The Masses Gather...The 350.org Moving Planet Parade in Cape Town on Saturday was fantastic. Noah and I helped out at the Project 90x2030 offices the weekend prior to the march so knew we weren't going to be the only ones showing up. But you're still nervous. What if only twenty of you pitch and you look a right banana? So it was cool to arrive at the Cape Town station forecourt and see a massive bunch of people there. Actually it was more like a throng than a bunch! Getting there was an interesting affair as we were travelling by wheelbarrow...

Join us for Moving Planet this Heritage Day 24 SeptOn Heritage Day Saturday 24 Sept 2011 join the movement and move the planet! Embrace your inner activst and stand up for the planet! Join hundreds of thousands of us around the world as part of 350.org's moving planet where ordinary citizens band together and DO SOMETHING about climate change. Let's send a clear signal to our leaders and the general public that climate change needs to be tackled urgently.

We've made a list of the main events happening around South Africa tomorrow (incl. Grahamstown and Howick!). See you there!

Cape Town Moving Planet Events

Tread lightly parade through the central city

WHERE: Cape Town station forecourt
WHEN: 10:30 am
WHAT: Join the low carbon Moving Planet Parade on heritage day! Take the train, bus, car-pool or cycle (Metrorail will permit bikes onboard for the day) and join the 'Tread lightly' parade through the central city.

Bring your bike, pram, wheelchair, skateboard or any other form of low carbon transport. Think about

“Have you seen a firefly lately?” asked City of Johannesburg’s MMC for Infrastructure and the Environment, Clr Roslynn Greef, as one of her opening statements for the environmental themed week of the City of Johannesburg’s Growth and Development Strategy 2040 planning and consultation leg. It was an interesting way to introduce the week and draw attention to issues of environmental quality. Fireflies, as beautiful and magical as they are, are also an indicator of air quality.

Through a series of themed weeks the Joburg City Council is re-examining its policies and getting feedback from citizens and key stakeholders, on all matters from resource sustainability to the environment, to what makes a city liveable. This week (19th-23rd) is environment week, and the following is economic week – we encourage all Joburg Sprouts to make their voices heard. Be a part of the process by exploring the sites, attending the events that you have interest in, and adding

Earthlife protest 2009: pic by Real Deal

Earthlife Africa Jhb will march on Eskom and BHP Billiton in Johannesburg on Friday 16 September 2011 to protest these companies' continued disregard of the environment and the nation. Of particular concern is Eskom's official status at the UNFCCC as a member of the South African negotiating team.

The march will start at 10am at Westgate Metro Station, stop off at BHP Billiton (10:15 to 10:30am, cnr. Hollard and Marshall) and end at Eskom's office (204 Smit Street, Braamfontein).

Along with Sasol, Eskom is on South Africa's official negotiating team in terms of climate change. Eskom, in other words, will represent South Africa at the upcoming Conference of the Parties (COP17) at Durban in December. COP17 is supposed to determine how to reduce global emissions, and the South African government is sending its biggest emitter of greenhouse gases to negotiate emissions cuts. This is a

Project 90x2030 Youth Forum

Toward the end of August the Project 90x2030 youth forum met to present their views on environmentalism to key delegates involved in the COP 17 negotiations and in the realm of sustainability in general. The process funded by the Goedgedacht Forum, and is the beginning of a dialogue between youth and environmental leaders. I was lucky enough to be included in the process that involved story rather than statistics, heart rather than head, and provided room for personal and collective introspection. The journey took an already active and diverse group of young leaders to Grahamstown during the arts festival, the leafy reflection spaces in Observatory, the revolutionary streets of Melville and the roaring spaces of the Johannesburg Zoo.

During this process the youth participants hoped to inspire action among the delegates attending. Most people know about climate change. Most people, however, do not act on this knowledge. Most continue in their daily lives, and treat the outcome as inevitable. So the key question for the youth group was: how to create a message that inspires action rather than complacency, that changes ways of being in the world, instead of merely creating awareness. The Project 90x2030 team that guided us through the process helped us to create a message that inspired action. We hope that the methods that we stumbled upon are the

Kumi in ArcticWhen I heard Kumi Naidoo, executive head of Greenpeace International, was in town I jumped at the chance to meet him, after all here was a chance to catch a glimpse of what life as swashbuckling eco-activist on the high seas must be like.

A small and motley crew of interested members of the public and Greenpeace supporters also turned up for Kumi's talk at Community House in Salt River last Monday evening. I was expecting more of a crowd, given Kumi's adventures of daring-do, but the event was not widely publicised (I only found out about it late in the day). It was a pity there weren't more people present, as Kumi was full of anecdotes and useful info.

Before proceedings started I met Ann, the director of Greenpeace Africa. I mentioned that I thought Greenpeace was a radical environmental group and she was quick to point out

Yvo de Boer before working at KPMG Photo: Simon Wedege

Yvo De Boer, the Special Global Advisor on Climate Change and Sustainability for KPMG, and the ex- executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Converntion on Climate Change (UNFCCC), briefed the media this week ahead of COP 17 happening in Durban at the end of the year. He gave insight into the business perspective of climate change issues, environmental management and green branding.

de Boer on COP 17
For de Boer the key issue at COP 17 will be that of the future of the Kyoto protocol. It seems that climate negotiations cannot continue without a universally accepted agreement stipulating targets for countries and measures to monitor the environmental behaviour of countries.

The Protocol has been a stumbling block with regard climate negotiations since its inception in 1994. The key issue is whether emissions targets should

Following the write-up of themes arising out of the BlueBuck Network Youth Summit, I thought I'd let you know about the young participants involved in the summit and the innovative organisations represented. Some have already been covered in the green youth, my post for youth day, and this post is an interesting addition that will hopefully be useful for any aspiring [young] environmentalists.

About The Bluebuck Network

Recently formed, the BlueBuck Network provides critical links between environmental youth groups around Southern Africa. The idea was initiated by students from

Another Lunch Is Possible
1. Because there is enough for everyone
2. Because sharing is more fulfilling than owning
3. Because corporations would rather see landfills overflow than anyone get anything for free
4. Because scarcity is a myth constructed to keep us at the mercy of the economy
5. Because a sunny day outside is better than anything money can buy
6. Because no one should have to do without food, shelter, entertainment, and community
7. Because life should be a picnic, but it only will be if we make it happen

So read the seven reasons to get involved in the Really Really Free Market on a pamphlet distributed by a group of pragmatic anarchists at said market on the last Saturday of July. I heard of the event via a friend on , and was at once excited by “a day of giving and receiving gifts”. I could bring what I had to share, peruse through what everyone else had bought, and co-mingle with some like-minded souls in the sunshine.

The excitement subsided, however, as I started thinking of the measly (well, non-existent) gifts I had to offer. I don’t have much at all to my name, and little still to give away. It seems, given the small turn-out at the market on Saturday, many people had the same thought, which deterred them from attending. What a sad pity, where so many people don’t realise how much they have to give, in terms of talents, time, skills and old junk lying around the house. What follows is a ‘How to guide’ of attending an anarchist market: read, digest, gather, and get out there.

Government recently granted mining rights to an Australian company to mine next to Mapungubwe, a World Heritage Site. Support the coalition group (including EWT, Birdlife Africa, WWF, Peace Parks foundation) opposing the mine at www.savemapungubwe.org.za or

Vele Neluvhalani thinks mining near Mapungubwe will be “an offence to our ancestors” and believes that on a fundamental level, people have always been connected to the earth, visible by the traces they leave behind, like the ancient rock art on the sandstone outcrops in Mapungubwe.

Neluvhalani feels a deep connection to this ancient place, because his ancestors lived there thousands of years before him. He is bound to the area not only by