From time immemorial, mankind’s relationship to nature has been far more adversarial than cooperative or convivial. Man has had to fight and scurry in order to ilk out a meagre living. The contest between man and nature remained vastly unequal until the Industrial Revolution when coal, previously considered “evil” as it came from underground, became widely used and thus changed the face of the earth in many ways. One way was the ability of man to be able to harvest more and more with less and less effort. Technical progress has increased man’s efficiency to such an extent that lately nature’s ecosystems have become overtaxed; they are unable to cope. The result is that these ecosystems can not return to a balanced equilibrium that is necessary to be able to provide  the services that man depends on for survival (clean water, air, arable land etc).

climate smart cape townThe award-winning Climate Smart Cape Town Pavilion at COP17 in Durban was the venue for the launch of ‘Moving Mountains, Cape Town’s Action Plan for Energy and Climate Change’.

The City of Cape Town’s Energy and Climate Action Plan has 11 objectives, with targets and detailed implementation plans involving over 40 programmes and more than 120 projects. The Action Plan is managed and coordinated by the City’s Environmental Resource Management Department, across all Directorates and Departments.

Speaking at the launch on Friday 2 December 2011, Councillor Gareth Bloor, Chair of the City’s Economic, Environmental and Spatial Planning Portfolio Committee stated that the City of Cape Town acknowledges climate change as one of the greatest challenges of our generation and seeks to use it as an opportunity to build

The I-WEC Story

How many engineering companies, or any other manufacturing concern for that matter, have a witch as their logo? Not many conventional companies for sure. That I-WEC's full name is a bit of a tongue twister also makes them stand out - Isivunguvungu Wind Energy Converter! Logos and names aside, these guys are working their magic in the local wind energy sector, that's for sure.

I-WEC recently launched it's turbine manufacturing facility with the arrival of a giant mould that will be used to manufacture wind turbine blades in South Africa for the first time. With all the Wind Energy development projects lined up, I-WEC will play an important role in the proliferation of local green-collar jobs.

"Something is happening, something new, something exciting, something with future", says Michael Kast, IWEC Managing Director.

Looking at their launch video, the

Toxic waste hangs around for thousands of years

The Koeberg Alert Alliance organisation goes back as far as 1983, but was reformed by Peter Becker in 2010. A determined man, he spends much of his time sharing the important news of what nuclear means to the people of Cape Town, trying to cut through the smokescreen that is governmental brainwashing and monopoly-driven propaganda.

For Peter, it all started with a poster. Before his anti-nuclear days Mr Becker was into wind power and one day while giving a talk at a school he couldn’t help but notice the crude misinformation on one of the posters on the wall about energy. With a couple of degrees up his sleeve Peter quickly saw through the subtle manipulation tactics scrawled across that school poster, seriously downplaying the potential dangers of Nuclear Energy. He was so disgusted that he

Philips LED street lighting
New street lighting in Durban represents good luminance and uniformity in LED lighting; will create a more livable city with safer roads, increased security and a comfortable outdoor environment.

Yesterday Philips unveiled a new state of the art LED street lighting installation that offers a sustainable lighting solution for the citizens of Durban. The new lighting consists of 149 LED street lights installed in 6 streets around the Durban International Conference Center (ICC). These offer energy savings of 47,4 MWh per year or 26% compared with the older 250W metal halide street lights they replace and at the same time provide

HSI

The Humane Society International is pressing policymakers to address animal agriculture’s role in global warming during the UN conferences in Durban.

COP17, the United Nations’ climate change conference, opened this week with hopes for a global agreement that will stave off the most dangerous impacts of climate change.

Given animal agriculture’s significant contributions to the climate crisis (see this report), the Humane Society International believes that conference outcomes should include policies to reduce the animal agriculture sector’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Plans for locally manufactured multi-megawatt turbines: A milestone for our local green economy?

The intimidating size of the blade mould was obvious

Last week marked the launch of I-WEC’s rotor blade workshop, together with Western Cape Economic Development MEC Alan Winde and Connect’d Cape Town. Now we will see for the first time in history wind turbine blades manufactured in our very own country. With the Western Cape government’s ambitious target for renewable energy at 15% by 2014, I guess it’s about time.

Trans African Climate Caravan of HopeThe 17th Conference of the Parties literally got off to a slow start yesterday, with Pres. Zuma arriving on Africa Time. There were also rumours of Canada backing out of the Kyoto Protocol before Christmas and fears of the Kyoto Protocol being "murdered on African soil". Will Occupy COP17 become a force to be reckoned with and dare you drink the water? More after the jump!

President Zuma urges a "balanced, fair and credible" outcome.
The Pres arrived over a half an hour late for the opening of COP17, with proceedings only getting underway by 10.41. "You have before you the responsibility to re-affirm the multilateral rules-based system undercut by the Kyoto Protocol," said Zuma. He warned that Africa is particularly vulnerable to climate change and called on delegates to

Durban International Convention Centre

A host of green events, entertainment and exhibits will be held as part of the Climate Change Response Expo (CCR) which opens next week Monday the 28th November.

The biggest green expo in SA to date, it will be running alongside the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 17) in Durban and is expected to draw over 30 000 people and 15 000 UN delegates!

More than 100 exhibitors will showcase their innovations towards clean and efficient energy, sustainable development and water resource management amongst a host of climate change initiatives.

Business, Green Solutions, Science and

Earthlife March

March to Demand a Solution to Climate Change at COP17 is being hosted this Saturday, 26th November, by Earthlife Africa Jhb

Global greenhouse gas emissions are rising to dangerous levels and if a global deal to reduce emissions to 1.5 degrees Celsius is not reached soon, Africa will face droughts, submerged cities and coastlines, famines, species extinctions and many climate refugees.

With the Kyoto Protocol coming to an end in 2012, global leaders need to reach a just, fair and legally binding agreement that continues to keep emissions in check.

For this reason, Earthlife Africa Jhb and allies will be marching on Saturday, 26th of November 2011.

As Makoma Lekalakala, Programme Officer at Earthlife Africa Jhb states, "The world is coming to South Africa and the only question is will there be only hot air, or will a deal be reached? We, in South Africa, need a deal. Runaway climate change, or even warming above 1.5 degrees Celsius, will undermine all of our development gains made since liberation. We are