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...]
Cheetah introduction to boost Mozambique’s population
Karingani Game Reserve in southern Mozambique has successfully released four translocated cheetahs as part of a project to expand cheetah range. The world’s fastest land mammal is quickly running out of time as they are often illegally stolen from the wild as cubs and sold into the illegal pet trade in the Middle East, threatening cheetah populations worldwide. Furthermore, … [Read more...]
SA to be the first to answer nature’s call
South Africa is set to be the stage for the global roll out this week of an international call to action, “Nature Is Calling,” with urban hotpots in Cape Town and Johannesburg being transformed with natural settings. “Nature is Calling” is intended as a wake-up call to humanity to protect the planet and reconnect with nature. With humans in urban areas spending up to 95% … [Read more...]
Building biodiversity knowledge for action in Southern Africa
A € 6.7 million (approximately R110-million) spatial biodiversity assessment, prioritization and planning (SBAPP) project that will improve environmental planning and monitor the status of indigenous species and ecosystems in four Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries, namely South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique and Malawi, commenced this month. The South … [Read more...]
Recycling pilot project provides insights into informal sector
An innovative pilot project is streamlining the buying and selling of recyclable materials. In doing so, it is providing important, previously unavailable, insights into South Africa’s informal recycling sector. AN innovative pilot project being trialled at recycling buy-back centres across South Africa is yielding positive results just over a year in, helping grassroots … [Read more...]
KZN gas plant approval challenged by civil society
In light of the serious climate change impacts that the project will have and the absence of any assessment of these impacts, environmental justice groups groundWork (gW) and the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) – represented by the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) – are challenging the amendment of an environmental authorisation for a gas to power … [Read more...]
SA’s untapped potential for off-grid biogas energy
Ahead of the imminent launch of the South African Waste to Energy Roadmap, a new report has found that the micro-digester sector has significant opportunities to grow if it can strengthen partnerships within the sector and with stakeholders in allied sectors. This study, commissioned by the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI), has uncovered untapped … [Read more...]
Could Cape Town be underwater by 2032?
Imagine Travel in 2032: A world transformed where some of the most fascinating tourism bucket list spots are newly formed desert regions in the Vaal and mysterious attractions in the forgotten undersea cities of Venice and Cape Town, which is now partly in the Atlantic Ocean near Table Mountain Island. And for the most intrepid, adventure-seeking world traveller, extreme … [Read more...]
Making heating and cooling energy efficient
A Day of the year has been allocated to the power of the sun thanks to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). International Day of the Sun on 03 May is meant to recognise and promote the expansion of this abundant renewable energy resource. International Day of the Sun also coincides with a major research collaboration to identify the optimal thermal technologies that … [Read more...]
Getting to grips with the Climate Change Bill
A bill is a draft version of a law. The Climate Change Bill was tabled in Parliament in February 2022. The Bill will now go through various public participation and law-making processes in order to become South Africa's Climate Change Act. This important law will have an enormous influence on South Africa's climate change response. It has the potential to protect our rights, … [Read more...]
NPO takes fight against Karpowerships to court
On Monday (25 April), The Green Connection launched an application in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria seeking to review and set aside the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa) decision to grant three electricity generation licenses to the Karpowership SA companies to operate powerships in the ports of Saldanha, Ngqura (Coega) and Richards Bay. Among other … [Read more...]
How new EPR law benefits recycling in SA
As companies navigate the new mandatory extended producer responsibility (EPR) landscape, a leading recycler in the plastics value chain has revealed the unexpected ease in managing its new reporting and compliance requirements as a producer. One of the biggest recyclers of PET plastic bottles on the African continent, Extrupet, has been guided in its journey by … [Read more...]
New whale call discovered off the coast of SA
Scientists have discovered a previously unknown "impulsive sound" – dubbed the “gunshot” by researchers – that has never been recorded before. The study documented 600 whale calls over 11 days at the Vema Seamount in the Atlantic Ocean, 1,000km off the coast of South Africa. The research was conducted during a Greenpeace International expedition to the region and led by the … [Read more...]
