S20secretariat2025@assaf.org.za, Author at S20 South Africa

20 January 2026

Africa maps a path for responsible carbon removal

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d44148-025-00402-z

Scientists in southern Africa sketch a negative-emissions industry guided by local evidence, social justice and ecological limits.

With the Paris Agreement temperature limit now widely anticipated to be breached within the next decade, the climate debate has fundamentally shifted. The question is no longer if the world will overshoot 1.5°C but how the consequences will be managed.

This shift was evident at COP30 in Brazil in November 2025, where carbon dioxide removal (CDR) gained unprecedented prominence, including a dedicated pavilion carrying the message “no net zero without carbon removal”.

African scientists say that this moment demands rigorous, clear thinking for the continent, and a departure from untested or externally imposed solutions.

CLIMATE CHANGE

28 November 2025

West Africa shows growing leadership in climate change

Source: https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20251126112753718&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=AFNL0520

Two West African climate science institutions have touted their achievements and future plans at COP30, which ended in Belém, Brazil, on 21 November, highlighting West Africa’s growing leadership in the global fight against climate change.

They are the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use, WASCAL, and the AICCRA, which is the Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR (Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) Climate Research for Africa.

The two regional bodies showcased their successes at COP30, including how scientific collaboration and innovation are driving regional resilience and advancing climate research in West Africa.

CLIMATE CHANGE

28 November 2025

‘African voices must be brought into global climate debates’

Source: https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=2025112612063356&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=AFNL0520

“Given the scale of climate and environmental change – particularly in Africa – universities and research, broadly, have a crucial role to play. They can help to break traditional development paradigms tied to fossil fuels and explore transformative pathways that support sustainable jobs and resilient societies.”

This is according to Professor Laura Pereira, a leading scholar of sustainability transformations and futures at the University of the Witwatersrand’s Global Change Institute in South Africa.

CLIMATE CHANGEG20

25 November 2025

G20 Leaders’ Declaration reiterates climate and climate finance as priority concerns

Source: https://www.e3g.org/news/g20-endorsement-climate-action/

As COP30 wrapped up in Belem, G20 Leaders stepped up this weekend to provide a strong endorsement of the Paris Agreement and a commitment to remain ambitious to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees.

The message could not have been clearer that climate action, as well as resilience to the impacts of climate change, are a key priority.
Their Leaders’ Declaration is on behalf of all who attended the Johannesburg meeting, this does not include the United States of America, which was absent, despite holding next year’s G20 Presidency. It is likely we will see a sharp change of tone and agenda next year.
However, the 2025 statement aims to send a message of agenda continuity over multiple years, celebrating multiple ongoing G20 workstreams including some agendas created in previous years.

CLIMATE CHANGE

24 November 2025

This year’s climate talks saw real progress – just not on fossil fuels

Source: https://theconversation.com/this-years-climate-talks-saw-real-progress-just-not-on-fossil-fuels-269903

It wasn’t a comfortable process for the tens of thousands of delegates trying to hash out progress on climate change on the edge of the Amazon in Belém, Brazil. I experienced the challenges of the United Nations COP30 climate talks firsthand.

Delegates were hot and sweaty. Tech and aircon didn’t always work. Both flood and fire disrupted negotiations over the fortnight of negotiations. It drove home how climate change feels. But despite the discomfort, some progress was made.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva dubbed it the “COP of Truth”. Delegates did not shy away from the urgency of the moment as climate change intensifies and emissions continue to climb.

CLIMATE CHANGE

17 November 2025

ASSAf Joins Global Coalition to Drive Climate-Health Action Ahead of COP30

Source: https://africasciencenews.org/assaf-joins-global-coalition-to-drive-climate-health-action-ahead-of-cop30/

“Climate change is the defining health challenge of our time,” said Professor Himla Soodyall, Executive Officer of ASSAf. “By joining this Global Coalition, ASSAf reaffirms its commitment to ensuring that African science informs global climate–health policy. Our goal is to strengthen resilience, equity, and health systems in ways that protect both people and the planet.”

Global-Coalition-of-Academies-of-Medicine-for-COP30-event-graphic

CLIMATE CHANGE

24 November 2025

ASSAf joins global coalition of academies of medicine

Source: https://yiba.co.za/assaf-joins-global-coalition-of-academies-of-medicine/

The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) has joined leading national academies of medicine and medical divisions of academies of sciences worldwide in launching the Global Coalition of Academies of Medicine on Climate and Health (the Coalition). This landmark collaboration aims to strengthen the scientific foundation for responses to climate-related health risks. It supports the Belém Health Action Plan (BHAP) – Brazil’s framework for integrating health across climate adaptation and mitigation, unveiled at COP30.

The Coalition brings together academies from across continents to provide independent, evidence-based guidance, foster knowledge exchange, and catalyse action at the intersection of climate and health. Through this collaboration, members will work collectively to help governments, health systems, and communities implement practical, equitable, and science-informed solutions.

Representing South Africa, ASSAf will contribute its expertise in climate science, health research, and policy translation to ensure African perspectives and priorities are reflected in global efforts. The Academy has long championed science-based responses to environmental and public health challenges through initiatives such as the Science20 (S20) engagement group of the G20 and the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) network.

CLIMATE CHANGE

24 November 2025

Deep in the Amazon, scientists build a ‘time capsule’ to predict future of climate change

Source: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/deep-in-the-amazon-scientists-build-a-time-capsule-to-predict-future-of-climate-change

Hundreds of miles from the U.N. conference on climate change that wrapped this weekend in Belém, Brazil, scientists are conducting a first-of-its-kind experiment that could help future policymakers address the issue.

WATCH VIDEO

CLIMATE CHANGE

24 November 2025

Takeaways from the COP30 climate summit in Brazil

Source: https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/cop/takeaways-cop30-climate-summit-brazil-2025-11-23/

BELEM, Brazil, Nov 23 (Reuters) – This year’s U.N. climate change summit ended with a tenuous compromise for a deal that skipped over most countries’ key demands but for one: committing wealthy countries to triple their spending to help others adapt to global warming.

The need to show global unity in climate talks was the main thing countries agreed, along with the idea that long-polluting wealthy countries should do most to tackle the problem.

But to get to a final deal, they ditched nearly all ambitions they’d brought – including mandatory tightening targets for reducing climate-warming emissions.

Brazil’s COP30 presidency lamented the United States’ snubbing of the talks. The absence of the world’s biggest economy – and biggest historical polluter – emboldened countries with fossil fuel interests.

Rumbling concerns about a process that allows only a few to effectively veto collective deals grew louder, stoking calls for reform.

After Brazil had promised a ‘COP of Truth‘ that would set countries on course for action, the omission of any agreed implementation plans was glaring.

CLIMATE CHANGE

24 November 2025

Researchers issue warning after discovering alarming link to heart disease: ‘Cause around one in five … deaths’

Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/researchers-issue-warning-discovering-alarming-233000767.html

A new data assessment is helping to quantify the significant impacts of environmental factors on heart disease cases in Europe.

According to an early-November briefing from the European Environment Agency, factors such as air pollution, extreme temperatures, and exposure to harmful chemicals “cause around one in five cardiovascular deaths in the European Union.”

S20 South Africa

Africa maps a path for responsible carbon removal

West Africa shows growing leadership in climate change

‘African voices must be brought into global climate debates’

G20 Leaders’ Declaration reiterates climate and climate finance as priority concerns

This year’s climate talks saw real progress – just not on fossil fuels

ASSAf Joins Global Coalition to Drive Climate-Health Action Ahead of COP30

ASSAf joins global coalition of academies of medicine

Deep in the Amazon, scientists build a ‘time capsule’ to predict future of climate change

Takeaways from the COP30 climate summit in Brazil

Researchers issue warning after discovering alarming link to heart disease: ‘Cause around one in five … deaths’

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