Ayakha Melithafa, a 17-year-old climate justice activist from Khayelitsha has been invited to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland from 19-24 January 2020. There she will represent the youth of South Africa on a number of panels with world-renowned youth climate activist Greta Thunberg. The Forum brings together stakeholders to help address the greatest … [Read more...]
How can we take action to fight climate change?
The words ‘climate change’ are known by 41% of South Africans, according to a recent August 2019 Afro barometer Survey. However, there is quite a stark difference between having a term in our lexicon, and knowing what it means. There seems to be a stream of never-ending news on events like the April 2019 KwaZulu-Natal floods, and severe drought leaving several provinces … [Read more...]
Constitutional Court rules against Mpumalanga coal mining
The Constitutional Court has had the final say on the approvals for a coal mine inside an Mpumalanga Protected Area and Strategic Water Source Area. Earlier this month, the Constitutional Court refused the mining company’s final challenge of a 2018 High Court decision to set aside Ministerial approvals for the proposal coal mine. The Mabola Protected Environment near … [Read more...]
Protesters demonstrate outside Cape Town oil conference
The Africa Oil Week conference at the Cape Town International Convention Centre this week is bringing together governments, investors, international corporations, and lobbyists, who - despite our imminent global ecological crisis – remain unchallenged by our politicians as they further push our world over the edge of collapse through their aggressively escalating production of … [Read more...]
Media’s role in good environmental governance and public participation
Climate change, the main existential crisis of our day, remains under the public radar in 2019 South Africa. Inadequate media coverage is in part to blame. Whether or not South African media are reporting on the climate crisis and encouraging public participation, and how they do it, affects how the public perceives and engages on the issue. Climate change is already … [Read more...]
Enlightened self-interest needed to protect the ocean and climate
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on the Ocean and Crysophere in a Changing Climate reveals the extent of the crisis facing humanity as the ocean and its services begin to show signs of collapse. Although the ocean is inextricably linked with the climate, the two working together to make planet Earth habitable, this is the first time that … [Read more...]
Sweden rejects major gas terminal on climate grounds
The Swedish government decided today to deny the EU-backed Gothenburg gas terminal its final permit on climate grounds. This development is the latest in a series of faltering gas projects and follows years of local opposition including a blockade of the harbour and terminal by hundreds of people in September. Olivia Linander of the local grassroots group Fossilgasfällan … [Read more...]
Extinction Rebellion gatecrashes energy conference at CTICC
Earlier today, Extinction Rebellion (XR) Cape Town and XR Winelands took non-violent direct action against the Africa Oil and Power conference currently being held at the CTICC, in order to draw attention to the crimes against humanity that the conference is intended to facilitate. The official website for the conference boasts a “…platform for power pioneers such as Kenya, … [Read more...]
A youth perspective on eco restoration
Since attending the World Conference on Ecological Restoration existed, I cannot see life in the same way. With the daunting climate challenges we are facing, it shocks me how little most of us know about such an important aspect of our survival. To me, ecological restoration was a foreign term used solely by conservationists and concerning only the environment. This … [Read more...]
Environmental literacy key to a secure climate future
Conservation consciousness and environmental literacy are key to securing an environmental future for all people, says the Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Ms Barbara Creecy. ”Conservation consciousness cannot be the exclusive domain of a select and privileged few. It must be a key component of our environmental literacy,” said the Minister during her keynote … [Read more...]
From the mouth of babes: now is the time to listen
It was time. Human limits had been reached and overstepped. How long did the children have to bear the conflict between what they know and how the world is run? For how long do we expect them to trust that somehow some miracle will save them? We have raised them to ask questions – they are informed. They can no longer be placated. It was a bittersweet experience to march … [Read more...]
Ecosystem restoration is everyone’s responsibility
Delegates at the 8th World Conference on Ecological Restoration have expressed their unanimous support for the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021 – 2030 with a call to action: ‘One earth, one future, one chance.’ At the conference, more than 850 knowledge holders from 68 countries shared their experiences and expertise of ecological restoration research, … [Read more...]
IPCC report shows critical need for accelerated climate action
The launch of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report on the Ocean and Cryosphere today, highlights the need for governments to urgently scale up and accelerate efforts to address the climate emergency and protect the world’s oceans. Drawn from almost 7,000 papers by over 100 leading climate scientists, the IPCC report represents the most … [Read more...]
