Tomorrow, 22 April, we celebrate Earth Day across the globe. Reverberating from the shocks of the latest IPCC report, as well as the NASA scientists’ report we shared recently, I am faced with a moral dilemma. What is now the best course of action? Try to push back the floods of destruction that seem daily more inevitable, or accept that our modern civilisation is not … [Read more...]
The Trillion Tonne Communiqué calls business to demand policy response
Green Times this week signed The Trillion Tonne Communiqué, a global call to arms from businesses who take the science of climate change seriously and are demanding a proactive policy response. The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) sets out the link between the cumulative total of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and the resultant … [Read more...]
Matadors wave their red rags in our energy arena
Spanish energy companies are dominating the alternative energy bullring as South Africa gears up to deliver wind and solar energy to power the future of our country. Elma interviewed the Spanish Consul, Sr. Ignatius (pictured) to find out how this happened: I am very interested in the presence of so many new Spanish alternative energy companies in SA. How did that come … [Read more...]
HFC’s in your fridge is a dangerous greenhouse gas
Brazil, China and India have the dubious honor of becoming the first nations to directly contradict the pledges made at the Rio+20 summit last month. All 193 member states of the UN signed the declaration in Rio which included: “We recognize that the phase-out of ozone-depleting substances is resulting in a rapid increase in the use and release of high global-warming … [Read more...]
Bold new actions could save rhinos from extinction
The rhino is being hunted into extinction and could disappear forever unless we act now. Shocking new statistics show more than 440 rhinos were brutally killed last year in South Africa alone - a massive increase on five years ago when just 13 had their horns hacked off. In the coming days EU environment ministers will consider bold new actions to save these amazing creatures … [Read more...]
New future demands new approach
Biomass production in Mozambique. Smart chips for solar hot water panels. New ways of turning sewage into electricity. All interesting new inventions we enjoyed at the Viridis Africa conference, which was definitely worthwhile to attend and meet great minds helping us shape solutions to the impending climate crisis. The aim of the conference was to match-make investors with … [Read more...]
The Fish Fight
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, celebrity chef and food campaigner, tackles the subject of "discard" - and the waste of fish in our oceans. Half of all fish that is caught in the North Sea is thrown back dead. That is the tagline of the Fish Fight Campaign fronted by celebrity chef and food campaigner Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. But how can people get involved? What is the … [Read more...]
Daily waste into daily bread
This year the common sense habit of recycling your daily waste needs to become as natural as eating your daily bread - create work, and food, for many. This is a 21st century life skill finally embedding itself into the consciousness of our society in our journey of realigning ourselves with the natural cyclical systems of nature, upon which we depend. In South Africa we … [Read more...]
Drakensberg also under threat of fracking
Many people are aware of the recent campaign in the Karoo against a proposed natural gas mining process known as hydraulic fracturing or 'fracking'. However most do not realise that large parts of the Free State, Eastern Cape Highlands and KZN are also under threat. This map confirms that a consortium of Sasol, Statoil and Chesapeake have been granted exploration licenses … [Read more...]
SA’s water experts to converge
With floods causing havoc in several South African provinces earlier this year, it may be hard to believe that the looming water crisis that was debated in Parliament in 2008 remains an issue. Engineering Council of SA vice-president Thoko Majozi warns: 'The maximum consumption that SA's water resources can sustain will be reached in about five years.' This should sound … [Read more...]
Pure water that’s good for the earth too
There is an awareness growing in our society about the environmental cost associated with bottled water. To ease the pressure on our pockets and our environment, some people are turning back to drinking tap water. Yet the purity and taste of tap water is lately seriously questionable, and becoming sadly more so. So how to ensure your water is super clean and of a standard and … [Read more...]
The Crying Forest
Al Jazeera correspondent Gabriel Elizondo paints a shocking portrait of life in the Brazilian Amazon, where at least 212 environmental activists have been murdered since 1996, an average of 12 a year. He pieces together the last six months of the life of activist Ze Claudio Ribiero and his wife Maria. During a prophetic TED talk in November 2010, Ze Claudio correctly … [Read more...]
SA winemakers leap over to lighter bottles
In keeping with the country's status as one of the most eco-progressive winemaking nations, local winemakers are starting to introduce lighter wine bottles into their collections to help off-set their carbon footprints. As reported in the Business Report recently, sales of individually packaged South African Wines in the UK rose by 11 percent in 2009 and Wines of South Africa … [Read more...]
