united nations environment programme

Countless organisations around the globe are sharing tips on how to save the planet on World Environment Day on 5 June. But they will also encourage people to turn these tips into daily habits.

Climate change need not spell disaster for Africa, a panel of experts agrees. But to mitigate its effects, strong enforcement of laws needs to be put in place, and urban planning needs to be modernised and include urban green planning. Trees must be planted and open spaces preserved.

For 48-year-old Nokwanda Sotyantya, a member of a local recycling cooperative from the Imizamo Yethu informal settlement outside Cape Town, South Africa's move towards a "green" economy has turned her life around.

South Africa's Standard Bank Group is to help replace kerosene lamps with hand-held LED lights in 1.5-million homes in Tanzania, funding the scheme by buying the carbon credits generated through the large-scale replacement of fossil fuel lighting.

The UN Environment Programme has partnered with South Africa's Standard Bank and Germany's International Climate Initiative to develop a new carbon project as part of the fight against climate change in Africa. The initiative has already awarded grants to three "green" projects around the continent.

South Africans are being urged to plant a tree to help save the planet this Arbour Week, starting on 1 September. Tree planting remains one of the most cost-effective ways of addressing climate change, thanks to trees' ability to absorb carbon dioxide.