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?
SACSIS is concerned about the impact of climate change and environmental degradation on the lives of the poor. The poor carry a disproportionate burden as result of environmental injustice. SACSIS supports the ethical, balanced and responsible use of land and renewable resources.
Glenn Ashton -
The Case to Include GM Labelling in the Consumer Protection Bill.
The Consumer Protection Bill, an act of Parliament devised to protect the rights of consumers, as its name suggests, has come before the National Council of Provinces, usually the final step before ratification. Interestingly the NCOP has asked for comment on the bill before it is ratified. One issue that has elicited much debate is the matter of foods derived from crops that have been genetically modified (GM).
Some of the...
Glenn Ashton -
How to restore the soil - crop - animal - waste nutrient cycle (and save the world.)
The rather unsavoury issue of how we deal with the end products of our sewage has again reared its ugly head in Cape Town. The agricultural smallholding areas of Philadelphia, to the north of the city, are affected by a serious fly outbreak caused by the spreading of raw sewage sludge on nearby agricultural fields.
Sewage sludge is the semi-solid remnant that remains after the rest of the sewage has been...
Saliem Fakir -
There is no doubt that we live in an uncertain period. Since 9/11, the world has changed. Global governance is in flux and generally speaking, the outcome of our transforming world is still unknown.
The conventional source and centre of power is beginning to shift. This centre of power largely an alliance between the United States (US) and Europe, which Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt aptly called Empire, is what we have come to accept as the de facto world in which we live, by which we...
Glenn Ashton -
Although South Africa has adequate environmental legislation governing how we deal with our waste, cities and towns across the nation face a crisis. I recently visited the picturesque town of Swellendam and was brought face to face with the consequences of this mismanagement.
At mid morning on a glorious autumn day the entire town was smothered by a toxic swathe of smoke emanating from the town dump. The smell of burned plastic and all sorts of noxious by-products were not only visible but...
Michelle Pressend -
It’s business as usual for Northern countries that have made the quick connection between climate change and climate trade. These days even pollution has a price, rather than a cost. Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are trading at about €20 per ton and are forecast to increase to €24-30 per ton in trading emission schemes.
This picture gets bleaker still as proposals to deal with the ecological crisis facing our planet are decidedly more business-friendly than they are people...
