Cabinet has officially endorsed a ‘Carbon Capture and Storage Roadmap’ as one of the instruments for lowering the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of South Africa’s coal-intensive energy system.
Ministers and high-level officials from 32 countries that met informally in Bonn want to build on the strong momentum of the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban, by making sure the decisions are effectively implemented, with the curbing of greenhouse gas emissions.
Across the planet now we see ever more flood, ever more drought, ever more storms. People are dying, communities are being wrecked — the impacts we’re already witnessing from climate change are unlike anything we have seen before.
We have entered the Anthropocene Epoch, where human influence will leave marks on this planet that may be comparable to an Ice Age. Professor Mark New opened his inaugural lecture as Pro Vice Chancellor for Climate Change and Director of the African Climate and Development initiative at UCT with a grim outline of the picture the research data is sketching.
I am overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness when I consider the task humanity faces of adapting the complexities of our current ‘civilization’ to a more sustainable & equitable path. It is starting to look as if the politicians cannot save us, as evidenced by the disappointing results of COP17.
The Africa Chapter and members of Working Group II (WG II) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was hosted by the Faculty of Law at the Stellenbosch University recently.
The full publication of the Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation "provides us with the impetus for action to save the world from the worst that climate change can bring to our planet in the coming years." So said the Intergovernental UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) when the report went live on 31 March.
Significantly greater response to the threats of climate change resulted in the toughest year yet for judges of the Climate Change Leadership Awards, who announced the 10 category winners at a carbon neutral event in Sandton recently.
As the world commemorates International Women’s Day today, women around the globe are speaking out on various issues that affect them. In light of recent natural disasters and calamities in the Philippines, women are increasingly citing climate change as one of their most pressing concerns.
At the turn of 2009/2010, local filmmaker Daréll Lourens and her friend Simone van Keulen had the vision of Earth Junkies, an eco- awareness journey aiming to travel overland through Africa, the Middle East and Europe and work with children to foster ecological citizenship in their foundation years. 2 years have passed and the project has finally realized.
The inner workings of a libertarian thinktank working to discredit the established science on climate change have been exposed by a leak of confidential documents detailing its strategy and fundraising networks.
"Technology is vital for developing countries to both curb their emissions and to build more climate-resilient societies," said Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC. "This meeting is an important next step towards ensuring that the Mechanism becomes fully operational this year and begins delivering concrete results”.
John from ‘Wisdom to Nourish' writes that many people are experiencing broken sleep, strange or vivid dreams and possibly also feelings of anxiety or fear at this time.
“South Africa is likely to see drastic rises in surface temperatures over the coming century as well as an increase in the occurrence of very hot days. Heat waves are expected to occur more frequently,” said Francois Engelbrecht, Principal Researcher on Climate Studies – Modeling and Environmental Health at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR.)
An amazing journey? Yes. In four weeks I saw 17 cities and witnessed some of the most interesting people tell stories of their struggles with climate change.
Four leading renewable energy associations have announced their intention to launch an umbrella body to act as a single voice championing the importance and relevance of the Renewable Energy Industry in South Africa. The announcement comes in the wake of the Green Economy Accord recently concluded through a series of engagements amongst Government, Business, Labour and Community at Nedlac.
In a last-minute deal reached on December 11, 2011 at the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting in Durban, South Africa, governments decided to adopt a universal legal agreement on climate change as soon as possible, but not later than 2015. Work will begin on this immediately under a new group called the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action.
As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high gear to provide us with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods - merchandise that has been produced at the expense of South African labour. This year will be different. This year South Africans will give the gift of genuine concern for other South Africans.
A wolf in sheep’s clothing, we’ll all agree, is a dangerous beast. Yet, here in the UNFCCC wolves are walking among us on a daily basis, some easier to spot than others. Politicians are meant to be the masters of disguise, and some of their disguise attempts, while feeble, are passing muster. This article aims to reveal the wolf’s teeth and claws underlying the sheepish disguise of carbon capture and storage under the clean development mechanism.
An open letter to the governments of the world meeting in Durban.
