“Are the right people in the climate change debating room? Evidence shows climate change hugely impacts on the health and the welfare of children, but conversations in the negotiation process seem removed from this reality and finding solutions for this suffering.”
“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.)
30% of the earth’s surface is affected by fire. Fire destroys forests and vegetations which are our sources of food – it is both a driver and an indicator of climate change.
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.
As the first week of negotiations at the so-called “African COP 17” drew to an end and the final week begins, it is perhaps a poignant time to ask: What could possibly be meant by calling COP 17 “an African” COP?
Oh behalf of Sustainable Seas Trust I'd like to invite you be a to part of the SEA Pledge Action Day! SEA Pledge is a project of SST that will be launched at COP17 in Durban to promote awareness and investment in marine research and conservation.
South African president Jacob Zuma has declared his intention to have a decision on Agriculture at the UN COP17 climate negotiations in Durban; while the World Bank is promoting so-called “Climate Smart Agriculture” and carbon offsets as the future of African agriculture and climate solutions.
South Africa’s Green Economy Accord was launched at the COP17 talks in Durban today. The Accord, one of the most comprehensive social pacts on green jobs in the world, builds a partnership to create 300 000 new jobs by 2020, in economic activities as diverse as energy generation, manufacturing of products that reduce carbon emissions, farming activities to provide feedstock for biofuels, soil and environmental management and eco tourism.
Edna Molewa, Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, issued the following statement at the UNFCCC COP17 press briefing on Tuesday 29 November.
During the Midlands Moving Planet – Day of Global Action to Move Beyond Fossil Fuels, uMngeni residents signed a petition asking the local Municipality to make the move to a sustainable future. As part of the celebration of current sunlight and renewable energy, local children painted bright sun shapes on which the demands were written.
It is up to civil society to prevent a potential “genocide” or “ecocide” being agreed to at the Durban Conference of the Parties (COP17) which starts in Durban this week.
On the 17th of November, Grahamstown, a small town in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, held a roundtable on COP 17, bringing together stakeholders from across the community.
South Africa's proposed carbon tax is set to act as just another tax on South Africans while inadequately addressing issues of climate change - the very problem it was designed to address. This is because the revenue generated will not be earmarked to tackle issues of climate change, rather it will simply flow into government coffers.
Sheltered from the fierce heat of the Namboomspruit sun, 16 Mokopane community members gathered for an Earth Forum in the cool shadows of an oasis of tall palm trees.
Having a problem with your internet or cellphone connection? Or making strange bleeps yourself? You may have to blame a higher power – the sun.
Today we figured out from first hand experience why Kimberley is known as the city of diamonds. We might not have found a hidden bag of jewels, but what we did find was something far more valuable.
'Many hands make light work'. This idiom was particularly true for the Climate Train on Monday, 7 November, when the entire team came together for a collaborative AMbush (guerrilla gardening) on the corner of Market and George Street, Krugersdorp.
'She is the frame of the unexpected. A young girl with no rank and no title, just two small hands that carry her entire community. There are no facilities here; there are no green bins that line the streets, just her understanding.'
For the past week we've been doing a lot of climate talk, tree planting and painting with the aim to raise awareness about climate change. We've travelled through four cities and worked with over 3000 children and adults, but when we arrived in Klerksdorp on Friday, we were taught a couple new moves.
Governments recognize that they need to speed up and scale up their efforts to combat climate change and they know that negotiations this week in Panama are important to prepare the ground for the next successful step towards that goal in Durban, the UN climate change chief said.
'During this year, governments have been steadily building the pillars that will support the next chapter of the global climate regime. They have recognized very clearly that the current level of effort is not enough and they have realized that it is important to increase both the level of emission controls on greenhouse gases as well as the capacity of countries to adapt to climate change,' said Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
May I share with you why I think the Earth is screwed?
If you watch the news for just one day you will see that money and related issues take up 90% of every broadcast. It's the Greek crisis, it's the fact that economies worldwide are not growing, and it's the stock markets. These are the urgent issues of the day.
And these issues resonate with us. After all, if the stock market in Ho Chi Minh City is down 43% how on earth are we going to pay our bills at the end of this month? And there is nothing quite so urgent as this months bills.
What climate changes have happened so far in SA? Where is all this heading? This is beautifully illustrated in a coffee table type landmark publication recently launched in Stellenbosch: 'Observations on Environmental Change in South Africa,' was published by Sun Media for the South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON) with funding from the Department of Science and Technology and edited by Larry Zietsman.
All the world's major religions share one great belief: that we as humans need to cherish and protect the earth we live on. We are, however, failing in our task. This is a good reason for religions to unite in a common commitment to change, and this is what's happening.
The Sisterhood of Temple Israel took a step in this direction last week, when they focused their Annual Interfaith Meeting on 'Ecology in Religion'. This traditionally Jewish congregation invited Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and Jews to attend an enlightening session where four speakers shared their respective religions' views on ecology and our responsibility to care for the earth.
'The cost of addressing climate change is manageable, but the cost of not doing so is unaffordable,' said Yvo de Boer, former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This was mentioned during a Carbon Literacy course conducted by Adam Green from Global Carbon Exchange (GCX), which I attended this week.
What is your assessment of the outcomes of Cancun and how much progress has been achieved in following up and in implementation of the decisions that were made, particularly as relates to adaptation and finance?
The Cancun Outcome must be commended as one that contributed to keeping the climate change negotiations process alive after Copenhagen where trust in the process was hindered. The Copenhagen Accord was reached in a way which was not transparent and inclusive. Cancun was thus able to restore trust.
We knew Moving Planet would move - we just didn't know how fast. Here is a story from 350.org:
It feels like it's going 82.8 miles per hour (which happens to be the fastest speed ever recorded on a bicycle). In the week since we launched this global day of action, we've already heard from hundreds of organizers in every corner of the planet who are making plans for September 24.
I'm woken by the sound of rushing water. I get up and hang out of the window. A river rushing by? Indeed.
I have lived on dry river banks for many years, so it's a sound I know well. But now we're in a suburb of Windhoek. It's cool and damp and you might think you were in a Cape Town winter, as it never seems to stop raining. Yet this is March and Windhoek is the capital of the driest country in the Sahel.
You might think global warming is something happening elsewhere in the world and that we’re just having a drier/wetter summer than usual, depending on where you live in southern Africa.
The implications of climate change on development make both mitigation and, in particular adaptation, essential to responding to the impacts of climate change. Policy makers have recognised the need to integrate climate change adaptation into all spheres of public policy-making.
