MIGOMBANI, 16 May 2012 – The East African archipelago of Zanzibar is attempting to win “environmental independence” from Tanzania by joining an organisation that promotes the sustainable development of islands in the Indian Ocean.
Zanzibar has lodged a formal membership application with the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), a regional cooperation body whose current members are Comoros, Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar and Reunion.
Although Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, officials in the archipelago’s own government, as well as some scientists, maintain that the isles have different needs from the mainland in dealing with climate change.
Backers of Zanzibar’s entry into the IOC argue that membership will help it deal more effectively with environmental threats. Parts of the islands suffer from beach erosion, flooding and high salinity in arable land, which is itself scarce.
Amina Shaaban, Planning Commissioner in the Zanzibar government’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, listed the development challenges confronting the archipelago as including unsustainable agricultural and livestock practices, depleted fisheries, deforestation, quarrying and sand mining, water pollution, and threats to food security and tourism.
For the complete article, please see AlertNet.
The European Parliament yesterday, 3 July 2018, voted for a report on EU Climate Diplomacy and emphasized the EU’s responsibility to lead on climate action as well as conflict prevention.
As Day Zeroes are becoming commonplace across the world, India needs to prepare itself for its worst-ever water crisis by establishing a network of water policies and programmes, ranging from community engagement to multilateral/bilateral collaboration.
It’s that time of the year: once again the Climate Diplomacy Week provided the space for EU delegations around the world to engage with communities and partner organisations on issues of climate change.
High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini hosted on 22 June 2018 an unprecedented high level event - Climate, Peace and Security: The Time for Action - which drove home both the urgency and importance of tackling the risks that climate change poses to security and peace. Ministers from around the world, top United Nations officials, and leading experts testified to the many real and potential security threats deriving from climate change.