At last week's summit in Heiligendamm the G8 finally agreed to reduce emissions, but by how much and by when, exactly?

The G8 club, leaders of the worlds wealthiest nations, agreed on Thursday to tackle climate change together. Although no binding agreement was made the G8, including the United States, committed to "seriously consider" cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2050. Angela Merkel was hoping for a firmer commitment, whilst George Bush managed to resist a mandatory reduction in emissions. Everyone else seemed much obliged that Bush, obviously feeling pressure from the American public, didn't derail the process as usual. Earlier in the week he was mooting a US led climate-change framework outside the auspices of the UN, but it looks like Merkel has pursuaded him not to sideline the UN, hopefully paving the way for more productive climate change negotiations in Bali later this year. At least, to everyone's relief, Bush didn't...

pic:flikrCT naked bike ride against global warming NOT canned. Despite stories in the news to the contrary [IOL][M&G], Cape Town is still set to see at least 160 naked bike riders take to the streets to raise the profile of global warming. The impetus behind World Naked Bike Rides, an international movement, is to ‘stop the indecent exposure of people and the planet to cars and the pollution they create’. If you want to join the CT ride, find out more here.

Climate Change summit starts today. The Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning is hosting the Renewable Energy and Climate Change Summit, as part of World Environment Week, that starts in Cape Town today at the CTICC. All are invited to attend. [sustainablehome4all]. You can register for the summit online.

Nuclear reactor coming to a beach near you. Eskom plans to build at least 10 more nuclear power stations within the next 20 years, and where? Near the sea, in places like Milnerton, Oysterbay, Jeffreys Bay, Gansbaai and Pearly Beach. [see notice of EIA here]. According to environment.co.za Eskom also intends to change the laws of the country so it can put nuclear reactors on any site it chooses – regardless and despite public protest. [environment.co.za press release]

Local animation‘Rubbish Monster’ wins 3 top awards. Braam Jordaan has won Best Animation at the Multichoice Vuka! Awards, best film of one minute or under at the Kalamazoo Animation Festival International, and the Jury Prize at the 11th annual Seoul International Cartoon and Animation festival in Korea for his animated film, The Rubbish Monster, inspired by a litter junkie who gave him the ‘finger', and created for the Endangered Wildlife Trust eco warrior programme. [IOL] download the animation here (5.5MB) Have a look, it's awesome!

The following notice was in the Sunday Times pg 19, May 27, 2007. Please contact the below email addresses to register as Interested and Affected Parties. You will see how many areas are affected:

NOTICE OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (EIA) FOR THE PROPOSED NUCLEAR POWER STATION AND ASSOCIATED INFRASTRUCTURE EIA: 12/12/20/944

Notice is hereby given in terms of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2006, published in Government Notices No. R386, R387 of 21 April 2006 under the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No 107 of 1998) of Eskom's intent to carry out the following activity that requires environmental authorisation:

The potential construction of a Nuclear Power Station and associated infrastructure in either the Eastern, Northern or Western Cape Provinces. An application for the proposed activity has been submitted to the National Department of Envrionmental Affairs and Tourism.

A number of potential sites have been identified as part of initial investigations.

By Ingela Richardson
June 2 2007

According to CEO, Jacob Maroga, Eskom is planning to build at least ten more nuclear power stations within the next 20 years. It is incredible to think that Eskom is hanging on to the nuclear option - literally at all costs - while solar power has been put on the back-burner. Once again we could ask why nuclear is spared no expense and Africa's free and actually sustainable energy source - the sun - is neglected?

Eskom wants up to 20,000 megawatts to be generated by Koeberg-style nuclear plants. Environmental impact assessments have begun and the Department for the Environment wants to change the laws of this country so that Eskom can put its nuclear reactors on any site it chooses in the country - regardless of public protest. It seems that the South African government has had enough of public participation and wants to put its nuclear foot down. What a pity that all of this determination is not behind a project that all South Africans could support. What a pity that development in South Africa is being forced at the expense of people's health instead of for their benefit.

power of communityThe independent Labia cinema in Cape Town widely known for its arthouse screenings also shows thought provoking documentaries from time to time. These screenings are facilitated by groups like While You Were Sleeping and Safeage and there can be some lively debate afterwards as part of an audience discussion. The first documentary screening I went to was The Future of Food and the participation afterwards really added to my appreciation of the movie. I saw An Inconvenient Truth at the Cinema Nouveau and it was a pity this forum for debate at the end was not available (instead I got into a discussion with another movie goer over global warming during a visit to the bathroom afterwards).

So if you're in Cape Town don't miss the chance to see The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil which is being organised by ...

If you're in Port Elizabeth and reading this then please join a peaceful action against Alcan/Coega later this afternoon to hand out informative pamphlets to the public. The organisers believe that Alcan has had a huge negative global impact and they're protesting against them setting up in the PE Metro.

You can read the press release over on www.environment.co.za and also check out NiMBLE - Nelson Mandela Bay Local Environmentalists.

For more reading on Alcan see The Antidote

I read the article published on IOL this morning about the Biowatch court costs appeal case and had to scoff at Monsanto's legal counsel, Frank Snyckers, defending Judge Dunn's decision.

...Dunn had been given no option but to administer the "healing balm of a costs award" to punish Biowatch for submitting legally incoherent and "unintelligible" requests for information.

Healing balm indeed!! What utter tripe. We know corporate lawyers can be unscrupulous at the best of times, but really! I just hope the current Judges presiding will have more sense than either Snyckers or Dunn. The implications of their decision is huge. Should they uphold Judge Dunn's original ruling that Biowatch pay Monsanto's legal fees this will cripple Biowatch, probably forcing it to close down.

The counsel for Biowatch, Richard Moultrie, did cite a ruling by former chief justice and deputy president of the Constitutional Court that groups acting in the public interest "should not be discouraged from doing so by the risk of having to pay the costs of their adversaries", which is encouraging and should bear positively on the outcome.

It was also good to hear that the case was featured on a Bush Buzz insert on 50/50 and that many individual and organisations, locally and abroad have come out in support of Biowatch.

The Inkatha Freedom Party also took the opportunity to issue a media statement.

To send your comments of support to Biowatch go here.

An article appeared in the Business Report on Monday essentially about the choices retailers are soon going to have to make if the SA government continues with it's GM-friendly policies thereby allowing GM produce to get to market. Are food retailers going to allow GM produce on their shelves or not?

Woolworths and Pick 'n Pay are following international food retailer trends and putting more weight behind their organic lines. Woolworths recently announced it's Good Business Journey which aims to increase it's organic food offering four-fold and Pick n' Pay is involved in the Organic Freedom Project to create 100 000 jobs on 20 000 hectares by 2014.

Will we have genetically modified produce sitting alongside organic produce on supermarket shelves? Well Pick 'n Pay said it would not stock the government endorsed GM potato which the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) hopes to commercialise later this year "until the council could provide conclusive scientific evidence on the biosafety of the product." [Business Report]

So this doesn't rule out the possibility of GM potatoes finding their way on to Pick 'n Pay shelves, just that the science would have to be convincing. And who will be providing the impartial convincing science, I ask? It certainly can't be the ARC who have a commercial interest in seeing their potatos proliferated! I just hope that the supermarkets and the public won't be duped by sham science.

Biowatch's Elfrieda Pschorn-Strauss said, back in 2004, "We got scientists from the University of the Western Cape to analyse data from previous trials and they found it to be flawed." [IOL]

Will we as consumers even know we are buying GM-modified potatoes? No we won't as food labelling laws in this country don't require the disclosure of genetically modified food unless there is a "significant difference" between the GM and the non-GM product.

Will Biowatch succeed in it's appeal against the court costs order or will democracy and consumer advocacy in South Africa be dealt an expensive blow?

There is a lot at stake here, so please read the rest of this and support Biowatch on Monday 23rd April!

The story so far, in fast forward. (Sources: GMWatch, SafeAge and Biowatch)

1997 – first GM crops are commercially released in South Africa.

Dec 1999 – Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) Act comes into operation.

pretoria high courtJul 2000 - Biowatch makes requests for information about how decisions to allow GM crops are made. The organisation makes further requests on another three occasions up to February 2001 but receives inadequate responses from the Registrar of Genetic Resources. The information requested included:

· access to a selection of risk assessments;
· information on legislation governing field trial licences before the implementation of the GMO Act;
· an update on what permits had been granted;
· permission to inspect permits granted;
· permission to inspect records regarding compliance with public participation provisions of the GMO Act;
· details about pending applications for permits for GM crops, exact coordinates of field trials and crops approved for commercial release.

Aug 2002 – Biowatch serves court papers on the Department of Agriculture, naming the Registrar for Genetic Resources, the Executive Council for Genetic Resources and the Minister of Agriculture as respondents.

Feb 2003 – Monsanto South Africa (Pty) Ltd, along with two companies that distribute Monsanto seed, apply to join the court proceedings as co-respondents, on the grounds that they have a direct and substantial interest in the subject matter of the proceedings. The Open Democracy Advice Centre joins proceedings as a friend of the court to advance arguments in support of Biowatch's constitutional right of access to information.

May 2004 – the case is heard in the Pretoria High Court.

24 Feb 2005 – Acting Judge Eric Dunn delivers the judgement. He orders that Biowatch South Africa be granted access to almost all the information it had requested. Specifically, Judge Dunn reaffirmed that:
· Biowatch South Africa had a constitutional right to this information.
· Access to the information was in the public interest.
· Biowatch South Africa had been forced to apply to the court to exercise this right.

Judge Dunn also said that:
· Granting access to this information was a necessary part of the proper administration of the Genetically Modified Organisms Act;
· The Registrar of Genetic Resources had adopted a passive role in assisting Biowatch with gaining access to the information it had sought.

But, obscurely, instead of applying the general principle that costs should follow the result of litigation, Judge Dunn ordered Biowatch South Africa to pay the legal costs of Monsanto South Africa (Pty) Ltd. His reason: Biowatch South Africa had been too general in its request for information and this had forced Monsanto South Africa to come to court to protect its interests. Judge Dunn made no other costs orders.

23 June 2005 – Biowatch is granted permission to appeal the costs order.

13 Oct 2006 – Appeal date scheduled for 23 April 2007.

23 Apr 2007 - What will the outcome be in the Pretoria High Court?

Adhoc, informal screenings of alternative movies have been happening at different venues around Cape Town, organised by various groups. Collectives like While You Were Sleeping, Green Drinks and Safeage have been showing films that would never be screened by mainstream cinema's. We're not talking arthouse movies here either, these movies are usually non-mainstream documentaries that make needed social, humanitarian or environmental commentry, often politically charged. They deal with controversial subject matter and are intended to challenge our assumptions.

Past screenings have included The Future of Food (genetically modified food), The Iron Wall (wall dividing Palestine and Israel), The Yes Men (satirical mockumentary in which IMF officials are impersonated by activist-pranksters) and The End of Suburbia (implications of oil depletion on the suburban lifestyle).

Now Permacore, a Cape Town group of permaculturists, are screening Seeds of Change this Thursday (12 Apr), 7pm at The Door in the Floor, Trill Rd, Obz. If you get there early food will be available to order in the couryard. Texting if you plan to eat will assist with the catering. Or email for more info.

Seeds of Change is a 70 minute fast-paced and moving documentary about the views of western Canadian farmers on both the benefits and risks associated with using genetically modified crops.

"Our film addresses the biotechnology industry and how it has changed the face of agriculture. As such it has great relevance for stakeholders around the world - activists, industry people, policymakers, and farmers not least among them," states video researcher Stéphane McLachlan.