and droughts and by 2050, temperatures will increase by 1–3 degrees. There will be a later onset / earlier cessation of the rainy season and an increase in the average monthly rainfall from Dec – Jan and a decrease from Feb – April.
These factors will:
- reduce yields of rainfed crops and increase risk of crop diseases
- affect when plants are grown and reduce soil quality
- lead to food shortages, increases in food prices and malnutrition
- reduce water supplies and water levels in rivers and lakes
- increase siltation in lakes and rivers
- encourage fish to migrate to cooler waters
- damage fish habitats
- cause widespread loss of biodiversity
- dry out wetland areas
- reduce hydroelectric production
- increase forest fires
Cyclone Idai, which hit Malawi in 2019, is one example of how climate change is affecting Malawians. The cyclone caused an estimated £220 million in damages and directly impacted over 975,000 people, killing 60, injuring 672, and leaving more than 86,000 without homes.
What is happening in Malawi is just one example of the many injustices poor people across the globe face as a result of climate change. Ripple Africa hopes that COP27 will lead to world leaders and politicians agreeing immediate and determined political action to address climate change before it becomes irreversible.
Some of our projects that are helping Malawi
Forest Conservation
We are working with over 1,800 Forest Conservation Committee members patrolling 340 sq.kms of forest. They educate community members on the problems of deforestation and ensure the conservation bylaws are understood.
Anyone caught illegally chopping down trees or starting fires is fined. Once an area is protected, natural regeneration occurs, thus preserving the forest for future generations.
Our tree planting project supports forest conservation. We work with farmers and communities who are planting millions of trees each year, and these provide a sustainable source of timber and firewood for local people thus reducing the pressure on the forests.
Efficient Cookstoves
Our simple fuel-efficient cookstoves are a solution to climate change. They only use one third of the firewood compared to traditional cooking methods. This reduces the pressure on existing forests.
We are currently working with 110,000 families in Malawi who each have a fuel-efficient cookstove and every week they save a combined 220,000 bundles of firewood.
There is a benefit to you, the planet and their lives also. These are:
- Less risk of burns and smoke inhalation
- Less wood used so saves time collecting firewood
- Faster cooking as two things can be cooked at once
FAMILY PLANNING
Many of the climate change issues facing Malawi are also linked to the increasing population.
We are helping to change peoples’ views on family size, which not only directly impacts the health and well-being of families, but also contributes to better conservation of natural resources, so that the environment benefits as a result.
We provide education about the contraceptive choices available, how they work and the side effects to each one, and we are helping couples to build stronger partnerships and work together more.
We hope to extend the reach of the project to a wider area and test whether the methods we are using can be replicated and establish whether more communities are keen to adopt a change for a better future.
Support our Climate Action projects today.
What is COP27?
You probably heard a lot last year about COP26, as it was held in the UK. This year, COP27 is taking place in Sharm el Sheik in Egypt between 6th and 18th November.
COP27 is the 27th climate change COP. The conference has been described as an “African COP” with the event’s tagline “Together for implementation”. It’s expected the severe impact countries in Africa are facing due to climate change, including droughts, floods, erosion and desertification will be key topics of discussion.
One of the main objectives of COP27 will be the pledge to limit global warming to below 2C and how to keep the 1.5C target. Other key areas include addressing extreme weather events such as flooding or forest fires, with the objective to enhance “global agenda for action on adaptation”, climate finance and support and collaboration to turn what was discussed at Glasgow COP26 into action.
Rania Al Mashat, Egypt’s Minister for International Cooperation outlined the importance of climate finance in an article in the Guardian in May 2022,.
“For us, what we want this COP to be about is moving from pledges to implementation. And we want to highlight what are the practical policies and practices, the processes that can actually push the pledges, to bridge that gap.”
She added: “We want this COP to be about the practicalities: what is it that we need to do to operationalise the pledges into implementation?”
A ‘COP’ means ‘conference of parties’ and the parties are the governments which have signed the UN Framework Convention of Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol or the Paris Agreement. They meet once a year to discuss how to jointly address climate change the first such meeting – ‘COP1’ – took place in Berlin, Germany in 1995.
Title
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
COP26 - Glasgow 2021
You’ve probably heard about COP26 and wondered what it is all about. A ‘COP’ means ‘conference of parties’ and the parties are the governments which have signed the UN Framework Convention of Climate Change (UNFCCC). They meet once a year to discuss how to jointly address climate change the first such meeting – ‘COP1’ – took place in Berlin, Germany in 1995.
COP26 is the 26th climate change COP and is being held in Glasgow from 31st October to 12th November. 200 countries are being asked for their plans to cut emissions by 2030. Over the course of 2 weeks, participants attend sessions and seminars to discuss topics related to the climate crisis, such as:
- Ways of adapting to our changing climate that protect communities, food supplies and natural habitats.
- Climate finance (how to finance solutions to the crisis and help poorer countries deal with the impacts).
- Reducing carbon emissions (who needs to reduce what, and by how much).
The most famous talks happened at COP21 which was held in Paris in 2015, when 195 countries signed an agreement to reduce emissions and aim to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees C or less. But there has been little progress towards that goal. The world is warming because of fossil fuel emissions and extreme weather events linked to climate change – including heatwaves, floods and forest fires – are intensifying. The past decade was the warmest on record and urgent action is needed.
As host nation, the UK will likely want all countries to back a strong statement that recommits to net zero emissions by 2050 – as well as big reductions by 2030.
It will also want specific pledges on ending coal, petrol cars and protecting nature.
Developing countries will want a significant financial package over the next five years, to help them adapt to rising temperatures.
Anything short of this is likely to be judged inadequate because there simply isn’t more time to keep the 1.5°C goal alive.
How is climate change affecting Malawi?
Malawi is among the World Bank’s top 10 nations to be worst affected by climate change. The climate crisis is already bringing more intense rainfall, and more frequent floods and drought to the country, with temperatures predicted to rise by up to 5° Celsius before the end of the century. Per capita Malawi emits only a fiftieth of the green-house gases of people in the UK.
As more than 80 percent of Malawi’s population live in rural areas, the vast majority depend on agriculture for their livelihood. The impacts of climate change threaten the production of staple foods that families rely on and are putting lives at risk. Climate change also affects other sectors such as fisheries and forestry – all of which provide food and income to rural communities throughout Malawi. Erratic rainfall poses a challenge to crop production, as do higher temperatures and droughts as well as dry spells in the rainy season, all of which are becoming more and more common.
Title
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
Read more
Climate predictions are that there will be increased frequency of heavy rainfall and droughts and by 2050, temperatures will increase by 1–3 degrees. There will be a later onset / earlier cessation of the rainy season and an increase in the average monthly rainfall from Dec – Jan and a decrease from Feb – April.
These factors will:
- reduce yields of rainfed crops and increase risk of crop diseases
- affect when plants are grown and reduce soil quality
- lead to food shortages, increases in food prices and malnutrition
- reduce water supplies and water levels in rivers and lakes
- increase siltation in lakes and rivers
- encourage fish to migrate to cooler waters
- damage fish habitats
- cause widespread loss of biodiversity
- dry out wetland areas
- reduce hydroelectric production
- increase forest fires
Cyclone Idai, which hit Malawi in 2019, is one example of how climate change is affecting Malawians. The cyclone caused an estimated £220 million in damages and directly impacted over 975,000 people, killing 60, injuring 672, and leaving more than 86,000 without homes.
What is happening in Malawi is just one example of the many injustices poor people across the globe face as a result of climate change. Ripple Africa hopes that COP27 will lead to world leaders and politicians agreeing immediate and determined political action to address climate change before it becomes irreversible.
Our projects that are helping Malawi
Tree Planting
We work with farmers and communities who are planting millions of trees each year, and these provide a sustainable source of timber and firewood for local people.
Our tree planting project is one of the largest and most successful in the north of Malawi providing a long-term solution to deforestation caused by the destruction of indigenous forests.
We are also working with over 1,800 Forest Conservation Committee members patrolling 340 sq.kms of forest. They educate community members on the problems of deforestation and ensure the conservation bylaws are understood.
Anyone caught illegally chopping down trees or starting fires is fined. Once an area is protected, natural regeneration occurs, thus preserving the forest for future generations.
Forest Conservation
We are working with over 1,800 Forest Conservation Committee members patrolling 340 sq.kms of forest. They educate community members on the problems of deforestation and ensure the conservation bylaws are understood.
Anyone caught illegally chopping down trees or starting fires is fined. Once an area is protected, natural regeneration occurs, thus preserving the forest for future generations.
Our tree planting project supports forest conservation. We work with farmers and communities who are planting millions of trees each year, and these provide a sustainable source of timber and firewood for local people thus reducing the pressure on the forests.
Efficient Cookstoves
Our simple fuel-efficient cookstoves are a solution to climate change. They only use one third of the firewood compared to traditional cooking methods. This reduces the pressure on existing forests.
We are currently working with 110,000 families in Malawi who each have a fuel-efficient cookstove and every week they save a combined 220,000 bundles of firewood.
There is a benefit to you, the planet and their lives also. These are:
- Less risk of burns and smoke inhalation
- Less wood used so saves time collecting firewood
- Faster cooking as two things can be cooked at once
Fish Conservation
In recent years, overfishing has led to reduced fish stocks but our fish conservation project tackles this national problem by empowering local communities and officials to take control of the situation in their own areas. It is a sustainable approach both environmentally and financially.
We have established 326 Beach Village Committees who are protecting 85 Chambo fish breeding grounds along 450 km of shoreline.
A fishing closed season has been adopted and fishermen are using larger meshed gill nets and catching bigger fish instead of using mosquito nets and smaller meshed nets.
FAMILY PLANNING
Many of the climate change issues facing Malawi are also linked to the increasing population.
We are helping to change peoples’ views on family size, which not only directly impacts the health and well-being of families, but also contributes to better conservation of natural resources, so that the environment benefits as a result.
We provide education about the contraceptive choices available, how they work and the side effects to each one, and we are helping couples to build stronger partnerships and work together more.
We hope to extend the reach of the project to a wider area and test whether the methods we are using can be replicated and establish whether more communities are keen to adopt a change for a better future.