Yolandi Groenewald

The insurance industry has demanded that political leaders create a climate-change adaptation framework, which would help insurers calculate the risk.

Lindy Rodwell recently won a Rolex award for her role in saving cranes. Her achievements all started with a childhood dream.

One of the South Africa’s leading researchers on climate change is also one of the country’s top science journalists — Leonie Joubert. The recipient of the 2007 Ruth First Fellowship, her writing is helping to lead the call for a greater understanding of what global ­warming means for Africa.

South Africa’s education system is in trouble. Nearly 14 years after apartheid ended, the country’s learners have some of the worst scores in the world when it comes to reading, as well as maths and science literacy. In a maths and science study, grade eights came bottom out of 50 countries.

South Africans love sport and many companies have exploited this to build their brands. This year the <i>Mail & Guardian</i> introduces a new corporate social investment category in its Investing in the Future Awards to honour companies that have invested in sports development.

Although land reform, including restitution, received an additional R2,6-billion this year to reach a new high of R6,6-billion, the Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs got a dressing down from Finance Minister Trevor Manuel. At a press conference after the budget speech, Manuel questioned whether the department would be able to handle more funds.

A report released by environmental group WWF at the end of last year showed that luxury brands still have a long way to go to improve their green record. The 52-page report, Deeper Luxury, said consumers of luxury goods are waking up to the fact that their favourite brands do not have the best green record and are pushing them to become more environmentally friendly.

As the Greening the Future Awards enters its sixth year of rewarding companies and organisations that have taken up the green cause, looking back over the years reveals that the awards have been handed out to several visionary organisations that realised how important it is to protect our environment.

Flood-torn Mozambique is holding its breath to see if more heavy rain will follow. Rising river levels have already displaced many of its citizens and flooding has destroyed houses, roads, bridges and crops. United Nations agencies said about 80 000 people in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique have been affected by flooding since the start of summer.

Abused girls in Zimbabwe have a new heroine. She might not wear a cape or have a signature martial arts move, but this woman has saved numerous girls from terrible circumstances and created a better life for them. Children’s rights activist Betty Makoni, the founding director of the Girl Child Network Trust, is Zimbabwe’s own Superwoman.

Climate wars are coming and Southern Africa will be one of the areas most at risk. As environmental resources dwindle because of global warming, people will begin fighting over scarce resources, particularly water and agricultural land. These predictions are contained in a report titled <i>Climate Change as a Security Risk</i>.

First there was economy class, business class and, on some airlines, first class. The discerning traveller can even book an exclusive suite, but the newest addition to the world of air travel is "green class". Unlike other classes, green class offers no exclusive perks such as vegan meals. Instead you could end up next to a snoring Texan who drives a gas-guzzling SUV and who paid a lot less for his seat than you did.

Consumer efforts in the United Kingdom to go green could spell the end of South Africa’s fresh produce appearing on their shelves. Environmental groups are campaigning to convince British consumers to buy local to avoid the costs of "food miles", the distance food travels from field to plate.

The informal settlements of Gauteng are full of children living in desperate socio-economic conditions. It is here that a church partnership is working to uplift the lives of not only the children, but also their communities. "It is widely understood that children and childhood are the building blocks for social, economic and human development and yet millions of kids remain isolated in hopeless environments," says Joanne Schermeier of the Coalition of Anglican Children’s Homes.

On June 16 1976 high school students in Soweto protested against their poor education. The date became engraved in South Africa’s struggle history and will be remembered as one of the turning points in the country’s history. When the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) decided to commemorate the day through a new "June 16 Trail", it also created a new legacy for communities inside Soweto that led to job creation and enterprise development

The sparsely populated Northern Cape is known for the diamonds it delivers. Mining these precious stones takes blood, tears, sweat and a lot of patience. But for De Beers, the diamond mining giant of the world, diamonds are not only to be found in the soil of the province, but also among its people.

Abused girls in Zimbabwe have a new heroine. She might not wear a cape or have a signature martial arts move, but this woman has saved numerous girls from terrible circumstances and created a better life for them. Children’s rights activist Betty Makoni, the founding director of the Girl Child Network Trust, is Zimbabwe’s own Superwoman.

Every year thousands of art lovers descend on the town of Oudtshoorn for the annual Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK). With more than 200 productions, 1&nbsp;000 shows and 135&nbsp;000 tickets sold, there is no doubt that the mainly Afrikaans arts festival is one of South Africa’s most beloved cultural events.

The authors of the comprehensive <i>South Africa Environment ­Outlook</i> report say it has already made an impact on how people view the country’s resources. The report, based on 16 ­specialist studies over a two-year period, aimed to provide scientifically ­credible information to help drive the future environmental agenda. It cited four major priorities: water availability and quality, climate change.