Several projects from 2014 up until 2021 have been aimed at greening the communities within the Stellenbosch Municipal boundaries and restoring the ecosystems, especially catchments and rivers in the area. The Stellenbosch Project had its roots in the Million Trees Project, initiated in April 2014 by then Stellenbosch Mayor, Conrad Sidego, as a partnership between the … [Read more...]
EU Commission includes fossil fuels in green taxonomy proposal
For the last year, Central and Eastern European governments have been pressuring the EU to include less restrictive criteria for biomass energy production and to recognise natural gas as a transition fuel towards climate neutrality. They may have realised their ambitions with the current draft of the EU Sustainable Taxonomy proposal. Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) will be … [Read more...]
Educational video series presents climate solutions
Climate Solutions 101 is a free video series filled with the latest need-to-know science and fascinating insights from global leaders in climate policy, research, investment and beyond. Rather than rehashing well-known climate challenges, Project Drawdown highlights game-changing climate action based on its own rigorous scientific review and assessment. This course, … [Read more...]
SA’s health and wellbeing are at stake
On July 22, 2020 Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams gazetted a new policy on the development of communications networks in South Africa. The motivation for promoting 5G electronic communications networks ‘was for the creation of a digital economy and society’, she said at the time. Activists have criticized the draft policy, that will … [Read more...]
EU Sustainable Taxonomy must be rooted in climate science
The global climate strikes have consistently made a simple demand: listen to the science. We agree. Just as experts and evidence have been key assets in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, so too must they, and not sectoral interests, determine our policies to fight the climate crisis. WWF Central and Eastern Europe, along with a coalition of NGOs, think-tanks, experts and … [Read more...]
Rushing rollout of untested technology very risky
The South African Government is rolling out 5G across our country without our consent. This technology has never been tested so in effect, you and your loved ones are guinea pigs. Why is this a problem? Because there is more than enough evidence on existing 4G and lower generation technologies to warrant a thorough examination of the potential dangers. The South African … [Read more...]
Green New Deal can stimulate economic recovery and create jobs
While lockdown inadvertently helped to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, it is critically important that sustainability of the environment is at the heart of post-Covid-19 recovery efforts. This is according to the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI). “This is where the much-talked about Green New Deal (GND) becomes crucial and while it’s no panacea … [Read more...]
Profiting from health and ecological crises in Africa
The ACB has shared a research paper about the wave of ‘Trojan horse’ second-generation genetic engineering strategies targeted at, inter alia, malaria in Africa, at a time when the COVID-19 crisis is fracturing the myth that global health expertise is the domain of North America and Europe. Global health can no longer be defined by Western nations, as the world watches with … [Read more...]
World Environment Day calls for an end to nature’s destruction
One million plant and animal species risk extinction, largely due to human activities. These are issues the world cannot lose sight of even as we tackle the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing climate crisis. The theme for World Environment Day, 5 June 2020, is biodiversity — a call to action to combat the accelerating species loss and degradation of the natural … [Read more...]
Does 5G mean the final knockout for the bees?
The great success in Bavaria, Germany, of the referendum "Save the bees!" shows that the saving of the bees and nature is a big concern for many citizens. Populations of flying insects have declined shockingly by 75 to 80 percent since 1989. The goal of the bill is to counter the loss of species, especially the decline of bees, bumblebees and butterflies, by adjusting … [Read more...]
Can coronavirus save the African pangolins?
Wildlife conservationists and enthusiasts around the world have been celebrating an apparent silver lining in the latest coronavirus epidemic since the Xinhua News Agency in China reported earlier this month that researchers had found a 99% genetic match between a virus found in pangolins and the new human coronavirus. The hope of this finding is that humans, frightened of … [Read more...]
Survey reveals common concern of global scientists
The greatest threat to humanity hides in the potential cascading of impacts of five highly-related, highly-likely risks - a collision that can amplify these effects catastrophically, according to a new survey of 222 leading scientists from 52 countries. Conducted by international sustainability research network Future Earth, the survey identifies five global risks - failure … [Read more...]
Protesters demonstrate outside Cape Town oil conference
The Africa Oil Week conference at the Cape Town International Convention Centre this week is bringing together governments, investors, international corporations, and lobbyists, who - despite our imminent global ecological crisis – remain unchallenged by our politicians as they further push our world over the edge of collapse through their aggressively escalating production of … [Read more...]
