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Climate Change News

No election splurge as expenditure ceiling is sustained

By: Terence Creamer 26th February 2014 Despite slower economic growth in 2013 of 1.9%, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan announced on Wednesday that the 2013/14 Budget deficit was projected to be 4% of gross domestic product (GDP), a modest improvement on the October projection of 4.2%. He also stressed that expenditure had been... →

Wits scientists debunk climate change myths, impact remains severe

By: Leandi Kolver 25th February 2014 Scientists from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) have proved that, despite predictions, tropical storms were not increasing in number and that while global warming was causing frost to be less severe, late season frost was not receding as quickly as flowering was advancing, thus... →

Three new African cities join C40

By: Leandi Kolver 5th February 2014 C40 chairperson and mayor of Rio de Janeiro Eduardo Paes on Wednesday announced that the city of Cape Town, in South Africa, Dar es Salaam, in Tanzania and Nairobi, in Kenya, had joined the C40 network, bringing the number of C40-affiliated African cities to seven. With these three cities added,... →

C40 chairperson and Rio de Janeiro mayor Eduardo Paes makes an announcement at a C40 media briefing. Camerawork: Nicholas Boyd. Editing: Shane Williams. Recorded: 05/02/2014.

Effective universal climate change agreement needs cooperation

By: Leandi Kolver 5th February 2014 The input of cities is needed for the universal climate change agreement, which is currently being drafted, to be effective, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change executive secretary Christiana Figueres said on Wednesday at the C40 Summit, in Johannesburg. Addressing delegates in Sandton, she... →

UN Framework Convention on Climate Change executive secretary Christiana Figueres discusses ways in which cities could collaborate with national governments to fight climate change. Camerawork: Nicholas Boyd. Editing: Shane Williams. Recorded: 05/02/2014.

Cities’ importance in fighting climate change increasing – Bloomberg

By: Leandi Kolver 5th February 2014 The international community is increasingly looking toward cities for leadership with regard to fighting climate change, C40 president and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Wednesday. Speaking at the C40 Summit, in Sandton, he said this was a big step forward as “the impact of... →

C40 president Michael Bloomberg discusses the importance of cities in combating climate change and City of Johannesburg executive mayor Mpho Parks Tau discusses Johannesburg's climate change initiatives. Camerawork: Nicholas Boyd. Editing: Shane Williams. Recorded: 05/02/2014.

Carbon footprinting guide to assist in dealing with ‘increasingly challenging world’

By: Leandi Kolver 4th February 2014 Banking group Nedbank, in partnership with the University of Stellenbosch’s Sustainability Institute, on Tuesday launched a carbon footprinting guide aimed at advancing the control, reduction and measurement of carbon footprints in South Africa. Speaking at the launch, in Sandton, Nedbank chief... →

Carbon Footprinting Guide co-author Alan Brent and Nedbank chief governance and compliance officer Thabani Jali discuss the newly launched book. Camerawork and editing: Nicholas Boyd. Recorded: 04/02/2014.

South African appointed chairperson of World Green Building Council

By: Natalie Greve 4th February 2014 Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA) executive chairperson Bruce Kerswill has been elected the chairperson of the World Green Building Council (WGBC), after leading the charge for the formation of the local council in 2007. During his involvement with the WGBC, Kerswill championed the... →

Bruce Kerswill

Cape Town, Durban receive intl recognition for climate change efforts

By: Natalie Greve 17th January 2014 Thirty-four cities from 14 participating countries have been selected from among 163 entrants in this year’s Earth Hour City Challenge (EHCC) to receive special recognition by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) for “impressive actions” on climate change. The EHCC project aimed to mobilise... →

Johnson Controls, Hitachi sign MoU

By: Creamer Media Reporter 15th January 2014 Johnson Controls, Hitachi and Hitachi Appliances have signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding for a transaction in which Johnson Controls will obtain a 60% ownership stake in Hitachi Appliances’ global air-conditioning business, excluding sales and service operations in Japan and certain... →

SA negotiating team, Molewa lauds ‘critical’ outcomes of COP19

By: Natalie Greve 3rd December 2013 Having headed up the South African delegation to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC’s) nineteenth Congress of the Parties (COP19) in November, Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa has lauded the four “critical” outcomes of the talks, which aimed to... →

Chief negotiator for South Africa at the 19th Congress of The Parties Judy Beaumont discusses the outcomes of the talks. Recorded: 3.12.13. Camerawork: Nicholas Boyd. Video Editor: Shane Williams.

SA corporates trump Brics counterparts in disclosing emissions

By: Terence Creamer 28th November 2013 Leading South African corporates have again performed well ahead of the global norm in reporting their carbon emissions, with 83 of the companies making up the JSE 100 participating in the seventh edition of the South African Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) – the second-highest response rate... →

Work under way to select onshore site for South Africa’s carbon capture and storage pilot

By: Schalk Burger 22nd November 2013 Academics, policy makers and government are in the process of developing the Pilot carbon dioxide (CO2) Storage Project (PCSP) that will demonstrate the potential viability of long-term carbon dioxide storage in deep underground geological basins and the project has been granted R197-million over... →

Development banks provided $27bn to mitigate climate change in 2012

By: Natalie Greve 18th November 2013 Multilateral development banks (MDBs) provided almost $27-billion in global financing in 2012 to address the challenges of climate change, with the African Development Bank (AfDB) mobilising $1.7-billion of climate mitigation finance – more than any other development institution on the continent,... →

Human-induced climate change potentially detrimental to emerging economies

By: Natasha Odendaal 15th November 2013 Emerging countries would feel the “catastrophic” impact of ever-increasing human-induced climate change more than developed economies, World Wide Fund for Nature South Africa (WWF-SA) CEO Morne du Plessis said on Friday. As the effects of climate change increasingly become more visible, South... →

WWF Climate Solvers initiative to promote businesses addressing climate change

By: Leandi Kolver 12th November 2013 The call for nominations in the World Wide Fund’s (WWF’s) South African leg of the Climate Solvers initiative was open, with the application deadline extended to November 21, the organisation said on Tuesday. Climate Solvers was a global WWF initiative through which the organisation aimed to... →

SA to take long-term strategic approach to COP19

By: Leandi Kolver 5th November 2013 South Africa would take a long-term strategic approach to the nineteenth climate change Conference of the Parties (COP19) to be held in Warsaw, Poland, this month, Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) chief director of international climate change Maesela Kekana said on Tuesday. Speaking at... →

Global Carbon budget to 2100 may be depleted by 2034

By: Natasha Odendaal 4th November 2013 In the next two decades, the world would exceed the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change- (IPCC-) established carbon budget, limiting global warming to 2 °C by 2100, the latest PwC Low Carbon Economy Index revealed on Monday. Despite a rapid move to adopt renewable energy worldwide, efforts... →

Shipping group’s philanthropic arm pledges $2.3m for tree planting

By: Joanne Taylor 25th October 2013 The United Parcel Service (UPS) Foundation, the philanthropic arm of UPS, is pledging another one-million trees worldwide and has awarded $2.3-million in grants to support environmental programmes and forestry-focused initiatives worldwide. →

Photo by Duane Daws
ONE-MILLION TREESThe United Parcel Service (UPS) Foundation is pledging funds to plant another one-million trees worldwide

SAA and Boeing to cooperate on biofuels in Southern Africa

By: Keith Campbell 11th October 2013 South African Airways and US aerospace giant Boeing on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to cooperate in the development and implementation of a “sustainable aviation biofuel supply chain in Southern Africa”, in the words of the joint press release. The MoU was signed at the... →

Photo by Duane Daws/Creamer Media
A Boeing 737-800 of South African Airways

SA pushing ahead with carbon-capture plans despite global headwinds

By: Terence Creamer 3rd October 2013 South Africa has indicated that it will continue to explore whether carbon capture and storage (CCS) can play a meaningful role in helping it to reduce the country’s carbon footprint notwithstanding limited progress in international climate negotiations and carbon pricing, as well as Norway’s... →

Photo by Duane Daws
Energy Minister Dikobe Ben Martins

Project to supply Durban with heat pumps and solar water heaters

By: Ilan Solomons 20th September 2013 The eThekwini municipality has registered its second clean development mechanism (CDM) project with the United Nations. The solar water heater and solar pump installation project was finalised as a CDM programme of activities (PoA) in July and is valid until June 2040. eThekwini municipality... →

KEEPING IT CLEAN The eThekwini municipality aims to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by rolling out energy efficient water heating technologies throughout Durban by 2050

Big emitters not doing enough to reduce emissions – CDP

By: Leandi Kolver 13th September 2013 The world’s largest carbon emitting companies are not doing enough to reduce their impact on the environment, with the 50 largest emitters having increased their emissions since 2009, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) stated in its 2013 Global 500 Climate Change Report released on Thursday.... →

IDC to issue bonds up to R12bn, dangling R2.7bn youth carrot

By: Martin Creamer 9th September 2013 South Africa’s State-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), which plans to issue bonds up to R12-billion in the next 18 months, on Monday announced stepped-up R2.7-billion funding to boost youth entrepreneurship. The State-owned corporation, which disbursed a record R16-billion into the... →

Photo by Duane Daws
IDC CEO Geoffrey Qhena

Global climate framework to be moulded to SA’s needs

By: Natasha Odendaal 19th August 2013 Government, stakeholders and industry on Monday embarked on a three-day workshop to adapt and align a recently tabled global framework to the nation’s climate change ambitions. The ‘Roadmap towards the national implementation of the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS)’ workshop, hosted... →

United call for electricity decisions, but less accord on nature of future mix

By: Terence Creamer 16th August 2013 It is common cause that South Africa has already left it too late to meet the 2023 schedule for the introduction of the first new nuclear capacity in line with the Integrated Resource Plan’s (IRP’s) proposal for the addition of 9 600 MW of such production by 2030. It is also widely accepted that... →

UCT Graduate School of Business Professor Anton Eberhard

University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business Professor Anton Eberhard on the need for a more dynamic electricity planning system. Camera Work: Nicholas Boyd. Editing: Shane Williams. Recorded: 15.8.2013.

New environment-friendly smelting technology aims to enter platinum industry

By: Sashnee Moodley 9th August 2013 To satisfy the need for more environment-friendly smelting technology in the platinum industry, minerals and metallurgical specialist Mintek developed and piloted, amongst others, the ConRoast process, which it hopes to commercialise in the next few years. →

Pre-engineered heat exchanger solution available

2nd August 2013 US-based Technology and engineering company Emerson Process Management announced the release of an integrated Heat Exchanger Monitoring Solution that improves operations performance and reduces energy costs. The solution is part of Emerson’s new suite of Essential Asset Monitoring applications.... →

Curbing impact on the oceanic environment

By: Anine Kilian 2nd August 2013 Global shipping company Maersk Line (ML) has reduced its energy consumption and has registered a corresponding environmental-impact reduction of 105.000 t of carbon dioxide (CO2) for all its vessel operations since its environment-friendly software programme, the quality and energy efficiency in... →

Sasol inaugurates the country’s first gas-fired power plant

By: Joanne Taylor 26th July 2013 Sasol New Energy inaugurated South Africa’s first gas-engine power plant at its Sasolburg site, in the Free State, earlier this month. →

MEGAPOWERThe Sasol gas-engine power plant has a 140 MW operating capacity, which can power 200 000 households

Carbon pricing idea gaining steam as global leaders recognise climate risks

By: Idéle Esterhuizen 23rd July 2013 In three years time, the vast majority of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions would come from jurisdictions with carbon pricing, as more former sceptics are reinventing themselves as contributors to the carbon pricing infrastructure of the future and global leaders recognise the risk that... →

Super container ship hopes to make efficiency waves

12th July 2013 Shipping company Maersk Line’s latest vessel, the first of the Triple-E series, was named Maersk Mc-Kinney Møller at a ceremony at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard in Okpo, South Korea. →

TRIPLE-EMaersk’s largest container ship named Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller

115 MW solar power plants for Linde, Dreunberg

12th July 2013 Solar energy provider Scatec Solar is building two photovoltaic projects (PV) to that will collectively provide 115 MW under the second round of the South African Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). →

Concerns that gas could undermine renewable-energy development

By: Samantha Herbst 5th July 2013 Increasing the role of gas may be one answer to a low-carbon economy, but it could also undermine support for renewable energy, said Mac Consulting principal consultant Dave Collins at a business breakfast hosted by the firm last month. He explained that, for the last decade, the gradual rise of... →

Draft climate change monitoring, evaluation system to be completed by year-end

By: Schalk Burger 20th June 2013 A draft monitoring and evaluation system, which forms part of South Africa's climate change response policy, is expected to be finalised by the end of the year, Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) Climate Change and Air Quality Management deputy director-general Judy Beaumont said at a... →

Carbon tax will not be implemented if not ready – Treasury official

By: Terence Creamer 18th June 2013 South Africa’s National Treasury is still aiming to institute a carbon tax on January 1, 2015, but chief director for economic and tax analysis Cecil Morden reports that government will only move ahead should it feel that the tax is ready for implementation. Confronted at a National Business... →

China takes cautious step towards carbon emissions trading

By: Reuters 18th June 2013 China launched its first pilot carbon emissions exchange on Tuesday, though plans for a nationwide roll out and efforts to apply the scheme to some polluting heavy industries could be undermined by a slowdown in the world's No.2 economy. High-emission industries such as aluminium and steel are... →

LDCs demand clarity on climate-change mitigation finance from developed States

By: Natalie Greve 14th June 2013 The United Nations (UN) Least Developed Countries (LDCs) collective has requested that industrialised nations provide detailed information about the finance they are willing to provide to aid vulnerable States in their adaptation to, and mitigation of, climate change. This information should be... →

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