The rights of farmers are under the microscope this week as the SA government proposes legislation that will have far-reaching implications for seed and plant propagation.

The African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) is outraged that several food products, including baby cereal, maize meal consumed as a staple, a renown and heavily promoted dietary supplement for active sports people and wheat free cereal, have tested positive for GM- yet are all unlabelled.

South Africa has launched its first verified wind atlas, which maps out potential hotspots as a tool for wind farm developers as the coal-hungry country pushes toward renewable energy.

The concept of sustainability has been on corporate agendas for over a decade. However, in most cases the focus has been on compliance.

John Cooper, a research associate of the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology (CIB) at Stellenbosch University, was recently honoured for his career of nearly four decades dedicated to the research on and conservation of seabirds.

At the turn of 2009/2010, local filmmaker Daréll Lourens and her friend Simone van Keulen had the vision of Earth Junkies, an eco- awareness journey aiming to travel overland through Africa, the Middle East and Europe and work with children to foster ecological citizenship in their foundation years. 2 years have passed and the project has finally realized.

"The source of energy in the future is going to be clean energy, but no single source will dominate. You wouldn't put a solar on the windy planes of North Dakota if you could put a turbine there," said Rick Needham, Google's director of green business operations in a recent interview.

The inner workings of a libertarian thinktank working to discredit the established science on climate change have been exposed by a leak of confidential documents detailing its strategy and fundraising networks.

Every year, Suzanne Fallender’s corporate responsibility office at Intel (INTC) receives dozens of requests from sustainability analysts and nonprofits looking to rate the company on its water usage, carbon emissions, workforce diversity, and scores of other factors.

Would any sane person think dumpster diving would have stopped Hitler, or that composting would have ended slavery or brought about the eight-hour workday, or that chopping wood and carrying water would have gotten people out of Tsarist prisons, or that dancing naked around a fire would have helped put in place the Voting Rights Act of 1957 or the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

About 40 people have died and more than 100,000 are affected by twin storms that struck Mozambique 18-26 January, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The idea of a solar-powered recording studio seems to be gaining traction as studios convert and bands both big and small seek out an alternative energy recording solution.

sIn the 21st century, where just about everything you do contributes to the decline of the planet, some scepticism remains about the greenness of the modern invention.

Friends of the Earth International is delighted to hear that Germany-based BASF is halting the development and commercialisation of genetically modified (GM) crops in Europe.

Officials at Rwanda’s prisons were looking for a way to reduce energy costs, save money and cut down on their conventional energy source: burning firewood harvested from local forests. Their sustainable solution? Recycling the inmates’ own waste to generate energy.

Belgium’s Energy Minister Melchior Wathelet has recently announced that the tax imposed by Belgium on the nuclear power industry will without doubt be extended to 2013.

Four leading renewable energy associations have announced their intention to launch an umbrella body to act as a single voice championing the importance and relevance of the Renewable Energy Industry in South Africa. The announcement comes in the wake of the Green Economy Accord recently concluded through a series of engagements amongst Government, Business, Labour and Community at Nedlac.

In 1989, Francis Fukuyama declared that democracy would eventually emerge as the universal form of human government. The intervening years have given ample ammunition to those who disagree.

When the small British mill town of Todmorden, tucked in between Yorkshire and Lancashire, first began installing fruit and vegetable gardens all around the area as part of the Incredible Edible program, it likely had no idea that the novel, yet simple, concept would make the town a foremost inspirational and self-sustaining model of the future.

In a last-minute deal reached on December 11, 2011 at the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting in Durban, South Africa, governments decided to adopt a universal legal agreement on climate change as soon as possible, but not later than 2015. Work will begin on this immediately under a new group called the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action.

New street lighting in Durban represents good luminance and uniformity in LED lighting; will create a more livable city with safer roads, increased security and a comfortable outdoor environment.

South Africa and European Union nations earlier this week announced a massive renewable energy initative, and this was launched in Durban on Wednesday. The South African Renewables Initiative (SARi) is in a bid to scale up and secure long-term funding to enable the growth of the renewable energy industry in South Africa.

South Africa is generally considered the leader on the African continent, but not always for the right reasons. While it is deliberated that SA is Africa’s economic and industrial powerhouse, it has come with a price – South Africa is by far the worst polluter and GHG (greenhouse gas) emitter on the continent.

Fuel made from wood could become a competitive commercial alternative to fuel made from corn by 2020 if the wood biofuel industry is supported, according to a new University of British Columbia study.

If CO2 had significant commercial value, that is, it was used extensively by industry for a large number of purposes, then fossil fuel power plant operators might be easily convinced that capturing and selling the greenhouse gas would make more sense than letting it go into the atmosphere: If there were profits in smoke stack CO2, then they wouldn’t let it go up in, well, smoke.

Hybrid cars, powered by a mixture of gas and electricity, have become a practical way to "go green" on the roads. Now researchers at Tel Aviv University are applying the term "hybrid" to power plants as well.

The President of the Republic of South Africa, Jacob Zuma has officially opened the much anticipated COP 17/CMP7 conference held at the Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre. In his speech, he stresses the need for all involved parties to strive to find a solution, here in Durban.

Wildpoldsried produces 321 percent more energy than it needs and is generating $5.7 million in annual revenue — a remarkable accomplishment for a modest farming community that has been able to invest in new municipal infrastructure without going into debt.

The Conference of Energy Ministers in Africa ' a two-year old institution recognized by the African Union and donors as the official voice of Africa's energy future ' recently met for the second time and released a new declaration that can fairly be called double-speak. The first half of the declaration is so great, it could have been written by a Nelson Mandela of energy. It outlines the brutal reality of Africa's energy poverty and the goals for universal access to sustainable energy across Africa by 2030.