The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
The Angry Mermaid Award is organised by five international nonprofit organisations working in the environmental sector. The award will expose the "company or lobby group doing the most to sabotage effective action on climate change." Among those nominated for the award is South Africa's SASOL. Others on the list of nominees, include Royal Dutch Shell and Monsanto. For the full list of nominees and to cast your vote for the worst corporate climate change culprit, please click...
Saliem Fakir -
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) released its "State of the World Population 2009" report on the 18th of November. It chose to take up a politically delicate topic, the relationship between climate change, population stabilisation and the importance of gender.
The fundamental question it seeks to address is: how much of a threat is the growth in population to the world and how much of this increase will lead to a spike in green house gas (GHG) emissions?
As the report...
The upcoming Copenhagen Climate Conference is being positioned by the United Nations as the now or never event for the world to secure a global agreement on addressing climate change, as it urges countries from both the developed and developing world to "Seal the Deal." Great emphasis is being placed on the urgency of resolving the crisis, as further delays on a global compact will spell certain disaster for countries of the South disproportionately affected by global warming....
Glenn Ashton -
All international agreements are moulded around the fine diplomatic art of compromise. The upcoming climate talks in Copenhagen are no different; compromises will have to be made by all parties in one form or another. But the real question we need to ask is whether these compromises will inadvertently trigger chain reactions that stand to damage the environment rather than protect it.
Climate change is only one threat amongst many to global ecosystems. Our oceans are being overfished by...
Ronnie Hall -
In just a few weeks, government negotiators will be jetting in to Europe primed and ready to hammer out a new global deal: fractious, coffee-fuelled all-night negotiations seem inevitable, as each country battles to reach some kind of face-saving deal that sounds far-reaching and progressive, but won’t damage its own economy. All involved claim to be worried about the possibility that talks might collapse: but would a deal, any deal, be better than nothing?
The answer is a resounding...
Democracy Now -
Editor's Note: To view photographs of this historic meeting, please visit the website of the Maldives Presidency.
Maldives, the lowest-lying nation on earth, could be submerged by rising sea levels due to global warming. As a result, the country's President, Mohamed Nasheed and minister's from his government held an underwater cabinet meeting on Friday (17 October 2009) calling for concerted global action on climate change ahead of the Copenhagen conference. This special cabinet session...
