Climate change directly affects our communities, health, and livelihoods. Yet, media coverage often prioritises politics and business over climate-related stories, leaving crucial environmental news under-reported.
Climate Watch seeks to bridge this information gap, ensuring that important climate change stories and mitigation efforts stay on your radar.
Here is a round-up of last week’s climate stories:
- As glaciers disappear at an alarming rate due to climate change, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly has declared 2025 the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation (IYGP). The UN also declared March 21 every year as the World Day for Glaciers starting in 2025. Glaciers and ice sheets hold around 70 percent of the world’s freshwater and their rapid loss presents an urgent environmental and humanitarian crisis. Co-facilitated by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), this global initiative seeks to unite efforts worldwide to protect these vital water sources, which provide freshwater to more than 2 billion people.
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United States President Donald Trump has pulled the US from the Paris climate agreement for a second time. The decision was one of a raft of executive orders signed by Trump on January 20 after being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. The US is one of the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases. The move means the United States, Iran, Libya and Yemen are now the only countries in the world outside the 2015 pact. Read more here.
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Nnaemeka Chukwuone, director of resource and environmental policy research (REPRC)/environment for development (EfD) initiative at theUniversity of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), says the country could generate over $2 billion from its carbon market activation programme by 2030. Speaking in Abuja on January 20, Chukwuone described carbon markets as trading systems where governments and organisations can buy and sell carbon credits to reduce emissions. He said the carbon market has substantial revenue potential, noting that its efficient implementation could create numerous job opportunities. Read more here.
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The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) says it will unveil its 2025 seasonal climate prediction (SCP) on February 4. The report titled ‘The Role of Early Warnings towards a Climate Resilient Aviation Industry for Sustainable Socio-Economic Development’ will provide “crucial” climate-related forecasts for the year. Find out more here.
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A recent report says Nigeria receives an average of four percent ($704 million) of the $17.7 billion required annually to address climate-related disasters. The report, titled ‘The state of climate finance in Nigeria,’ was jointly published by Connected Development (CODE), Oxfam Nigeria, and INKA Consult. The report said between 2015 and 2021, the country received $4.9 billion for 828 climate-related projects, which was “far from sufficient”. It revealed that within the period, 75 percent of climate funding came in the form of concessional loans, thereby increasing Nigeria’s debt burden. Find out more here.
Advertisement - Ahmadu Fintiri, governor of Adamawa state, says floods displaced 52,000 people, damaged 13,944 houses and destroyed over 10,722 hectares of farmland across the state last year. Speaking during a meeting with a Swiss delegation in Yola, the state capital, Fintiri said flooding severely damaged key infrastructure, including 14 bridges and seven culverts, disrupting transportation and communication networks in the state. Read more here.
- Brazil has appointed André Corrêa do Lago, the country’s secretary for climate, energy, and environment at the ministry of foreign affairs, as the president of the 30th session of the United Nations climate change conference (COP30). The country also appointed Ana Toni, the national secretary for climate change at the ministry of environment, as the executive director of COP30. The high-level climate event is scheduled to take place from November 10 to 21 in Belém, Brazil. Find out more here.
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