As mother earth released her deluge on Cape Town this month we cannot but be in the deepest gratitude. So too for a successful kidney transplant in our family. How sacred is this human body that we get to inhabit? Despite having almost no clue how it works we enjoy the benefits. Undeservedly so. Simply a free gift. With the huge responsibility to care for it. And the big body of Earth we live on.
Please join us as we commit to Plastic Free July in an attempt to do something more about our society’s abuse of the oceans – the big kidney that keeps us alive. Read my story here and let’s do this together. Your voice is needed.
Thank you to Ruben for keeping the flame burning and compiling this awesome edition whilst I was under the weather. And for generally looking after the house, animals and us during our convalescence.
Enjoy this month’s stories and please share with your friends.
This Plastic Free July, the Two Oceans Aquarium is getting even more serious about putting a stop to plastic pollution in the sea. An exciting lineup has been planned for the whole month.
With Trump at the wheel, climate change is spinning out of control – but now we can create his worst nightmare by canceling coal’s insurance contracts!
The recent arrival of Cape Town's winter rains have led to rising dam levels, removing the need for wholesale water rationing for the time being. Meanwhile, several other cities across the world have experienced severe water scarcity.
Recent studies have revealed that ice loss is accelerating, while ice shelves that keep Antarctic glaciers from flowing into the Southern Ocean are thinning and weakening.
Public participation is entrenched in the Constitution as a crucial element of democracy. Yet many lack a clear understanding of the principles and mechanisms through which the public is entitled – and encouraged – to take part in making these crucial decisions.
The four coastal cities Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London, and Paarl which is inland, are at risk of flooding by 2050, says the C40 Cities Future We Don’t Want report.
It will take three months and cost R350m for a small-scale temporary desalination plant to produce enough water to raise the level of Cape Town’s supply dams by just one percent.
The future we don’t want is already happening with more intense droughts, floods, heat waves, blackouts, food shortages and sea levels gradually rising.
Today, even taking into account their long plant lifetimes and high load factors, electricity from new coal power is among the most expensive and environmentally destructive technologies currently available.
A UCT study has revealed that newly built coal power plants will add billions to South Africa’s power bill over the course of their lifetime, and force cheaper and cleaner renewable energy alternatives out of the system for years to come.
In a joint report, the Centre for Environmental Rights and the Endangered Wildlife Trust reveal alarming deficiencies in the regulation of wildlife welfare in South Africa.
Thailand's Maya Bay, made famous by the film The Beach, was closed earlier this month to allow its coral reefs to recover from rising temperatures and the environmental impact of thousands of daily visitors.
A beekeeping cooperative in France has filed a legal complaint against a German agrochemical company after detecting the controversial weedkiller glyphosate in their honey.
Farmers in Sutherland can breathe a little easier after the successful drilling of new boreholes as part of a R15 million project to save farms in the area.
The Australian government is seeking to introduce new espionage and foreign interference laws that threaten democracy and could have the effect of silencing civil society.
A fifth REIPPPP bid window will be launched in November, with the aim of procuring a further 1 800 MW of renewable energy from independent power producers.
A multinational search in May resulted in the arrest of eight men, including three government officials, for allegedly smuggling pangolin scales and elephant tusks.
Emergency services were on standby as an intense cold front‚ accompanied by heavy rain and gale force winds‚ made landfall in Cape Town earlier this month.
The Draft Climate Change Bill was published for comment earlier this month, with hopes of providing a coordinated and integrated response to climate change and its impacts by all spheres of government in accordance with the principles of cooperative governance.
Cub petting, paying voluntourism, films and adverts, walking with lionsa and the lion bone trade are all money-making opportunities that have made lion farming a highly profitable business
The forest that is home to some of the last remaining Bornean orangutans is being logged despite the Indonesian government’s vow to protect it, Greenpeace has claimed.
A celebratory World Oceans Day event was held at uShaka Marine World, Durban earlier this month to celebrate South Africa’s oceans and their importance for our prosperity. An exciting coalition was also announced, which hopes to advance ocean protection.
This year has seen its share of explosive volcanic activity, from Hawaii’s Kilauea eruptions that have so far forced more than 1,700 people to evacuate to Guatemala’s Fuego volcano eruption that killed at least 99 people.
Frontline forest staff in India are increasingly being targeted by poachers, illegal miners and timber smugglers while protecting forests, wildlife, rivers, wetlands and other natural ecosystems and resources.
As the second most polluted continent, Africa must take both the responsibility and opportunity to pioneer world-leading waste management methods to avoid an environmental and socio-economic disaster, experts warn.
Fishing on the high seas would be an unprofitable business, but for the billions of dollars in government subsidies that keep an often destructive industry afloat, according to international researchers.
The renewable energy industry on Friday got a shot in the arm when Energy Minister Jeff Radebe announced a new bid round of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement programme.
South African hunters will take part in the slaughter of 2 000 hippos in the pristine Luangwa Valley in Zambia. In a shock move, the Zambian government had overturned a 2016 decision to suspend the supposed cull.
Last month, Costa Rica’s new president Carlos Alvarado announced the Central American country would begin to implement a plan to end fossil fuel use in transport by 2021. Costa Rica already generates more than 99 per cent of its electricity using renewable energy sources.
As more knowledge about the ecosystems comes to light and more people become interested in protecting marine life, there has been a shift in how Cape Town’s tidal pools are cleaned and maintained.
In the desert near Arizona’s border with Utah on the Navajo Nation, a massive solar array built in 2017 now provides power for around 18,000 Navajo homes. Nearby, construction will begin later this year on a second solar plant.
In an effort to educate the world in reducing plastic litter from going into our oceans, UN Environment has published a report about possibly replacing conventional plastics with alternative materials.
Goa, a small state on the west coast of India, is known for its pristine beaches and forests. The picturesque region attracts 5 million tourists every year from all parts of the world. This influx is key to the local economy, but it also generates 600 tonnes of waste on a daily basis.
SA's water security depends not only on our built water infrastructure, but also on well managed land in our catchments. Healthy wetlands, rivers and groundwater ecosystems in the landscape will make our future more water secure.
Please share this news with your friends and social media contacts:
