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Policy & Enforcement News

Creecy unveils draft updated Nationally Determined Contribution

31st March 2021 Creamer Media's Chanel de Bruyn speaks to Engineering News Editor Terence Creamer about the draft updated Nationally Determined Contribution unveiled by Environment Minister Barbara Creecy, as well as about South Africa's climate finance targets and the fact that the country is not yet ready to... →

Industry can grow with diverse solutions – institute

By: Cameron Mackay 26th March 2021 The best growth scenario for the local sugar industry is to diversify its products to create multiple revenue streams, says research organisation the Sugar Milling Research Institute NPC (SMRI) strategic research group leader Dr Kitty Foxon. Biochemicals and bio-materials from sugar cane-derived... →

Industry master plan supported

26th March 2021 Non-profit trade organisation FairPlay Movement enthusiastically supports the South African Sugar Master Plan as a mechanism to stabilise and rebuild the industry after devastating and predatory imports have gained market share and killed local jobs for years. “Like the poultry sector master plan... →

Fossil fuels found accountable for millions of deaths

By: Halima Frost 19th March 2021 Fossil fuels are, through a marked contribution to air pollution, accountable for 8.7-million deaths globally in 2018, which adds to the mounting evidence that air pollution from ongoing dependence on fossil fuels is detrimental to global health, says University College London (UCL) associate... →

POISON Fossil fuels are responsible for millions of deaths globally every year

Sustainability leader ramps up ESG strategy

By: Halima Frost 19th March 2021 Energy management and automation company Schneider Electric has begun to implement its new Schneider Sustainability Impact (SSI) programme for 2021 to 2025, in the hopes of significantly accelerating its progress to being a more sustainable company. The programme is built on six long-term... →

ZANELLE DALGLISH Our vision of sustainability is holistic and ecosystemic, as it covers all environmental, social and governance topics

Eskom mulls alternatives to R300bn emissions-compliance spend

By: Terence Creamer 16th March 2021 Coal-heavy electricity utility Eskom has reiterated its commitment to complying with South Africa’s tightening minimum emission standards, but CEO Andre de Ruyter has also indicated that it is considering capital-light alternatives, as well as noncoal repowering solutions to meet its obligations,... →

Watch Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter explaining the possible alternative solutions for meeting South Africa's minimum emission standards. Camera Work: Kutlwano Matala Editing: Nicholas Boyd.

Treasury to block R384m funding for Alfred Nzo Municipality due to poor performance

By: News24Wire 12th March 2021 National Treasury plans to stop R384 million in funding to the cash-strapped Alfred Nzo Municipality due to under-performance and non-compliance relating to water service and municipal infrastructure. Treasury wrote to its municipal manager, Zamile Sikhundla, in February to inform him it intended... →

National Treasury Director Dondo Mogajane

Water stewardship can halt security decline

By: Cameron Mackay 12th March 2021 With water security declining in South Africa, consulting engineers and scientists SRK Consulting principal consultant Fiona Sutton believes that securing commitment from companies regarding the value of water stewardship is the first step towards water security. “Adhering to water stewardship... →

WADING THROUGH THE WATERS Water risks such as declining water quality, flooding, drought, water scarcity and water stress are all contributing to a decline in local water security

Pandemic stresses need for conservation

By: Cameron Mackay 12th March 2021 With Covid-19 further emphasising the importance of water and water conservation in South Africa, water tank storage solutions provider Abeco Tanks has supplied water tanks to several hospitals and facilities in the country to ease the impact of the pandemic. “The best defence against the... →

MANNIE RAMOS JNR As we brand ourselves as a water bank, businesses to store water for when water supply is unavailable in order to have continuity of service

Eskom, Sasol face government ultimatum to meet emission limits

By: Bloomberg 10th March 2021 Eskom Holdings and Sasol, South Africa’s two biggest polluters, must comply with emission limits even if it costs them tens of billions of rand, Environment Minister Barbara Creecy said. The companies, which use coal to produce electricity and gasoline respectively, have sought to avoid... →

Mauritius hit by minor oil spill in wake of ecological disaster

By: Bloomberg 9th March 2021 A Chinese-flagged fishing vessel has run aground close to Mauritius’s only port, just months after the Indian Ocean island nation had to contend with its worst-ever ecological disaster that was caused by a massive oil spill. The FV Lu Rong Yuan Yu, a 45-m-long fishing trawler, ran aground on the... →

Report finds majority of extractive commodity traders lack ESG disclosure

By: Marleny Arnoldi 8th March 2021 Swiss research organisation RMF finds in a new report that companies involved in oil, gas, metals or minerals trading score on average only 23% on environmental, social and governance (ESG) due diligence. The report, titled 'ESG Due Diligence and Transparency Report on Extractive Commodity... →

ECA report unpacks green recovery strategy for Africa

By: Marleny Arnoldi 2nd March 2021 The Economic Commission for Africa has launched the 'Building Forward for an African Green Recovery' report, which highlights the continent’s bold post-Covid-19 pandemic recovery strategy. The report seeks to bolster the continent’s quest for the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals,... →

Organisations call on Standard Bank, others not to finance East African oil pipeline

By: Schalk Burger 1st March 2021 In an open letter to financial services provider Standard Bank and 24 other banks, 263 community and nonprofit organisations from 49 countries have called on the banks not to fund the construction of the world’s longest heated crude oil pipeline, namely the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop)... →

Probe finds Mpumalanga, Gauteng hydrogen sulphide levels above WHO recommendations

By: Schalk Burger 1st March 2021 An ongoing probe by the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) to determine the cause of the high levels of air pollution reported in Mpumalanga and Gauteng during the week of February 11 to 17 has determined that sulphur dioxide (SO2) levels were in compliance with ambient... →

Regulation mandates companies to be waste cautious

26th February 2021 With extended producer responsibility (EPR) now mandatory in South Africa, managing the end-of-life of a product has become a social, environmental and economic requirement. Owing to this, companies will need to take responsibility for their waste so that less goes to landfill, warns paper and... →

Manufacturing recovery’s slow pace a concern, Seifsa

26th February 2021 The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) is concerned about the slow pace of recovery in the manufacturing sector, as depicted by the manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) number of 50.9 last month – lower than the 2020 fourth quarter average. →

MULTIPLIER EFFECT The manufacturing sector remains key to the growth and development of South Africa owing to its multiplier effect on other sectors of the economy

Support for sustainable alternatives received

26th February 2021 The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), which promotes a circular economy and resource efficiency in industry, supports African countries in meeting the challenges of dealing with plastic waste leaking to the environment, said research organisation the Council for... →

Waste management plan holds industry accountable

By: Mc'Kyla Nortje 26th February 2021 Plastic industry body Plastics SA and packaging industry body Packaging SA have welcomed the new Section 18 Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) plan introduced by Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Barbara Creecy, which is expected to be implemented on November 5, 2021. Section 18 is... →

Storage high on the agenda for emerging economies

19th February 2021 Energy storage coupled with renewable energy ensures less intermittent supply of power, thereby solving balancing and system reliability issues, the Africa Energy Indaba stated in a January press release. →

SHAKING UP THE INDUSTRY Energy storage technologies are viewed as a potential game-changer for widespread adoption of renewable energy generation throughout Africa

Greenpeace calls on Creecy to revise weakening minimum emission standards

By: Simone Liedtke 17th February 2021 Nongovernmental organisation Greenpeace Africa has called on Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Barbara Creecy to revise the weakening of the minimum emission standards (MES) to avoid further air pollution. The organisation has also requested the Department of Environment, Forestry and... →

SAHRC recommends Emfuleni municipality be placed under administration amid ongoing Vaal river pollution

By: Schalk Burger 17th February 2021 The South African Human Rights Commission warns that the Vaal river, "Gauteng's most vital water resource", may have been irreparably damaged and recommends that the Emfuleni municipality be placed under administration and that public servants, municipal administrators and staff who failed to... →

Project aims to transform HVAC-R sector

By: Khutso Maphatsoe 12th February 2021 The Bavarian State Ministry of the Environment and Consumer Protection, together with the Bavarian Environment Agency, has entered into bilateral cooperation with the Western Cape government in what is known as the refrigeration and air conditioning (RAC) partnership project. The project being... →

Eskom, Sasol rebuffed, Creecy says as she fights pollution suit

By: Bloomberg 2nd February 2021 Environmental Affairs Minister Barbara Creec said she rejected pleas for leniency from senior executives at the country’s two biggest air polluters as she responded to a lawsuit that says her office has breached constitutional rights to clean air. In a 260-page answering affidavit to a lawsuit... →

GreenCape says climate finance is growing in South Africa, but more support is needed

By: Marleny Arnoldi 29th January 2021 A new report, titled 'South African Climate Finance Landscape' and published by GreenCape and the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship, in partnership with the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), shows that R62.2-billion has been invested in climate finance in South Africa for... →

Shell is back in court for Nigeria oil spills liability ruling

By: Bloomberg 29th January 2021 Royal Dutch Shell faces the latest ruling in a long-running legal dispute with Nigerian farmers who say the energy giant is responsible for oil leaks that have polluted their villages. The case is the first in which a company and its foreign subsidiary have been tried in the Netherlands for... →

Sappi secures sustainable forest certification in South Africa

By: Schalk Burger 28th January 2021 Wood-fibre products company Sappi has achieved the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification- (PEFC-) endorsed Sustainable African Forest Assurance Scheme (Safas) certification in South Africa. The Safas project was a successful collaboration between Sappi and a number of South... →

After pandemic, oil firms even less willing to cover $3.9bn cost of South Africa's clean fuel plan

By: Reuters 22nd January 2021 After being hit by the pandemic, oil companies in South Africa are unlikely to upgrade refineries to cut sulphur emissions unless the government allows them to pass the costs on to consumers or offers other support, the South African Petroleum Industry Association (Sapia) says. New rules... →

Company facilitates workshops, audits for road compliance

By: Cameron Mackay 22nd January 2021 Local auditing company JC Auditors has played an integral supporting role in the efforts of the Road Transport Management System’s (RTMS’) National Steering Committee by conducting audits and hosting RTMS workshops, having hosted the first RTMS workshop in 2003. RTMS is an industry-led and... →

VITAL FIRST INSPECTIONS JC Auditors were able to conduct on site truck inspections with the onset of Covid-19 Level 3 restrictions last year

DEFF issues yellow alert for harmful West Coast red tide, partners prepare for red alert

By: Schalk Burger 18th January 2021 Following the build-up of harmful algal blooms - called red tides - on the West Coast over the past few weeks, the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) has issued a Situation Yellow alert under the West Coast Rock Lobster Contingency Plan and placed all government role-players... →

Rare earth producers aim to agree global environment standards in 2021

By: Reuters 14th December 2020 Producers of rare earths, under increasing pressure from their industrial buyers over longstanding pollution issues, are hammering out a single set of global environmental standards, the head of the industry association has told Reuters. Manufacturers of products such as electronic goods and... →

Wind association lauds S Africa govt’s policy progress

11th December 2020 The South African Wind Energy Association (Sawea) has applauded the South African government for the progress made in policy over the last 12 months, beginning with the gazetting of the Integrated Resource Plan 2019 (IRP 2019) and all the hard work done, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, to ensure... →

KANGAS WIND FARM The first bid window four wind farm, in the Northern Cape, to come on stream as part of government’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme

Standard Bank publishes climate-change-mitigating fossil fuels financing policy

By: Donna Slater 10th December 2020 Financial services company Standard Bank Group has published its Fossil Fuels Financing Policy (FFFP) as part of its efforts to improve its management of environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks and contribute to the sustainable development of Africa. This follows the 2019 adoption of... →

SA to introduce Web-based Covid-19 screening system

By: Sane Dhlamini 10th December 2020 The Department of Health on Thursday announced the launch of a pilot programme for a new Web-based travel health questionnaire to increase efforts to strengthen active screening and surveillance at ports of entry into South Africa. The department says with the full resumption of international... →

New DG appointed for environment dept

By: Donna Slater 9th December 2020 During a virtual meeting of Cabinet on December 2, Nomfundo Tshabalala was appointed Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) DG. Former DG Nosipho Ngcaba had retired in June. →

Eskom to be charged with misleading regulator over pollution

By: Bloomberg 30th November 2020 Eskom Holdings, South Africa’s State power utility, said it will be charged with supplying misleading information to the national air quality officer as well exceeding emissions limits at the Kendal coal-fired power plant and breaching its Atmospheric Emission License. “Eskom can confirm it has... →

Eskom ordered to rectify pollution issues at three power plants

By: Bloomberg 13th November 2020 Eskom Holdings, South Africa’s state power utility, was ordered to comply with pollution limits at three of its coal-fired plants this year while two more are being investigated, the government’s environment department said in its first disclosure about most of the orders. The violations listed... →

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