A new report by the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) questions the Industrial Development Corporation’s (IDC’s) decision to extend finance to coal company MC Mining Limited for coal mining developments in Limpopo. This case study follows CER’s 2020 Financing Fairly Report, which found that the investment policies of the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and the … [Read more...]
Restoring natural landscapes through waste clean-ups
Since the start of the pandemic, South Africa has seen a significant increase in the volumes of medical waste and discarded personal protective equipment (PPE). While most parts of the country receive an adequate waste management service to discard medical waste and used PPE, some towns and communities are afflicted with piles of this waste stream from illegal dumping. “It … [Read more...]
SA youth picket in Joburg for Earth Day
On Earth Day 2021, the Climate Justice Action Group (CJAG) held a picket demonstration outside Gauteng’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (GDARD) to call attention to the ongoing socio-environmental injustices that continue in South Africa. CJAG is a youth-based group facilitated by driven by Earthlife Africa Johannesburg to promote awareness of climate justice … [Read more...]
Eco-friendly charcoal production to boost SA’s water security
The global outcry against the use of braai charcoal produced from rainforest trees, which leads to devastating forest degradation primarily in South American and African countries, is boosting the demand and production of eco-friendly charcoal certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The eco-friendly charcoal is made from ideally suited hardwood invasive alien … [Read more...]
Rights of Rivers rapidly gains steam
A new report by the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, Earth Law Center, and International Rivers finds that a movement to grant legal rights to rivers and nature is rapidly gaining momentum globally. The report, Rights of Rivers, examines how the ancient notion that nature possesses basic rights is being adopted in laws from New Zealand to Colombia. Just … [Read more...]
Asbestos exposure: an environmental carcinogen
Before the 1970s, asbestos was a widely used home and manufacturing additive for its heat and fireproof resistant properties. Due to this, asbestos fibers can be found in buildings and products alike, and although it is banned in the UK, there have been lasting detrimental and cancerous effects through first, second, and third-wave exposure. In the U.S., this carcinogen is … [Read more...]
Joburg townships pay the price for SA’s gold mining legacy
This week, as South Africa adjusts to the eased of restrictions of lockdown Level 1, more people are likely to travel domestically again, many heading to SA’s economic hub for business. According to Earthlife Africa Johannesburg’s Makoma Lekalakala, “Many South Africans do not know that Johannesburg, the country’s largest city, is also the most radioactive city on the … [Read more...]
Giant leap for SA amphibian conservation recognised
A conservation biologist from South Africa has won a prestigious Whitley Award worth £40,000 to support her quest to save threatened amphibians. Dr Jeanne Tarrant works for the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), where she manages the Threatened Amphibian Programme. The EWT is the only NGO in South Africa to include frogs as a conservation focus. The Whitley Awards, often … [Read more...]
Coal mining venture could wreck iMfolozi Wilderness Area
The final Spatial Development Framework for the uMfolozi Municipality has been released. The uMfolozi Municipality stretches from the southern borders of the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park to the coast. Map 18 on mining areas shows the area identified for coal mining running along the southern border of the HIP. What is especially problematic is this paragraph from page 102 of … [Read more...]
Meet the Brazilian tribe fighting to save the Amazon
Brazil's National Institute for Space Research has reported over 80,000 fires in the country as of Sunday night, with more than half of these in the Amazon region. This coupled with an 85% increase in deforestation this year compared to last, and a rate of deforestation at one and a half football pitches a minute, is threatening the future of the world’s largest tropical … [Read more...]
Activists scale statues to protest deaths caused by air pollution
Activists from Greenpeace Africa scaled several iconic statues across Johannesburg and Pretoria this morning to demand action on air pollution. The activists fitted the statues with emergency gas masks to pressure the National Air Quality Officer to protect citizens’ right to clean air. Famous statues of the Mother with Child at Bree Taxi Rank, Brenda Fassie in Newtown, the … [Read more...]
West Coast communities say no to mining
The West Coast Food Sovereignty and Solidarity Forum and the communities of Koekenaap and Lutzville on the West Coast are protesting tomorrow at a meeting between Minister of Mineral Resources, Gwede Mantashe and a mining company, Mineral Sands Resources (MSR) because of their plans to expand mining along the West Coast without any consultation. Despite not honouring the … [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...]
