South Africa’s democracy is a combination of a representative and participatory democracy, meaning we elect our representatives to govern our country on our behalf, but that public participation is entrenched as a crucial element in South Africa’s Constitution to ensure our growing democracy reflects the will of the people. Through public participation, South African … [Read more...]
Blue Sky Awards launched in SA for young researchers
The local leg of the Blue Sky Young Researchers Innovation Award has been launched by the Paper Manufacturers Association of South Africa (PAMSA). The 2020-2021 round is the third edition of this award, organised by the International Council of Forest and Paper Associations (ICFPA), to which PAMSA belongs. It invites young students and researchers in wood and fibre-based … [Read more...]
Global day of protest planned against 5G rollout
While the media’s attention with regard to environmental issues has been captured by climate change, fracking, and plastics in the ocean, the 5G Space Appeal has been has been quietly making its way around the world. Signed by 4,800 scientists, 2,800 medical doctors, 770 beekeepers, 2,000 environmental organizations, and 180,000 others from 202 countries and territories, … [Read more...]
Let’s help Ayakha Melithafa get to Davos
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...]
Fossil fuel divestment: will UCT finally heed the call?
It is now six years since Fossil Free SA first called on the University of Cape Town (UCT) to phase out all investments in climate-destroying fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas. In those six years, the global fossil fuel divestment movement has grown from a handful of institutions to well over a thousand, including New York, Paris, London, our own city of Cape Town; a whole … [Read more...]
Save the planet, work in sustainable energy
As students contemplate their next step in their careers in 2020, the energy sector offers current and future employment opportunities, as South Africa renews its efforts to create alternative energy sources (renewables) and better manage current energy production (coal-fired). This is the opinion of Barry Bredenkamp, General Manager for Energy Efficiency at the South … [Read more...]
YouLead Warriors receive youth empowerment award
One of South Africa’s prominent youth climate activists, Ayakha Melithafa along with her fellow ‘YouLead Warriors’ who have completed the year-long YouLead Initiative, have received their Bronze Presidents’ Awards for Youth Empowerment at a ceremony on the 22 November 2019 at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, South Africa. The YouLead Initiative is run by local environmental … [Read more...]
Youth Entrepreneurship Programme boosts budding farmers
Nine budding farmers from around the country have made the cut as finalists in the SAB Urban Agriculture / Youth Entrepreneurship Programme. It seeks to have young people identify and invest in hydroponic technology and transform it into thriving farming businesses. Each of the finalists will receive training and investment to grow their farms. In October 2019, Stats … [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...]
Arbour week celebrates good green deeds
Climate change is the 21st century’s greatest threat to both humanity and biodiversity. The massive increase in the amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere by industrial processes, transportation and veld fires (to name a few) is increasing the global temperature which is resulting in an adverse change in weather patterns. In … [Read more...]
Cape Town youth tackle climate change with creativity
With less than a month to prepare for what may be the biggest global climate strike action to date, the first-ever Youth Artivism Workshop was held at Community House in Salt River on Saturday. Hosted by 350 Africa, Project 90 by 2030 and HoneyBush Communications, the art workshop sought to raise awareness about climate change among the youth of Cape Town and the country at … [Read more...]
African science for African sustainability
Africa’s story has for many years been recorded by those who did not speak her languages, know her legends or count their families among her people. Inasmuch as our past influences our future direction, the African story can too be easily delineated by experts who cannot fully understand the needs and peculiarities of communities on the continent. Africa requires … [Read more...]
The global rise of crucial eco-restoration camps
For millennia we humans roamed the vast lands of this planet Earth, foraging for foodstuffs, hunting animals to supplement our diet as necessary. We took what we could find, as needed, and our searches led us across the accessible landmasses. It is fascinating to think of the various landscapes that scores of successive generations saw - Earth in a state before any human … [Read more...]
