Protests against fracking are happening in Algeria. Recent news coming from this country focuses on two main issues: the effects of falling oil prices and the anti-shale gas drilling protests in the southern region. The two matters are inherently connected because the drop in oil prices is leading the Algerian regime to pursue nontraditional hydrocarbon sources, such as … [Read more...]
South Africa’s great thirst has begun
For many South Africans, the water crisis is already here. For others, research and projections show, it is only a matter of time – and perhaps not a great deal of time. Thanks to load-shedding, and a shortage of water when electricity is restricted, the thirsty future could arrive in major urban centres as soon as this summer. Early last year, four people died in violent … [Read more...]
Cansa launches fracking transparency initiative
Cansa is worried hazardous substances & carcinogens could contaminate drinking water in the Karoo. The Cancer Association of South Africa (Cansa) has launched an initiative which it hopes will force companies to be transparent, should fracking for shale gas become a reality in the Karoo. The association is worried hazardous substances and known carcinogens, which are … [Read more...]
Great Barrier Reef mega ports approved
Five mega ports will be allowed along the Queensland coast, Australia, mainly in areas near the Great Barrier Reef. Abbot Point, one of the world's biggest coal terminals, has been declared a port development priority area. The declaration comes only six months after green groups lost a battle to stop 3m cubic metres of dredge spoil from being dumped in the reef marine … [Read more...]
Seeking justice for the Arctic 30
A case was launched yesterday at the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of the Arctic 30, who spent two months in Russian jail for a peaceful protest to save the Arctic. The 30 individuals are requesting "just compensation" from the Russian Federation, and importantly, a statement from the independent Court saying that their apprehension in international waters by … [Read more...]
Youth voices reject proposed crude oil pipeline
Thank you to each and every one of the hundreds of people who joined together for a march on Washington yesterday to ask the President to “Dec-line the Pipe-line”. And a special thanks to the 398 young people who put themselves on the line and were arrested in the XLDissent action. This exercise in peaceful dissent is what American leadership looks like. The marchers were … [Read more...]
Raising the Red Flag for Princess Vlei
A red flag has literally been raised at Princess Vlei on the Cape Flats of Cape Town by the supporters of a People’s Plan for the Vlei. The intention behind the campaign launched in November 2013 - with the active involvement of civic, environmental and faith organisations, including SAFCEI - is to alert Cape Town’s citizens to the natural and social spaces in our city that … [Read more...]
South Africa’s Water Wars
It is a sweltering day in the heat of summer and Ma Gladys Mphepho is talking about her daily struggle to live, which is exacerbated by the crisis that the people of Papamani, and greater Grahamstown, have with water. Mphepho hovers over a pot on a two plate cooker in her shack in Papamani, an informal settlement outside of Grahamstown. "We do not have dignity," she says, … [Read more...]
Help protect the rainforests of Cameroon
“They may threaten and sue us, but the palm oil company is not going to stop our struggle for nature,” writes Nasako Besingi from Cameroon. The environmentalist will be on trial in March for defending rainforest land against Herakles Farms, a U.S.-based palm oil company. Please take a stand against Herakles Farms. Environmentalist Nasako Besingi and his organization SEFE … [Read more...]
Greenpeace protests forest clearance in New Delhi
On Valentine’s Day, as the environment minister Veerappa Moily hobnobbed with head honchos of leading companies including Essar Oil and Essar Foundation, Greenpeace India on Friday staged a peaceful protest at the National convention organised by UN Global Compact Network at Hotel ITC Maurya Sheraton in New Delhi. Dressed in tiger suits, the activists held placards that said … [Read more...]
Councils slow to spend water grant as protests grow
By the end of December municipalities had only spent R53m or 9% of their R603m allocation under a dedicated grant for water infrastructure, officials of the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry told Parliament on Tuesday. The lack and decay of water infrastructure has resulted in violent protests around the country over the past few weeks, and in some cases people were … [Read more...]
My life for water
Why do lives have to be sacrificed before crucial human needs are addressed in this country? The water bubble finally burst when 4 people died in protest about poor water delivery.This propelled the truth about water onto public platforms. Do we really understand what it’s like to walk ten hours for one bucket of water? Up to the light comes the worm of corruption and … [Read more...]
Argentine Protesters vs Monsanto
The people of the working-class suburb of Córdoba in Argentina’s central farming belt stoically put up with the spraying of the weed-killer glyphosate on the fields surrounding their neighbourhood. But the last straw was when U.S. biotech giant Monsanto showed up to build a seed plant. The creator of glyphosate, whose trademark is Roundup, and one of the world’s leading … [Read more...]
