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?
Bobby Peek director of Durban based environmental justice NGO, Groundwork, argued that the climate change debate is an energy debate and that the poor do not have access to energy.
He also said that the South African government's claim that the Kusile and Medupi coal-fired power stations would produce jobs has not materialized.
Peek made these remarks at a roundtable discussion, which sought to ascertain how the South African media is reporting on climate change in the run up to...
Saliem Fakir, head of the Living Planet Unit at the World Wildlife Fund and SACSIS columnist said his impression of the climate change debate is that its like talking about aliens and what would happen if aliens landed on earth. People are fascinated by the idea, but it remains a remote notion and the conversation tends to stay at that level. Media coverage on climate change is a little like that conversation about aliens, he said.
In trying to get the public to understand the importance of...
We should be talking about climate justice, not climate change said, SACSIS columnist, Dr. Dale McKinley. Talking about climate justice highlights the fact that this problem is about the political economy, he argued.
McKinley also said that the climate change debate prefaces the serious divides in South African society and that we shouldn't sugar coat this.
McKinley made these remarks at a roundtable discussion, which sought to ascertain how the South African media is reporting on...
The real debates in climate change are around the solutions/false solutions, said environmental activist, Rehana Dada. For example, what is happening with carbon trading? Has it actually resulted in emissions reductions?
REDD, is another example of an issue that is not critically appraised, contended Dada. (REDD stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation - it is a UN programme that is controversial for its negative impact on poor and indigenous peoples). When it...
Bandile Mdlalose of Abahlali baseMjondolo (The South African Shack Dwellers Movement) said that most people think of climate change as a future crisis, but "we at Abahlali baseMjondolo think of it as a crisis that is affecting us now."
She argued that the media should go directly to poor communities to learn first hand how climate change is affecting them. Often the media reports on official positions and perspectives from government, which tends to promote government's...
Nawaal Domingo from the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance said that business was interested in profit only, while the poor were more likely to be interested in preserving our natural resources.
Domingo also reported that there are lots of children dying from asthma in South Durban due to pollution, but that the media doesn't pay too much attention. We need our media to push forth with this issue so that pressure can be placed on government to take action, she contended.
Domingo...
