Spanish clean energy investment company, Matrix Renewables, has signed a new long-term financing agreement with Bancolombia and the Inter-American Development Bank for the Los Llanos solar portfolio in Colombia.

Located in Puerto Gaitan, in the region of Meta, Colombia, the Los Llanos portfolio comprises the Bosques Solares de Los Llanos 1, 2 & 3 sites, with a capacity of 27MW each.

According to Matrix Renewables, this represents the largest operational solar PV portfolio in Colombia and is the first non-recourse long-term financing project for operating solar PV or wind in the country.

Construction and operations of the project have allowed clean electricity to be provided to Colombian households and businesses and have created over 500 jobs, with over 70% of the workers being hired locally.

Moreover, Matrix Renewables has committed to carrying out the reforestation and/or environmental enhancement of at least 168 hectares of land, in line with Colombian President Iván Duque’s renewable energy goals.

“We have significant plans in Colombia and hope to be able to reach more of these long-term financing agreements in the near future.”

The new deal adds substantial renewable energy supply to Matrix Renewables’ existing 1.3GW portfolio and international footprint across Europe, United States and Latin America.

The Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe has announced a partnership with the UK-based Global OTEC for the deployment of the first commercial floating OTEC platform.

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) technology is based on converting incoming solar radiation into electricity and is continuously available in almost all ocean locations between the tropics.

The concept of the floating platform is similar to an oil platform, however, the difference is the use of seawater versus drilling the ocean bed.

The project in São Tomé and Príncipe is a public-private partnership between Global OTEC and SIDS DOCK, the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Sustainable Energy and Climate Resilient Organization and is seen as a key way for the region to reduce the dependence on costly fossil fuels and drive the energy transition.

Prime Minister Bom Jesus noted that the private sector has already invested significant resources in developing the world’s first commercial Floating OTEC Platform, and very shortly, a pre-feasibility study will begin.

An Israeli scuba diver has salvaged an ancient sword off the country’s Mediterranean coast that experts say dates back to the Crusaders.

Israel’s Antiquities Authority said the man was on a weekend dive in northern Israel when he spotted a trove of ancient artifacts that included anchors, pottery and a meter-long (yard-long) sword.

The diver was about 150 meters (170 yards) off the coast in five-meter-deep (5.5-yard-deep) water when he made the discovery.

Experts say the area provided shelter for ancient ships and is home to many archaeological treasures, some dating back 4,000 years.

But such discoveries can be elusive because of the constantly shifting sands.

Fearing his discovery might be buried, the diver took the sword ashore and delivered it to government experts, the authority said. The weapon is estimated to be 900 years old.

“It was found encrusted with marine organisms, but is apparently made of iron,” said Nir Distelfeld, an inspector in the authority’s robbery prevention unit. “It is exciting to encounter such a personal object, taking you 900 years back in time to a different era, with knights, armor and swords.”

The sword is to be cleaned and further analyzed, while the diver, identified as Shlomi Katzin, was given a certificate of appreciation for good citizenship.

Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo on June 16, 2021, launched a 223km road project, linking the two countries – a venture that is envisioned to provide a boost to cross border trade and improve security and connectivity between the two countries.

Trade figures from the Ugandan central bank indicate growing trade between Kampala and DRC.

Although the country is still eclipsed by Uganda’s other neighbours, Kenya and South Sudan, its share of Ugandan export trade has been growing steadily.

For example, Uganda’s informal exports to DRC more than doubled from U.S.$140 million in 2014 to U.S.$330 million in 2019.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and his DR Congo counterpart Felix Tshisekedi said the infrastructure will transform the socio-economic welfare of citizens in both countries.

The project will be financed within the framework of a public-private partnership with Ugandan company DOTT Services, at 60% of the works.

The remaining 40% will be shared equally by Kinshasa and Kampala.

Coltan is one of the world’s most vital minerals, and 60% of reserves globally are found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) Kivu province.

The mineral is used in cell phones, laptops and other devices because of its particular ability to store and release electrical energy.

In 2019, 40% of the global coltan supply was produced in the country. The informality of the extractive sector provides attractive job opportunities for vulnerable children, who serve as a pool of cheap labour.

Much of the country’s coltan is extracted using the labour of over 40 000 child and teenage miners.

Coming from remote villages and towns in Kivu, they either drop out of school or have never had the opportunity to attend.

Doing adults’ work in a hazardous environment, many child miners face harassment, abuse and ill health.

Occupational hazards include daily exposure to Radon, a radioactive substance associated with coltan, which has been linked to lung cancer.

Faustin Kantanga, a civil society leader in Bukavu, told the ENACT organised crime project that coltan mines were rife with prostitution, sexually transmitted diseases and rape, and that child miners were exposed to these risks.

Those travelling long distances to smuggle coltan are also vulnerable to child traffickers and recruitment by armed groups.

In sum, illicit coltan mining and trading in the DRC is enabled by the weak implementation of certification schemes, ongoing attempts to bypass regulations, and inadequate law enforcement.

The Amboseli National Park in southern Kenya is seeing something of an elephant baby boom.

Last year, it welcomed around 200 calves, bringing its total elephant population in the 392-square-kilometer national park located 240 kilometers southeast of Nairobi along the border of Kenya and Tanzania to about 1,900.

And the trend is being reflected across the country with around 36,280 elephants, according to the Kenya Wildlife Census Report – a 12 percent rise in comparison to 2014.

Experts say it is partly down to a drop in poaching. According to Kenya Wildlife Service, the country saw a 96 percent drop in poaching last year with just 11 animals killed by poachers.

That’s in comparison to 2013, when over 386 of the creatures were poached.

This improvement is mainly attributed to increased government initiatives combating the practice and the trafficking of trophies as well collaboration with international partner trying to put a stop to the illegal ivory trade.

But with a larger elephant population comes other problems.

Patrick Omondi, chief executive of Kenya Wildlife Training and Research Institute, says the biggest threat to conservation is human-wildlife conflict.

“We have irrigation farms adjacent to the national park, and these farms, when elephants go out, they get into these farms and crop raid,” he says.

That’s why rangers are collaring some of the animals, including this female elephant. They’ll now be able to track her movements across the park.

“We should be able to monitor in real-time the movement between this park and also the conservancies and be able to easily intervene on issues of human-elephant conflict and security interventions,” explains Omondi.

In a bid to raise funds and boost conservation efforts, Kenya Wildlife Service and the Ministry of Tourism has organised a rare “Tembo” (Kiswahili for “Tusks”) naming festival.

Kenyans gather at Amboseli National Park to adopt and name young calves.

“We felt that there’s an opportunity for people to not only contribute to it but also to be part of the process by naming an elephant,” explains Betty Radier, chief executive of Kenya Tourism Board.

“And therefore, you literally adopt an elephant, and this becomes your adopted child, an elephant.”