'Although South Africa has outlined ambitious targets to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, time is indeed running out to secure our children's future.
Bike mechanics in Auckland New Zealand went through the city offering free bicycle repair. Boy Scouts in Mexico installed energy efficieent light bulbs in cities. Robben Island started to go solar. Cyclists took to the streets in Durban and joined in a clean-up of the Mgeni river.
Humans have known for centuries that the Dargle is a really beautiful place to live, but recently some Dassies discovered this Midlands treasure too. Refugees who found themselves unwelcome in the Itala game reserve have made a new home in the mist-belt forests for which the area is famous.
As proven by the Costa Rican Biodiversity Law, exemplary biodiversity legislation can be successfully put into practice. On 25 October, delegates, ministers, decision-makers, media and donors gathered at the Future Policy Award 2010 Ceremony in Nagoya, Japan, to witness the first prize be awarded to Costa Rica and to celebrate the Costa Rican Biodiversity Law as a milestone of excellence in meeting the goals of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. The effects of the law are outstanding: With 26% of its total territory designated as protected areas, Costa Rica is the first developing that succeeded in halting and reversing deforestation. Moreover, the country ranked first in the Happy Planet Index 2009, and is a recognised pioneer in ecotourism.
The Future Policy Award, established by the World Future Council, annually celebrates laws with particularly positive effects on the living conditions of current and future generations. The first award to honour exemplary policies rather than exceptional people on an international level, it highlights solutions, raises public awareness and speeds up policy action towards just, sustainable and peaceful societies. This year's award gala was hosted by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), as an official part of the tenth Conference of the Parties (COP10).
The opening statements were held by Shoichi Kondo, Senior Vice Minister of Environment of Japan, and Dr. Ahmed Djoghlaf, CBD Executive Secretary, who said: 'By honouring exemplary laws and regulations, by disseminating best practices successful in stopping biodiversity loss and irreversible destruction of our eco-systems, the Future Policy Award 2010 encourages policy action fundamental to the post-2010 biodiversity strategy.' Succeeding Dr. Djoghlaf, Jakob von Uexkull, Founder of the World Future Council and the Right Livelihood Awards, spoke up to the numerous delegates recalling 'that the right rules and legal frameworks help millions of people to do the right thing'.
Praise for Costa Rica
Prof. Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger, Director, CISDL, and Chair of the WFC Future Justice Commission, presented the ceremony's highlight when she spoke of the Costa Rican policy as 'a brilliantly comprehensive policy for the respect for all forms of life and for cultural diversity, biodiversity protection and inter- and intragenerational equity', before handing over the Future Policy Award 2010 to His Excellency Mr. Mario Fernandez Silva, Ambassador of the Republic of Costa Rica to Japan. H.E. Mr. Silva expressed deep gratitude and said, 'I am most honoured to accept this prize from the World Future Council. This law integrates biodiversity protection and the sustainable use of biodiversity and it enables us to pass the beautiful natural wealth of Costa Rica on to our future generations.'
Australia, the winner of the Future Policy Silver Award, was introduced by Prof. Motoyuki Suzuki, Chairman, Central Environmental Council of Japan, and WFC Councillor. He stated that 'the Australian Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act jointly with the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act aims to provide the highest level of protection to the marine ecosystems and should be a worldwide standard'. Prof. Suzuki presented the award to Peter Cochrane, Director of National Parks and Head of the CBD Delegation of Australia, who proudly accepted. The Australian law has elevated the region of the Great Barrier Reef to a matter of national environmental significance, while still allowing for sustainable use by such industries as commercial fisheries, recreational fishing and tourism, pioneering the idea of a 'multiple-use' park.
The awarded biodiversity policies from Costa Rica and Australia as well as four further exemplary policies are described in a World Future Council brochure titled 'Celebrating the world's best biodiversity policies'. It is available in print at the Award Ceremony and online at http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/publications.html.
Oceans cover 70% of the Earth's surface, yet less than 1% of these critical systems are under any form of legal protection. The Convention on Biological Diversity's (CBD) third edition of Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-3) indicates that the world's marine ecosystems are in peril.
The GPS diligently led me through shacks and narrow tar-less streets to an incorrect location. Temperatures already climbed into the thirties at 8am in the morning. I back tracked a bit and passed a young girl with her books under her arm and a bright blue t-shirt on.
The most common container in the soft drink market today in South Africa is the plastic bottle, or more specifically, the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle.
Consumers can now buy the latest electronics online, and also earn while re-using and recycling their electronic waste.
'Is it possible for biodegradable packaging to really do a great disappearing act or is this just a load of landfill?' This was the big question that was thrashed out recently during the annual breakfast seminar by the Institute of Packaging's Western Cape region.
Creston College from KZN won first place and the prize money of R10 000 in the Collect-a-Can 2010 CAN Craze Competition for their can-stuction of dolphins playing with a soccer ball .
How can the mining sector reduce and in some cases eliminate the waste it produces?
In an attempt to get the youth more involved and interested in the field of waste management the Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa (IWMSA) invited the learners from two schools to attend the WasteCon 2010 exhibition in Johannesburg and charged them 'an article made out of waste materials' each to enter.
River systems have undergone more severe changes than any other ecosystem type in recent decades, primarily due to human activities. UNESCO's Third World Water Development Report predicts that nearly half of humanity will be living in areas of high water stress by 2030. In water scarce South Africa, the Endangered Wildlife Trust is addressing the problem through its Healthy Rivers Programme.
Two Western Cape winners of the regional SA Productivity Awards, WastePlan (Pty) Ltd and Fair Cape Dairies (Pty) Ltd have done us proud by also winning the national awards in their respective categories of emerging and corporate sectors.
The Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa (IWMSA) KwaZulu-Natal Branch recently held its bi-annual Waste Management Awards evening at the Durban Country Club.
It was a delight this morning to attend the opening of the innovative Woolworths 'greenest store yet' at the new Palmyra Junction shopping centre in Claremont, Cape Town. This funky green space is surely the greenest foodmarket in South Africa.
In what might be described as a happy coincidence, or synchronicity, a meeting between a South African delegation member and a United Nations Senior Climate Change Co-ordinator took place in Bavaria, Germany this week.
The German NGO InWent (Capacity building International) hosted delegates from South Africa and Indonesia this week, ending on Friday, 15th, as the kickoff workshop on their year long Climate Leadership programme. Held at their headquarters in Feldafing, this process brought together some 40 delegates from both countries, comprising Government, Civil society and business.
On Tuesday, 19th of October 2010, the Faculty of Sciences and representatives of Economic Sciences and Engineering, celebrated 'Green Month' on campus by planting some sixteen indigenous trees at Coetzenburg, on the slopes of the mountain. The Natural Sciences Student Committee (NSC) started the initiative in co-operation with Property Services when they decided to plant a tree at the close of their term. Ms. Shaan Pool, one of the NSC members started the initial discussions with Ms. Meg Pittaway from Property Services, who suggested an area above the Sports Institute of Stellenbosch University, where they were clearing pine trees damaged during the devastating fires that swept across Stellenbosch Mountain in 2007.
'Honey has been waiting for almost ten million years for a good biography. Essential to the food, drink, religion, economics, medicine and arts of every civilization since the Egyptians, honey ' and the bees that make it ' have been a vital part of the human record for millennia.'
