For mobile phone companies, the challenge of sustainability means maximising the positive, enabling effect of mobile technology, while minimizing the possible negative affect of such activities. A new report tackling these issues has recently been published.

Microsoft has announced a commitment to achieve “carbon neutrality” for its energy use companywide during its upcoming fiscal year, beginning July 1.

“Going green is about respect and about eco systems living in harmony without invasion. Modular architecture – creating a building with what you need when you need it - allows for this”.

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.

Autumn is here and many of us are “nest building” for the cooler season. It’s time to reflect on how we affect the environment with our excessive energy needs and make some changes to lessen the burden we place on the Earth.

The winning trio of architects selected to expand the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) were chosen for their green credentials!

The nebulous greenhouse gas (GHG) issue comes to the fore every now and then. Who doesn’t get uneasy about the effects of global warming and the impact it can have on our lives? Most people tend to dismiss the warnings, but luckily there are some who take it more seriously once they understand the extent of the threat.

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.

The Carbon Report is a cloud based carbon footprint reporting solution powered by sustainableIT, a progressive IT and services based company specialising in carbon reduction through the application of smart technology. The Carbon Report has been designed as a simple and intuitive solution for all organisations, large and small, and provides the framework for emissions data collection, collation and roll up. The application produces a detailed report which is reviewed by analysts before release, and is compliant with the internationally recognised Greenhouse Gas Protocol. The process is underpinned by extensive education and support.

About sustainableIT

Established in 2007, sustainableIT has offices in Sydney and Cape Town. Our services engagement model is designed to be delivered anywhere, leveraging technologies such as web and teleconferencing to increase efficiency and reduce our carbon footprint, wherever possible. This provides our global customers with access to a highly skilled consultancy arm, geared to deliver a sustainable computing strategy, anywhere on the planet.

sustainableIT is a pioneer in the Green IT and sustainable computing market and was recognised by Global Industry Analysts (Green IT Services – A Global Strategic Business Report, June 2010) as a key global player in this emerging marketplace.

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.

Waiting nine years for climate action isn’t just a delay, it’s a death sentence for communities on the front lines of the climate crisis. Yet that appears to be exactly what the US representatives to Cop17 are pushing: delaying climate change action until 2020.

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?

South Africa and European Union nations earlier this week announced a massive renewable energy initative, and this was launched in Durban on Wednesday. The South African Renewables Initiative (SARi) is in a bid to scale up and secure long-term funding to enable the growth of the renewable energy industry in South Africa.

The largest ever financial vehicle for the distribution of climate justice is soon to be on the negotiating table at COP 17. International delegates at COP 17 are gearing up to discuss the Green Climate Fund, which requests of developed countries to provide developing countries with “scaled up, predictable, new and additional, and adequate funding” to deal with climate change. Its future might, however, be on shaky grounds.

As countries such as the US, Canada, Russia and Japan push to delay agreement to a legally binding framework for climate change to 2020 - a delay which will likely push our ability to reduce climate change to 2 degrees Celsius out of our hands – it is either sadly ironic or apt (I can’t decide) that COP17 commemorated Youth and Future Generations Day today. The focus of many of the commemorations was on the role that youth had to play in the future of climate change negotiations, and how climate change would affect both today’s youth and future generations.

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.

Plastics|SA, the umbrella body representing the plastics industry of South Africa, was awarded the 2011 Enviropaedia Award for Recycling at the inaugural Eco-Logic Awards ceremony which took place in Cape Town on Saturday evening in partnership with The Greenest Event expo.

If CO2 had significant commercial value, that is, it was used extensively by industry for a large number of purposes, then fossil fuel power plant operators might be easily convinced that capturing and selling the greenhouse gas would make more sense than letting it go into the atmosphere: If there were profits in smoke stack CO2, then they wouldn’t let it go up in, well, smoke.

The United Nations climate talks have unfortunately been just that for 16 years – just talk and no real action, the most famous of these so far being the failed conference in Copenhagen in 2009. After the deep disappointment of Copenhagen, a South African anti-apartheid activist teasingly noted that the talks had failed because the climate movement didn’t have a song!

Edna Molewa, Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, issued the following statement at the UNFCCC COP17 press briefing on Tuesday 29 November.