After the start of provisional application of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (PDCA) on 1 November 2017, the EU and Cuba are holding on 15 May 2018 the first ministerial-level Joint Council under the new Agreement. The EU and Cuba thereby take one further step towards enhanced collaboration to the benefit of the Cuban and European people. Between 1996 and 2016, the diplomatic relations between Cuba and the EU – first established in 1988 – were governed by the so-called Common Position.

In September 2015, the Member States of the United Nations approved a new global development framework, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, built around 17 Sustainable Development Goals, covering economic, social and environmental issues. The Addis Ababa Action Agenda (Addis Agenda) adopted in July 2015 which is an integral part of the 2030 Agenda. It provides a global framework for financing for development and sets a new paradigm for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through effective use of all financial flows as well as non-financial means of implementation, emphasising domestic action and sound policies.

Spanish multinational Abengoa will officially launch its third large-scale solar thermal plant in South Africa on May 18, near Pofadder in the Northern Cape. It is expected to have an impact on the local community and demonstrate the viability of renewable energy as a sustainable source of electricity. The parabolic thermal installation, Xina Solar One, has a total installed capacity of 100MW and follows the launch of KaXu and Khi, making it the largest such system in Africa.

During times of drought, herder Buchu Boru has to walk tens of kilometres in search of pasture for his animals - with no guarantee he will find it. "Somebody tells you by word of mouth that there is pasture but on arriving you don't (find) any," said the 60-year-old, who has had to walk from his home all the way across the Ethiopian border to find grass some years.

Sixty-seven-year old Sarudzai Msipa heavily blows air in and out of her mouth, seated in the open-air on a goat skin mat outside her hut as she battles to revive a dying fire on her cooking place set up in the middle of her yard at her remote home in Mwenezi district in Zimbabwe’s Masvingo Province. Just three sticks are in the fire to keep it alive and there is no sign of leftover firewood nearby.