The International Air Transport Association (IATA) will hold the fourth World Sustainability Symposium (WSS) in Brussels, Belgium, on 13-14 October 2026. Bringing together leaders from aviation, energy, finance, technology, academia, and government, the event will focus on the policies and actions needed to advance air transport’s transition to net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Taking place in Brussels, where many of aviation’s most consequential sustainability policies are shaped, WSS will provide a unique opportunity to connect industry leaders and the policymakers responsible for designing the frameworks that will influence aviation’s energy transition. The Symposium will facilitate constructive dialogue to accelerate decarbonization while preserving the economic and social benefits of air connectivity. 

“The air transport industry is committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. But airlines’ energy transition cannot happen in isolation. Success depends on increasing renewable energy production for all, building new infrastructure, advancing novel technologies, support investment, transfer risk, and design policies with the whole system in mind. Today, the challenge is constrained not by ambition but by the pace at which interdependent solutions can be developed and scaled.

The Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) and the Eastern Africa Alliance on Carbon Markets and Climate Finance (EAA) have formed a partnership aimed at helping East African countries build sustainable, equitable and high-integrity carbon markets.

The partnership will support governments in the region to develop the policies, institutional capacity and infrastructure needed to participate more effectively in voluntary carbon markets. The initiative will include assistance in developing national carbon-market strategies, regulatory frameworks and relevant public authorities.

Under the agreement, EAA member countries will receive technical assistance through VCMI’s Access Strategies programme, a global initiative designed to help emerging markets and developing economies develop credible carbon markets, mobilise climate finance and establish national policy frameworks.

VCMI will also provide on-the-ground support through regular engagement between its Kampala-based policy expert and EAA member states. (Press Release)

B Lab Africa today launches the seventh cohort of its Resilient Sustainable Business (RSB) Program, the pan-African training initiative designed to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) build sustainability into how they operate, compete and raise capital. Applications for the cohort close on 9 September 2026. It is open to businesses across the continent, with core markets in Kenya, Mauritius and South Africa.

The announcement follows the graduation of the program’s sixth cohort in a closing session in Nairobi on 7 August 2026, which brought together participating businesses alongside financial institutions, investors and development partners.

Since its launch in 2025, the RSB Program has grown from a single cohort to an Africa-wide initiative. 211 participants from 195 businesses across 9 countries have now completed the program, with 17 going on to pursue full B Corp certification.

SMEs account for the overwhelming majority of African enterprise and employment, yet increasingly have to incorporate sustainability infrastructure designed for large corporates in order to attract investment capital and to grow. They face the same pressures – climate risk, rising insurance and input costs, tightening buyer and lender requirements, and export markets increasingly governed by European due diligence and carbon border rules – without the support of compliance teams, consultancy budgets or reporting systems that larger firms take for granted. (Press Release)

Fighting erupted early Thursday between government forces and militias on the outskirts of Somalia’s southwestern city of Baidoa, with reports of heavy gunfire and civilians fleeing their homes. Somalia’s Defense Ministry said government forces were responding to an attack by fighters loyal to former South West state President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen. … The clashes are the latest escalation in a political and security dispute between Somalia’s federal government and Laftagareen over control of South West state. Federal forces took control of Baidoa on March 30, after which Laftagareen resigned. He had governed the state since 2018. Clashes stopped in the early afternoon, but there was no official information on casualties or the extent of the fighting. Government troops patrolled the streets, ambulances rushed to the victims, and residents ventured out assessing damage and clearing out bloodied clothes from the pavement. (AP)