The Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT) has launched three new guides targeted at climate change decision makers leading adaptation policies and projects. By using the new guides, decision makers could effectively assess climate change adaptation project proposals, enhance measurement and evaluation (M&E) frameworks for adaptation activities to encompass … [Read more...]
The potential of solar power in South Africa
The transition from fossil fuel to clean energy is about more than just technology. People and their behaviour, and government and its policies, are all at the heart of it, writes Professor Prathaban Moodley, General Manager of Applied Energy Research, Development and Innovation at the South African National Energy Development Institution (SANEDI). The worst day of sunshine … [Read more...]
The role of green hydrogen in SA’s energy transition
Hydrogen fuel cell technology was invented by Welsh scientist William Robert Grove in 1839 but had to wait until the 1960s for NASA to put it to commercial use to power its probes, satellites and space capsules. These days, much of the world is pinning its energy-transition hopes on green hydrogen as a fuel source. Why is this important for South Africa? The reasons are … [Read more...]
EU invests €280 million in SA’s Just and Green Recovery
As Team Europe, the EU and its Member States will invest more than €280 million in grants in South Africa, including €87.75 million from the EU budget, to support policy reforms on green recovery, unlock green investments and build a knowledge-based transition in the framework of the Just and Green Recovery Team Europe Initiative for South Africa launched today in Pretoria as … [Read more...]
Developing countries at COP27 call for ‘climate justice’
The second day of COP27’s Climate Implementation Summit saw world leaders raise their voices for concrete action, particularly on adaptation and the thorny issue of loss and damage. During a high-level event, the COP27 Presidency launched the Sharm el-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda to rally global action around 30 outcomes that are needed to address what the UN Environment … [Read more...]
Malawi receives US$14.2 million drought recovery insurance payout
In a ceremony presided over by His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Malawi, Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the African Risk Capacity Group, in the presence of Representatives of Partners organisations (Ambassador of Germany to Malawi), and of the UN system (WFP and UNDP country directors), delivered a symbolic US$14.2 million … [Read more...]
G7 must show bold climate leadership now
In the face of mounting global crises, the G7 leaders must show bold climate leadership at its meeting starting on Sunday. The G7 is a grouping of countries representing the world’s seven most advanced economies - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. The meeting will take place from 26 to 28 June, under the leadership of German … [Read more...]
Cities lead the way on sustainable mobility
Often referred to as the “greenest city in the world,” Curitiba, Brazil, has long been held as a model for urban sustainability due to its green space, recycling programs, environmental education – and especially its extensive system of dedicated-lane bus rapid transit. But what of the buses themselves? As of 2020, only 4 percent of Curitiba’s buses were hybrid and none were … [Read more...]
Decommissioning of coal-fired power plants needed
Concerns surrounding a global climate emergency have brought into sharp focus the need to mobilize increased investment flows towards clean energy. Such flows are needed to fund incremental power generating capacities that are non-polluting. Capital is already shying away from backing new coal-fired thermal power plants. These complementary imperatives and trends are … [Read more...]
Study confirms large aerial dispersal of glyphosate
The EU authorities’ assumption that glyphosate does not spread through the air has been disproven. The results of a German study on pesticide pollution of the air prove that glyphosate and dozens of other pesticides are travelling through the air for miles into national parks and cities. The analysis was initially published in 2019 and has now been peer-reviewed by … [Read more...]
South Africans plan mass global demonstration
The immense socio-economic impact under one of the world’s most extreme lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in South Africans uniting for their voices to be heard under a grassroots movement called Move One Million. The movement, launched in July 2020, has garnered interest from half a million South Africans to date and organisers are using a combination of … [Read more...]
SA student wins Green Talents award in Germany
For the tenth time the “Green Talents – International Forum for High Potentials in Sustainable Development” culminated in a festive award ceremony at which the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research honoured the newest 25 awardees for their innovative green ideas from various fields of research and promoted an international exchange. This year, a high-ranking jury … [Read more...]
Journalist dies in clash over dirty coal in Germany
Over the last week, the German Police have deployed thousands of officers, backed up by water cannons and armoured vehicles, to evict hundreds of climate activists trying to defend the last remnants of an ancient forest in Germany from being destroyed by RWE, which wants to expand the biggest open coal mine in Europe. And yesterday this brutal eviction ended in tragedy when … [Read more...]
