AFRICANEWS.COM reporter Harold Williams from Sierra Leone has successfully covered events at the 14th Conference of Parties meeting in Poznan, Poland.

AFRICANEWS.COM can now enjoy the benefits of more accurate coverage of Climate Change topics from both the Sierra Leonean and African perspective, following a several weeks of communication between Harold Williams, climate change experts and the CCMP.

Professor Ogunlade Davidson, who is a Sierra Leonean and a Co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, told AFRICANEWS.COM that Africans should expect better clarifications on their obligations what they should expect in terms of the mitigation of carbon emissions and their adaptation to the climate changes which emerge from atmospheric pollutants.

In Sierra Leone, this means the implementation of the National Action Plan on Adaptation, formulated in line with the existing Kyoto Protocol and hopefully more awareness being created about the country’s contribution, albeit miniscule, to global-scale atmospheric pollution.

According to Professor Davidson, Sierra Leone’s mitigation of its own share of the so-called “Green House Gases” responsible for climate change will affect the aesthetic quality of life for its citizens, rather that yield any significant carbon-reduction.

Research carried out by AFRICANEWS.COM, as a result of the involvement of Harold Williams with the Climate Change Media Partnership, shows that deforestation and unsustainable land use are responsible for local carbon sink-reduction.

Fuel wood and charcoal produced through the “slash-and-burn ” method of farmland preparation reduce forest cover and the capacity of Sierra Leone to absorb its own share of harmful Carbon Dioxide, a primary Green House Gas. The deforestation extends also to Mangrove Areas which exacerbate flooding as the impending danger of rising sea levels has already manifested itself in places such as the notorious slum estuary of Kroo Bay in the nation’s capital, Freetown.

With the recognition that clean sources of energy production, such as the soon to be completed Bumbuna Hydro Power Plant, can eliminate much of the impetus for fuel wood collection, Sierra Leone can benefit from a better quality of life, let alone boast of doing its own part to reduce carbon escape into the atmosphere.

Harold Williams, an Environmental Journalist by profession, will adopt much of his Climate Change Partnership Skills into the expansion of online media, local freelance radio and print news, in addition to his weekly television program, ENVIROSCOPE.