Nnimmo Bassey*

DURBAN, África do Sul, 5 de dezembro de 2011, (IPS) – Não é novidade que os agrocombustíveis desataram uma nova febre pela África. Foram monopolizados milhões de hectares sem que ninguém se preocupasse com os pobres que vivem nelas, afirma o presidente da Amigos da Terra Internacional, Nnimmo Bassey.  Continue Reading

Khanyisa Sinqe – Zithethele Community Newspaper*

Women from the Eastern Cape at the Rural Women's Assembly. Credit: Khanyisa Sinqe/TerraViva

The women – including farm workers, farm owners, and farm dwellers from inside South Africa, and as far away as Zimbabwe and Malawi, Kenya and Senegal – were not accredited participants in the air-conditioned venue in the city centre.

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Em Durban, crianças apoiam os esforços para a redução de emissões de carbono. Crédito: Zukiswa Zimela/IPS

Stephen Leahy

Durban, África do Sul, 5/12/2011, (IPS) – A sociedade civil alertou em Durban sobre o perigo de se transformar terras africanas destinadas à produção de alimentos em cultivos com vistas a comercializar créditos de carbono. Continue Reading

By Phumza Sithole – Rainbow News*

DURBAN, Dec 5 – (TerraViva) “Durban is green! I can see it!” exclaimed Nomasikizi Khonza, Mayor of Amathole Municipality in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province. Continue Reading

By Joseph Bushby – Winelands Echo*

DURBAN, Dec 5 – (TerraViva) “The atmosphere holds approximately 3.4 quadrillion liters of water in vapour form at any given time,” says Medwyn Jacobs, CEO of N&M Technologies. “We have the patented technology to harvest and condense that vapour into tested, clean, drinkable water.” Continue Reading

By Henrietta Mongalo – Ngulunews Community Paper*

NUMSA's Philemon Shiburi says jobs and development should be protected as renewable energy sources are introduced. Credit: NUMSA

DURBAN, Dec 2 — (TerraViva) South Africa is the continent’s leading producer of greenhouse gases, largely due to generating electricity in coal-fired power stations. The country must replace these polluting plants with clean energy sources, but it must do so with care, says Philemon Shiburi.
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Only owners of large tracts of land can be expected to benefit from soil carbon credits. Credit: Zukiswa Zimela/IPS

By Stephen Leahy

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 2 (IPS) – Civil society has warned of the danger of turning Africa’s food-producing lands into “carbon farms” so that rich countries can avoid making cuts in their carbon emissions. Continue Reading

By Joseph Bushby – Winelands Echo*

Isak Kruiper fears his generation will outlive its home in the Kalahari desert. Credit: Ramatamo wa Matamong/TerraViva

DURBAN, Dec 2 — (TerraViva) Isak and Toppies Kruiper have made their way across the country with a message, travelling all the way from their home in the Kalahari Desert of South Africa’s Northern Cape Province to the United Nations Climate Conference taking place in the port city of Durban on the eastern coast.

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by Ramatamo wa Matamong – Alex Pioneer*

DURBAN, Dec 2 — (TerraViva) World Aids Day might not have been on the official agenda at the U.N. Climate Conference this week, but it was certainly on the minds of many who gathered to talk about finding a global solution to climate change. Continue Reading

By Isaiah Esipisu

Geoffrey Ndung’u earns a living growing watermelons on his dry land. Credit: Isaiah Esipisu/IPS

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 1 (IPS) – On a Sunday evening, a track loaded with 10 tonnes of watermelons leaves Geoffrey Ndung’u’s homestead in Kanyonga village in semi-arid Eastern Kenya. It travels past a village shopping centre were people have formed a queue to receive food aid because of a prolonged drought in the area. Continue Reading