The Mandela, De Klerk, Tutu and Luthuli foundations will be writing to President Zuma appealing to him to intervene in order for the Dalai Lama to get a visa to attend the World Peace Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates next month. A further petitioning letter will be signed by former Nobel Peace Prize laureates and has already been signed by President Lech Walesa, Mairead … [Read more...]
Liberal Democrats seek to ban ‘unabated’ coal power
Electricity generated from coal in old power plants without carbon capture in the US would be banned in a proposal that will form the centrepiece of the Liberal Democrats' commitment on the environment in its general election manifesto. Ed Davey, the energy and climate change secretary, will announce on Monday that the zero carbon Britain bill will be among five green laws … [Read more...]
‘Knowing Mandela’ to inspire the nation
I have never felt the need to read a book about Mandela, though I have always adored him. But by grace a little book came across my path … Knowing Mandela by John Carlin. Of course I want to learn more now, but I also suspect that having started with this one, it will be very hard to match. John was the South Africa correspondent of London’s Independent newspaper from 1990 … [Read more...]
NASA scientist warns of 3-4 meter sea level rise by 2200
It is common knowledge in the climate change scientific community that governments around the world had better be planning for a one-meter rise in global sea levels by the end of this century. What isn't common is for a world-renowned scientist to warn that there could be a greater rise than that before 2100 - in addition to a catastrophic two to three-meter rise by 2200, … [Read more...]
City to offset small-scale electricity generation
Small scale alternative energy generators - yes that includes you and I with solar PV on the roof - will finally be able to feed our excess energy back into the grid and get paid for it by the City of Cape Town! The City of Cape Town has set itself a target of sourcing 10% of its electricity from renewable energy resources by 2020 and the roll-out of the small-scale embedded … [Read more...]
City requests declaration of the Cape Town Bioregion
The City of Cape Town is hoping to be declared as a bioregion. The City's Council has recognised the City’s efforts to create a balance between urban development and environmental protection by recommending that the MEC for Environmental Affairs be requested to declare Cape Town as a bioregion. This would be one of the first of such regions for a South African metro. It … [Read more...]
Natural Medicines Part 2: Storm brewing in the medicine pot
Will the complementary medicines which practitioners currently use for their patients continue to be available after the new government regulations have become law? This is an issue which many are wrestling with – and something which concerns users and dispensers alike, as we are all likely to be affected. Last week the Registrar of The Allied Health Professions Council of … [Read more...]
Hope for overcoming climate change
For the last few months, carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have been at record levels unseen in over 800,000 years. The chairman of the IPCC, an international panel of the world’s top climate scientists, warned earlier this year that “nobody on this planet is going to be untouched by the impacts of climate change”. Future generations will no doubt wonder at our … [Read more...]
Human health to suffer from climate change finds think-tank
Climate change may threaten Australians’ livelihoods, affect the viability of communities and put pressure on social stability, the co-chairman of an Australian thinktank hoping to influence public health responses has warned. Emeritus professor Bruce Armstrong, of the University of Sydney’s school of public health, told Guardian Australia the issue was both publicly and … [Read more...]
Cities need to figure out their stories
More than 100 of the world’s fastest growing cities are in Africa. So said Marlene Laros (main picture), lead author of the newly released “the State of African Cities” report by ICLEI, during the launch at the British High Commisioner’s residence in Bishops Court. Africa is also experiencing unprecedented population growth and massive poverty. Africa is predicted to have 3 … [Read more...]
WTO to cut tariffs on environmental goods
Diplomats from the United States, China and the European Union began talks Tuesday with 11 other countries toward a deal that would cut tariffs on almost $1 trillion of environmental goods. The proposed agreement at the World Trade Organization would cover 86 percent of trade in goods such as solar panels and wind turbines for producing energy, filters for wastewater … [Read more...]
Feeding the masses staple GM bread
Local food companies had been hiding high genetically modified organism (GMO) content behind the “may contain GMOs” label. This might soon come to an end with possible changes to labelling regulations, the African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) said last week. In terms of the current Consumer Protection Act, food producers, importers and packagers are required to label food … [Read more...]
World Refugee Day: 50 million people displaced by war and violence
There is a need to develop policies and a legislative framework that will impact positively on the legal and social protection of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, said the Home Affairs Director-General Mkuseli Apleni during an event to commemorate World Refugee Day (WRD) in Pretoria. His department is finalising a process whereby refugees will be able to apply for … [Read more...]
