Environmental rights are critical for South Africa to develop sustainably in the 21st century. But how well are we doing in terms of implementation? Increasingly we see that this appears to be just so much public relations. Last month the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkyk, issued the authorisation for a new 4 800MW coal-fired power station in Limpopo.
Delta Environmental Centre is at the forefront of shaping the environmental education and the attitudes of South Africa’s future generations to preserve our ecosystems and add practical weight to the catchphrase "sustainable development". Greening the Future judges awarded the environmental centre a merit award in the not-for-profit organisation category.
Climate change is the flavour of the month, with world environmental politics dominated by the climate change debate. At the centre of the debate is the Kyoto Protocol, which outlines how the countries of the world should reduce their carbon footprints. Under the protocol, developed countries with high carbon emissions can buy "carbon credits" from less-developed countries.
The Greening the Future Awards remind us of our responsibility to save tomorrow today — for generations to come. There is no doubt that the recipients of the awards remain a shining light in the communities many moons after the awards have been presented. It is important, though, to see the awards as a pointer, not an end in itself.
It is often easy to pack up and leave, without thinking about what happens afterwards. Pollution, water contamination and waste are unwelcome cousins many companies cannot get away from quickly enough. The community left behind has to deal with the fallout.
The beauty of nature can have a calming effect, allowing the observer to sit, reflect and soak up the wonders of the planet. This is why Lindela Mjenxane, founder of Beyond Expectations, says a trip up Table Mountain in Cape Town is just what the doctor ordered for township learners who have to come to grips with the social ills they face in their daily lives.
A vulture swooping down on a piece of meat cannot know that the juicy morsel might be its last meal. But, when farmers put poisoned meat around their farms to protect their herds from predators, it can result in the deaths of game and wild fowl in the area. Pesticides used to reduce vegetation and protect grazing land might harm wildlife also.
The panel of judges for 2007.
When Gugu Mdlalose, a natural science teacher at Sizanani Primary School in Dube, Soweto, started a small food gardening project in her school in the late 1990s, she did not anticipate the effect this would have on her poverty-stricken community. Neither did she know it would bring her the 2004 Woolworths Trust Eduplant Programme award for the Gauteng province.
It is an age-old debate: how to cover Africa. A session at the World Association of Newspapers conference this week attracted a range of views. Azubuike Ishiekwene, executive director of Punch, Nigeria, said that coverage of Africa is stereotypically characterised by the four Ds: “death, disease, destruction and despair”.