The Green Guardian
Cape Town braces for heat, fires and water stress as very strong El Niño develops
Parrot egg smuggler ordered to pay for wildlife rescue
A Thai national caught smuggling protected parrot eggs out of South Africa has been convicted and ordered to pay R300,000 towards the care…
UN backs negotiations on global protocol to tackle environmental crime
UN member states have approved negotiations on a new global protocol under UNTOC to target organized environmental crimes, including wildlife trafficking, illegal mining, and…
Gates Foundation faces reckoning over AGRA
The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food has backed calls by African faith leaders for the Gates Foundation to pay reparations after its agricultural initiative failed to…
Climate adaptation funding falling far short of what countries need
Developing countries will need up to $420 billion annually by 2035 to adapt to severe climate impacts, yet public funding remains critically low, according to UNEP’s latest…
Sardine fishing in South Africa on hold after mass mortality linked to virus
Sardine fishing in South Africa remains halted while environmental authorities evaluate new catch limits following widespread fish mortalities caused by pilchard herpesvirus.
SAHRC warns Gauteng water crisis is about failing infrastructure, not a lack of water
A landmark SAHRC inquiry reveals that Gauteng's severe water outages stem from collapsing municipal infrastructure, massive leaks, and systemic institutional failures rather than…
Standard Bank faces greenwashing complaint over EACOP financing
Fossil Free South Africa and the StopEACOP Coalition have filed a greenwashing complaint against Standard Bank with the Advertising Regulatory Board, challenging its…
Climate change puts SA’s young and old at greater risk from extreme heat
The 2026 Lancet Countdown report warns that escalating climate change poses an immediate threat to human survival, with extreme heat and drought hitting vulnerable populations in…
Johannesburg water outages put service delivery in election spotlight
Prolonged water outages in Johannesburg suburbs like Parktown West are pushing residents to the brink and placing deteriorating infrastructure and municipal accountability at the…
Desmond D’Sa, fearless champion of environmental justice, dies in crash
Acclaimed environmental justice activist and Goldman Environmental Prize winner Desmond D’Sa has died in a car crash alongside his son and sister-in-law, sparking widespread…
Bronkhorstspruit crisis highlights SA’s water service failures
The SAHRC and Wits have launched the Water Rights Tracker, revealing that 107 of South Africa's 144 water services authorities are in a poor or critical state as infrastructure…
Rand Water to restrict water supply to Johannesburg and Tshwane
Rand Water has confirmed it will restrict bulk water supplies to Johannesburg and Tshwane after both metros continuously exceeded their daily consumption allocations.
Toxic taps expose Tshwane’s deadly water failures
More than 400 people, mostly young children, fell ill after the City of Tshwane supplied unchlorinated tap water to Bronkhorstspruit for three weeks without alerting residents,…
UN warns world will exceed 1.5°C global warming target
A new UN report warns that exceeding 1.5°C of global warming is now unavoidable, but aggressive emissions cuts could curb peak temperatures and reverse warming by the century's…
Aerial survey exposes pollution choking rivers feeding Hartbeespoort Dam
An aerial survey by Deputy Water and Sanitation Minister Jack Bloom has laid bare the extensive sewage spills, illegal dumping, and infrastructure failures choking the river…
Tshwane admits negligence after 408 fall ill in Bronkhorstspruit
The City of Tshwane has admitted negligence after supplying unchlorinated water from the sewage-polluted Bronkhorstspruit River for three weeks without warning residents, leaving…
SA to push for triple adaptation finance by 2035 at COP31
South Africa will advocate for a binding benchmark to triple adaptation finance by 2035 at COP31 in Türkiye, addressing the critical funding shortfall facing climate-vulnerable…
Civil society challenges Ramokgopa’s 5GW gas procurement plan
Civil society organisations have raised concerns over the South African government's plan to procure 5 000MW of gas power under IRP 2025, warning that side-lining wind and solar…
A new kind of national park
The declaration of South Africa's new Grasslands National Park marks a milestone in conservation, using a pioneering biodiversity stewardship model that protects vital watersheds…