Eskom this week marked 40 years of safe operation of SA's only nuclear reactor, Koeberg unit one amid legal challenges to government's proposed plan to expand nuclear power generation and continued opposition to the contentious energy source. Legalbrief notes ... Read More
The SCA has confirmed that drone fishing is illegal. Five judges dismissed a legal appeal by Gannet Works and four other companies that make, market or sell angling equipment such as bait-carrying drones and other remote-controlled bait-carrying devices. The Daily ... Read More
SA's mining cadastre is expected to be live by June 2025, the DG of the Department of Mineral & Petroleum Resources, Jacob Mbele has confirmed. The due date is several months later than the February 2025 live date initially ... Read More
High energy costs are damaging SA’s mining industry, which accounts for about 8% of GDP, according to a study by Boston Consulting Group (BCG). A BusinessLIVE report notes that the latest mining outlook report by the consulting firm noted that ... Read More
SA needs an Environment Minister who will stand up for people who are threatened by pollution and the depletion of non-renewable resources. That includes future generations. Writing in an analysis in The Conversation, Patrick Bond, Distinguished Professor, University of Johannesburg ... Read More
‘Climate change science has shown that the southern African region is becoming hotter and drier and an increase in the number of high fire danger days is inevitable. The way in which courts are using existing laws to allocate liability ... Read More
Zimbabwe is putting the pieces in place for an ambitious leap into international carbon credit trading – this time with guaranteed accountability. News24 reports that, last year, it was rocked by a carbon credit scandal in Kariba worth more than ... Read More
Côte d'Ivoire has joined the UN Water Convention – a treaty to improve joint water management across borders, the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) said last week. A report on the allAfrica site notes that the move comes ... Read More
The Special Wildlife Investigations Unit (SWIU), supported by Focused Conservation and the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), successfully conducted a joint operation resulting in the arrest of four suspects and the seizure of 525kg of pangolin scales in Monrovia, Liberia, on ... Read More
The world is on the verge of a ‘polycrisis’, where global crises are not just amplifying and accelerating, but appear to be synchronising, the UN Environment Programme and the International Science Council have warned. According to a Mail & Guardian ... Read More
Natural disasters such as flooding, drought and extreme temperatures cost China R232bn in the first half of the year, with almost 33m people affected, the government said. A TimesLIVE report notes that heavy snow, 22 strong earthquakes including one of ... Read More
Emissions of two of the most potent greenhouse gases have substantially increased in China over the past decade, a study has found. A report in The Guardian notes that perfluorocarbons are used in the manufacturing processes for flat-panel TVs and ... Read More
* KZN has estimated the cost of the disasters that recently hit the province to be over R2bn. This was revealed during a media briefing by authorities in Durban last week, following an oversight visit to the fire-gutted Kenville informal settlement ... Read More
* A toll-free hotline, available in 11 official SA languages, was launched on 9 July after a year-long pilot in Laingsburg and Sutherland, where people could call in with complaints, queries and suggestions related to the wind farms operating in the ... Read More
* Sappi Saiccor mill employees were safely evacuated last week Wednesday after an explosion at the Umkomaas plant on the KZN south coast. Sappi said a fire and subsequent explosion occurred involving a supplier truck delivering liquid oxygen (used for bleaching ... Read More
Wild Coast Warriors at Durban FilmmartThe fighting spirit of Eastern Cape environmentalists was splashed across the screen of the 15th premier African film festival Durban Filmmart last week. Wild Coast Warriors, directed by Capetonian Nick Chevallier and Leigh Wood, which ... Read More
Seine swim for MayorThe mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, took a long-awaited swim in the murky waters of the Seine last week amid joy and relief that the river is finally clean enough for outdoor Olympic swimming events later this ... Read More
Student solutions to sustainabilityMore than 4 400 student innovators from 150 countries have proposed new solutions to water and sustainability threats in this year’s Xylem Global Student Innovation Challenge. Teams from the Philippines and Algeria were the grand prize winners ... Read More
