Nation Media Group journalists win big at ACCER Awards

What you need to know:

  • The Daily Nation’s Deputy News Editor, Patrick Mayoyo, was declared the overall winner of the ACCER awards
  • All the winners were given cash prizes, trophies and certificates while three overall winners will enjoy an all-expenses paid trip to cover the 20th session of the UN Summit on Climate Change

Nation Media Group journalists emerged victorious during the African Climate Change and Environmental Reporting (ACCER) Awards held in Nairobi on Wednesday night.

The Daily Nation’s Deputy News Editor, Patrick Mayoyo, was declared the overall winner of the ACCER Awards that included entries in print, online, television and radio.

Mr Mayoyo’s entry “Ice on the Equator may soon be relegated to history books” that highlights how glaciers on Mt Kenya, Mt Kilimanjaro and Mt Ruwenzori are disappearing at alarming rates due to effects of climate change was declared the best entry out of more than 300 entries.

Mr Mayoyo was also the overall winner in the online category during the gala night held at Tribe Hotel as part of the events headlining the ongoing UN Environmental Assembly at Unep.

NTV's Zeynab Wandati won in the television category while her colleague Rose Wangui and cameraman Boniface Mwangi were the runners-up during the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) organised event.

Diane Nininahazwe of Burundi was the overall winner in the radio category in French while Kofi Domfeh from Ghana won in the radio category in English.

All the winners were given cash prizes, trophies and certificates while three overall winners will enjoy an all-expenses paid trip to cover the 20th session of the UN Summit on Climate Change in December in Lima, Peru.

AFRICA MOST VULNERABLE

Mounkaila Goumandakoye, the Director of Unep's Regional Office for Africa, said that reports released recently show Africa is still the continent most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

He warned of a food crisis on the continent due to a population explosion that is expected to grow by more 100 per cent from 1 billion to 2 billion, while eight of the 10 most food insecure countries are in Africa.

“Experts have warned that if the current situation persists, Africa will be fulfilling only 13 per cent of its food needs by 2050. By 2050, even a change of about 1.2 to 2 degrees Celsius is likely to increase the number of the continent’s undernourished by 25 per cent to 95 per cent,” he said.

Mr Goumandakoye said the UN Economic Commission for Africa has estimated that African countries could lose between two and 16 per cent of gross domestic product due to stunting of children as a result of malnutrition.

The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) Secretary-General Mithika Mwenda said the coalition will continue to play a major role in nurturing innovative ideas necessary to effectively confront the main challenges of 21st century.

“These complex challenges, such as climate change, will require collaboration from various stakeholders to defeat. And that is the spirit the ACCER Awards exemplifies,” he said.

Mr Mwenda said the ACCER Awards partnership strengthens the trust between the civil society and governments in Africa.

“Indeed, this resonates with the UN call for collaboration to defeat the challenges of climate change,” he said.