Access to running water remains in a state of crisis for a huge number of people across Africa, writes Michel Makpenon. With growing urbanisation across the continent, African cities will need the political determination to ensure sustainable water resources based on social need rather than commercial concerns, he stresses.

Linking carbon credits to clean water initiatives as a means of reducing carbon emissions is simply a corporate effort to cash in on measures to tackle climate change, writes Shiney Varghese.

British firms have acquired more land in Africa for controversial biofuel plantations than companies from any other country, a Guardian investigation has revealed. Half of the 3.2m hectares (ha) of biofuel land identified - in countries from Mozambique to Senegal - is linked to 11 British companies, more than any other country. Liquid fuels made from plants - such as bioethanol - are hailed by some as environmentally-friendly replacements for fossil fuels. Because they compete for land with crop plants, biofuels have also been linked to record food prices and rising hunger. There are also fears they can increase greenhouse gas emissions.

A radical rethink of current energy policy can cut South Africa's greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent in 2050 compared to 1990 levels. More than that - after an initial spike in investment - South Africans four decades down the line would pay 23 billion dollars per year less for their electricity compared to business as usual. This scenario is presented in a report titled 'The Advanced Energy [R]evolution: a Sustainable Energy Outlook for South Africa', presented on 25 May in Johannesburg by the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) and Greenpeace.

China, India and Saudi Arabia have lately leased vast tracts of land in sub-Saharan Africa at knockdown prices. Their primary aim is to grow food abroad using the water that African countries don't have the infrastructure to exploit. Doing so is cheaper and easier than using water resources back home. But it is a plan that could well backfire. 'There is no doubt that this is not just about land, this is about water,' says Philip Woodhouse of the University of Manchester, UK. Take Saudi Arabia, for instance. Between 2004 and 2009, it leased 376,000 hectares of land in Sudan to grow wheat and rice. At the same time the country cut back on wheat production on home soil, which is irrigated with water from aquifers that are no longer replenished - a finite resource.

The army and Ekurhuleni metro cops helped the police in 'unlawful raids' on shops owned by Somali nationals in Ramaphosa, east of Joburg.Details of the SANDF’s alleged actions are contained in an affidavit filed by the Somali Community Board’s (Scob) national secretary Amir Sheikh at the South Gauteng High Court. Scob, the representative organisation for Somali nationals in South Africa, successfully applied for an order to stop Greater Gauteng Business Forum (GGBF) members from 'intimidating, harassing, hindering and interfering with businesses owned by people of foreign extract'.

Chevron's Annual General Meeting of shareholders kicked off at the San Ramon headquarters of the California-based oil giant in late May. Chevron's CEO John Watson, its Board of Directors and shareholders were greeted by over 150 activists, who had traveled to San Ramon from regions the world over, from Angola to Indonesia, from Alaska to Ecuador, to share the stories of the human and environmental degradation Chevron had unleashed in their communities.

There is growing unease among green energy developers that there will be even more delays to the procurement of green power - the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) announced it would release its revised tariffs for renewable energy only in mid-June. They were expected by the end of May. Besides having to wait for clarity about what they can expect to be paid for their power, broader policy uncertainty and other bottlenecks are contributing to unhappiness over the roll-out of green power, despite the government's commitments to boosting the development of renewable energy.

The University of Sussex invites applications for a fully funded PhD scholarship for research into climate change and the African climate system. ??

The ‘The Peter Carpenter Climate Change Scholarship’ is open to citizens of African countries only, and has a start date of October 2011. The scholarship covers 100 per cent of tuition fees and provides a stipend for living expenses of approximately £13,400. The scholarship is one component of the African Climate Initiative at Sussex, which aims to better understand the nature, causes and consequences of, and responses to climate change in Africa. ??We invite applications from those with an exceptional academic record including a first class degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. meteorology, physics, environmental science, geosciences, geography). Candidates with the equivalent of an upper second class degree and relevant professional experience may be considered.

Closing date for applications is 8 July 2011.??

The PhD programme??

The PhD will be supervised within the department of Geography, where there is a vibrant research programme into the climate of Africa (www.sussex.ac.uk/geography/research/clusters/climateresearch). The PhD will be focus on one of the major research themes in the department; Climate change and the water cycle, atmospheric aerosols; land-atmosphere interaction. Potential topics are provided on the webpage. Depending on qualifications the successful candidate can undertake a one year MSc in either ‘Climate Change and Development’ or ‘Climate Change and Policy’ prior to the 3-year PhD research programme (www.sussex.ac.uk/climatechange/mscprogrammes).

??Climate Change research at Sussex??

The cross campus Sussex climate change network (www.sussex.ac.uk/climatechange) is a virtual centre for multi-disciplinary research and teaching into the causes, consequences of, and responses to climate change. The network brings together world leading researchers from the University of Sussex and the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) in a multi-disciplinary programme of research and teaching to improve our understanding of how climate change is developing, the impacts on people and the implications for mitigation and adaptation policy and action. Within the context of Africa, the network facilitates multi-disciplinary research to improve the quality of climate information available and its use in sustainable climate adaptation practice, for example in water management and agriculture. The University offers state-of-the-art computing facilities for climate research.??Contacts??For further information email [email][email protected]?Or informally email [email][email protected]??How to apply??Candidates should apply on-line at http://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/pg/applying/

Candidates should ensure that they clearly state on the application form that they are applying for the Peter Carpenter Climate Change Scholarship

??Applications should be submitted by 8 July 2011

Thousands of farmers in Western Kenya are attracting global attention after being the first group in Africa to win financing from the World Bank (WB) to use agriculture to fight climate change. The farmers, spread in 45,000 hectares of land in Bungoma, Malakisi, Bondo, and Kisumu, will receive Sh28 million (US$350,000) from WB's BioCarbon Fund to adopt environmentally-friendly agricultural practices that cut carbon emissions to the atmosphere.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/530/contaminated_water_tmb.jpg… Moloo investigates the impact of a Canadian-based gold mine on the North Mara region in Tanzania. Villagers in the area complain about deaths and ill-health due to pollution of the Thigithe River.

The Association for Rural Advancement (AFRA) supports the demands of South Africa’s landless people for the land claims process to be re-opened, and supports the suggestion that this process should include restitution of land lost prior to 1913.

The Government of Liberia and the European Union have signed an agreement to end illegal logging in Liberia. The deal, in the form of a Voluntary Partnership Agreement, will ensure that all timber exported from Liberia to the EU comes from legal sources. It also contains provisions to ensure that the trade will benefit the Liberian people. Illegal logging was common during the country’s civil war in the 1990s. Former President of Liberia, Charles Taylor, was accused of selling timber to fund his regime. Much of this illegal timber found a market in the EU. In response, the United Nations placed sanctions on timber exports in 2006.

SA is not in any kind of energy crisis, despite the unfolding crisis at nuclear plants in Japan, an activist organisation has said. 'It's [the energy crisis] a complete fabrication. Of our total capacity, domestic users account for 18 per cent,' Muna Lakhani, Cape Town branch co-ordinator for Earthlife Africa told News24. Recently the government has announced that it intends to move toward a green energy production, but has come under fire from environmentalists for continued discussions on nuclear energy.

Nato aircrafts have blasted an oil terminal in a key eastern city in a nightfall strike, Libyan TV reported, after Britain urged the alliance to widen its assault on areas controlled by ruler Muammar Gaddafi. The reported attack came as the Libyan conflict appeared largely stalemated, with each side claiming gains one day, only to be turned back the next.

An open field in Tafelsig turned into a war zone at the weekend as a group of land invaders pelted police and city law enforcers with rocks and bottles. The officers retaliated by firing rubber bullets and blasting the invaders with a water cannon to bring them under control. The group, who call themselves the Mitchell’s Plain Backyarders’ Association, moved on to the Swartklip Sports Field on Saturday.

South African shackdwellers’ movement Abahlali baseMjondolo has issued a statement in support of the Makhaza back yard dwellers, whose homes are being demolished by the City of Cape Town without a court order.

The farmers of Makeni, in central Sierra Leone, signed the contract with their thumbs. In exchange for promises of 2,000 jobs, and reassurances that the bolis (swamps where rice is grown) would not be drained, they approved a deal granting a Swiss company a 50-year lease on 40,000 hectares of land to grow biofuels for Europe. Three years later 50 new jobs exist, irrigation has damaged the bolis and such development as there has been has come 'at the social, environmental and economic expense of local communities', says Elisa Da Vià of Cornell University in this article from The Economist about land grabbing.

The rainy season is just beginning in Ivory Coast. But in many places, the rain will fall on unplanted ground. Although the post-election fighting is mostly over, many farmers, especially in western regions, have not yet returned to their land. The UN refugee agency estimates that one million people have been displaced in and around Abidjan, with at least 200,000 displaced in the west. Few people remain on their farms to cultivate the land.

Hundreds of farmers in El-Gezira state in central Sudan staged demonstrations to reject what they described as injustice inflicted upon them by the government in evaluating rental price of land plots they own. The protestors marched in Barakat town and set up tents in front of the headquarters of the El-Gezira agricultural project and threatened an extended sit-in until their demands are met. They chanted slogans including 'No for sale, Yes for rental' and 'Your land is your honour'.