A swampy swath of the Congo Basin has become a new battleground between those seeking revenue from natural resources and those concerned about keeping them in the ground.

This is part of an ongoing series exploring the lives of people around the world who have been forced to move because of rising seas, drought, searing temperatures and other things caused or exacerbated by climate change.

Millions of people are facing food insecurity.  Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia could be experiencing their worst drought in 40 years this October-December with drier-than-average conditions predicted.

While three African presidents flew to the Netherlands for the Africa Adaptation Summit on Monday, only Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte was there to meet with them.

A two-year drought, mass displacement, decades of war, and a so-far sluggish aid response means more than seven million people – almost half the population – are already chronically hungry.

Famine “is at the door” in Somalia, with “concrete indications” that parts of the south-central Bay region will be in famine between October and December this year without an urgent surge in aid, the UN warned today.

“This is the final warning to all of us,” the UN’s humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths, told a press conference in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. “This is the last minute of the eleventh hour to save lives.”

In 2011, an estimated 400 children died from lead poisoning in Bagega community in Zamfara state and thousands more were found to have excess levels of lead in their blood.

In the more than a quarter century since Shell Plc left Ogoniland in southern Nigeria, oil has continued to ooze from dormant wellheads and active pipelines, leaving the 386-square mile kingdom’s wetlands shimmering with a greasy rainbow sheen, its once-lush mangroves coated in crude, well-water smelling of benzene and farmlands charred and barren. 

Gabon claims it has preserved its natural environment with satellite imagery and environment-first policies – and some industry insiders agree.

Facing deadly drought, historic floods, and extreme weather events, African politicians, civil society, and business leaders will voice calls for urgent action.

Indonesia plans to expand protection of its seas to cover an area nearly the size of Germany by 2030 — and then tripling it by 2045.

Stop blaming poor communities for deforestation, urges author of upcoming FAO report, warning oil exploration could set off a “giant carbon bomb”