This Friday the UN’s climate body (UNFCCC) will release an assessment of the 48 national emission reduction plans submitted by the end of 2020. The plans account for 75 parties to the UN, as the EU27 is counted as one bloc, and cover an estimated 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions. While most countries have incrementally increased ambition, the combined impact puts them … [Read more...]
Five things that the climate talks in Bonn need to achieve
The world’s leaders are meeting – again – for talks on climate change. This year’s Conference of the Parties (the 23rd, hence COP23) to the United Nations climate treaty in Bonn, Germany, is not expected to be a deal-clinching, make-or-break one like Paris in 2015 or Copenhagen in 2009. That doesn’t make it insignificant – the hope is that negotiators will make meaningful … [Read more...]
Climate litigation creates a strong mandate for global climate action
Two years ago, a courageous law student, Sarah Thomson (pictured, right), sued the New Zealand Government over its weak climate targets. Now she’s made history. On 2 November, 2017, the High Court of New Zealand issued a game-changing ruling. It found that climate change presents significant risks and government actions on climate change are subject to judicial scrutiny. The … [Read more...]
Future path towards sustainable cooking in the global south
The role of renewable electricity for the cooking sector in the Global South has been widely underestimated. As the costs of Renewable Energy technologies continue to decline, cleaner and more modern technologies represent an entirely new pathway towards sustainable cooking in developing countries. These are the findings of the new report ‘Beyond Fire’ launched by the … [Read more...]
Threat of running out of oxygen due to warming oceans
Falling oxygen levels caused by global warming could be a greater threat to the survival of life on planet Earth than flooding, according to researchers from the University of Leicester. A study led by Sergei Petrovskii (pictured), Professor in Applied Mathematics from the University of Leicester’s Department of Mathematics, has shown that an increase in the water … [Read more...]
Voices heard at parliament’s climate change hearings
The Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs is holding public hearings on 22 and 23 September 2015 on South Africa’s Climate Change Negotiating Position in the lead to the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Paris, France, this December. Environmental organisations are invited to … [Read more...]
Archbishop Thabo calls for worldwide climate justice prayer
The Primate of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, has called on Anglicans everywhere to join Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Lutheran and other Christians in a World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation on 1 September. The first day of September has become a significant date for Christians caring for the environment. The Orthodox Church has … [Read more...]
Is South Africa fudging its INDC figures?
WWF South Africa is concerned by the vague and defensive position taken by the SA government in its latest climate change statement of intent (its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution – INDC to the 21st United Nations climate change negotiations conference). There is much room for improvement, and there is still time to do this before the INDC goes to the … [Read more...]
UN Climate Talks kick off in Bonn
The UN Climate Talks got underway in Bonn Wednesday with negotiations re-opening on the design of the 2015 agreement and finding ways to raise the current level of global ambition to address climate change in the near-term. Meetings and negotiations around the UNFCCC’s ongoing work in its subsidiary, and a series of workshops, high-level meetings and special events also kicked … [Read more...]
UN Climate Talks in Bonn
United Nations climate negotiations will resume for a ten-day session in Bonn, Germany, from 4-15 of June. The negotiation session includes two 'high level' ministerial meetings, one on raising 2020 climate targets under the Kyoto Protocol, and another on the longer-term negotiations. The longer-term negotiations, known as the "Durban Platform" and expected to conclude in … [Read more...]
Curbing climate change through global governance
Reversing the devastating effects of climate change will require a more coherent and orchestrated international regime, as well as cooperation between states and other stakeholders. There seems to be growing scientific consensus that the increased number and intensity of climate change induced natural disasters, such as earthquakes, volcano eruptions, tsunamis and … [Read more...]
Plans for 100% renewable energy in SA
As international climate change negotiations are renewed, South African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI) is calling on our government to turn to policies driven by science and ethics, not political and economic expediency; and to expand South Africa’s own renewable energy revolution. Scientists have recently revealed that the damage from climate change is … [Read more...]
Fynbos fire project gets underway
South Africa has been granted US$3.5m for a three-year project to implement integrated fire management programmes in the Fynbos biome. The grant was made available through the Global Environment Facility Special Climate Change Fund, established to support adaptation and technology transfer in developing countries party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate … [Read more...]
