A draft charter for Cap and Share

Posted on 19 April 2011 by David Le Page

Following some correspondence with Justin Kenrick and Brian Davey, some of the originators of the Cap and Share concept at the Irish sustainability thinktank Feasta, SAM has originated a draft charter to promote the concept:

The Cap and Share Charter

We declare that the atmosphere is a global commons and that the responsibility for its management is a responsibility shared equally amongst the world’s people.

We affirm that the consensus of climatological science provides the only sound basis for estimating what might be sustainable levels of continued emissions from burning fossil fuels.

We note that these recommendations clearly state that the world should be aiming for a stabilisation target of no more than 350 ppm of atmospheric CO2e.

We also note that economic inequality is profoundly correlated with many social ills, that economic inequality is growing in many countries, and that urgent steps are needed to reverse this trend.

Therefore, we are clear that there is an urgent need for national and international Cap and Share regimes that will cap carbon emissions at source according to the best recommendations of science, and that will share the responsibility for emissions equally among all adult citizens.

We believe it is clear that Cap and Share offers significant advantages over proposals for carbon tax and carbon trading schemes, as it meets the demands of science, greatly simplifies verification of emissions cuts, and more fairly and directly compensates those who emit the least for the damage done by those who emit the most.

We therefore call for all those concerned with the well-being of our ecology and societies to urgently implement Cap and Share, or any variations thereof that achieves the intended effects.

While acknowledging that implementation may demand practical adjustments to the currently proposed forms of Cap and Share, we declare that we will work with governments, our peers in all realms of civil society and responsible business leaders, to institute Cap and Share in a form true to the spirit of the original.

South African videos on peak oil

Posted on 19 April 2011 by David Le Page

The Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO) South Africa in collaboration with EcoDoc Africa has produced a three part video documentary on Peak Oil and South Africa – Impacts and Mitigation. Presented by Jeremy Wakeford of ASPO South Africa, the presentation outlines what the phenomenon called Peak Oil is all about, Continue reading →

‘South Africa after the Oil Age: Impacts and Mitigation of Peak Oil’

Posted on 17 March 2011 by David Le Page

Our friends at the Association for the Study of Peak Oil South Africa (ASPO-SA) and the South African New Economics (SANE) Network cordially invite you to a public presentation:

South Africa after the Oil Age:
Impacts and Mitigation of Peak Oil

by Jeremy Wakeford (Chairperson of ASPO-SA, Research Director of SANE)

Date and Time: 18:30 for 19:00, Tuesday 29th March 2011.

Venue: The Museum Room at the Josephine Mill, Boundary Road, Newlands, Cape Town.

All are welcome to attend.

RSVP email: [email protected] (Brandon Hurd, secretary of ASPO-SA)
or on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=103906083024545

The Association for the Study of Peak Oil [ASPO] is a non-profit organisation dedicated to researching and communicating the implications of global oil depletion (‘peak oil’) for South Africa.
Vist us at: www.aspo.org.za or on Facebook.

The South African New Economics Network (SANE) is a network of organisations and individuals developing new economic and financial models designed to promote poverty alleviation, community self-reliance, civic redevelopment, ecological sustainability, social equity, and economic justice for all South Africans. www.sane.org.za

Letter to Die Burger

Posted on 30 December 2010 by David Le Page

Ons let op dat Die Burger onlangs verskeie hartverskeurend misleide briewe oor die onderwerp van klimaatsverandering gepubliseer het.

98% van klimatoloë wereldwyd, in duisende wetenskaplike artikels, erken die breë werklikheid dat die klimaat aan die verander is en dat dit grootliks aan die aksies van die mens toegeskryf word. Ons kan ook nie ontken dat ons seevlakke styg en ons oseane verwarm en versuur weens die oorabsorbering van koolstofdioksied uit die atmosfeer nie.

Amptelike ramings plaas die verlies van harde koraal wêreldwyd op 16% vanjaar, met die Andaman See en die Karibbiese See wat die ergste geraak is. Continue reading →

South Africa must strengthen green tech transfer – researcher

Posted on 23 November 2010 by Eduard Grebe

Radhika Perrot, a PhD candidate at UNU-MERIT, Netherlands, and Innovation and Sustainable Energy Researcher at the WITS Business School, argues that South Africa must get better at acquiring green knowledge and technology transfer — or be left out of global markets:

Technology transfer has a fair mention in the Kyoto Protocol, with the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) the main market instrument designed to transfer technology from Northern to Southern countries.

CDM is intended to help developing countries, like South Africa, leapfrog to low-carbon technologies and build their industrial capacities for green energy. The broader goal is to mitigate global carbon emissions. But so far there is little evidence that CDM has taken effect — and it definitely has not in South Africa.

Emerging countries like China and India still rely on conventional technology transfer to develop their wind and solar PV manufacturing industries. They look to efficiency-seeking foreign direct investment (FDI), joint-ventures and policies that require local content in investments.

But South Africa has never attracted this kind of manufacturing FDI, with the exception of the automobile and automobile components industry. The problem is that investors typically seek more than just cheap labour and access to natural resources. They also want competitively-priced materials and other inputs.

Read the whole article at SciDevNet.

South Africa at “high risk” of climate change impacts, our neighbours at “extreme risk”

Posted on 17 November 2010 by Eduard Grebe

A UK-based consulting firm, Maplecroft, has developed a climate change vulnerability index. The index makes for sobering reading, as it indicates that countries already facing challenges in the form of high poverty levels, dense populations and flood or drought-prone agricultural land are also the most vulnerable to the impacts from climate change. Of the 25 countries classified as at the greatest risk, 16 are in Africa. South Africa is at “high risk”, while some of our neighbours, like Mozambique and Zimbabwe are at “extreme risk”.
Read more at Yale Environment 360, The Guardian, or Maplecroft.

Why we should be investing in renewables, not nuclear

Posted on 12 November 2010 by Eduard Grebe

The South African government recently announced the intention to invest in solar energy in the Northern Cape. While this is laudable, it does not go far enough, and the commitment to renewables is called into question by the continued interest in developing nuclear generation capacity. While SAM has not taken a stand in principle against nuclear energy, we are very concerned about the still-unsolved questions around nuclear waste disposal and believe that the massive capital outlays required to build new nuclear power stations could be better used to develop large-scale renewable energy sources.

This view is reinforced by recent research (published in July of this year by researchers at Duke University and commissioned by the NGO NC WARN) that shows that solar energy (in areas where sunshine is abundant, like most of South Africa) is now cost-competitive with nuclear energy when produced at commercial-scale. This is thanks to the substantial reductions in the cost of photovoltaic cells over the last decade.

While solar energy is still more expensive than generating electricity from coal, the advantages of there being no greenhouse gas emissions, the fact that sunshine is not a finite resource and does not have the dangers and waste disposal problems of nuclear energy make for a very compelling argument to focus investments in solar energy. Furthermore, costs will continue to decline, and large-scale investments will accelerate the process. By investing now, especially if targeted appropriately, South Africa can also establish technological leadership and capture a share of the growing international market for solar generation technology.

You can read the full report below or download it here. You may also want to read Olivia Boyd’s commentary on the significance of the report at worldchanging.com.

Solar and Nuclear Costs – The Historic Crossover

World Energy Outlook released: highlights fossil fuel subsidies and energy poverty

Posted on 9 November 2010 by Eduard Grebe

The International Energy Agency has released the latest version of the World Energy Outlook. It highlights a number of key issues in addressing climate change and energy poverty, including the need to divert fossil fuel subsidies to investment in renewable energy technology. The report can be found here.

Here is the WWF’s comment on the release:

London: Today’s World Energy Outlook, keynote annual publication of the international Energy Agency, shows the continuing mainstreaming of the view that effective climate action is clearly linked to future sustainable energy security WWF commented today.

“While we don’t necessarily endorse all the detail, WWF is highly gratified with the IEA’s growing emphasis on energy efficiency and renewable energy to enhance effective carbon abatement regimes,” said Dr Stephan Singer, Director of Global Energy Policy for WWF International.

“We are pleased that they highlight the need to overcome the approximate annual $US700 billion in fossil fuel subsidies. This money, about one per cent of global GDP, needs to go to support renewable and energy conservation and help the poor.”

“We are also pleased with the strong push by the IEA that eradicating energy poverty for more than one third of the world’s population is a major development issue, with clean renewables best placed to deliver cost effective, equitable and sustainable solutions.”

WWF will shortly be issuing a detailed analysis of the World Energy Outlook, both in the run up to the Cancun UN climate conference commencing later this month and its own forthcoming analysis of energy prospects and possibilities.

http://wwf.panda.org/?196521/IEA-joins-the-dots-on-climate-action-and-energy-security

SAM supports the Right2Know campaign against govt secrecy

Posted on 27 October 2010 by David Le Page

The Sustainability Action Movement, while believing our media could do a much better job of representing the true interests of all South Africans, most certainly does not support the government’s proposals for a secrecy bill and a media tribunal. Some of our members attended the Right2Know march to Parliament, against these proposals, in Cape Town today.