November 2011

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William Gumede: Climate Change Is about Bread and Butter Issues

Video Critically acclaimed novelist and chairperson of the South African Civil Society Information Service (SACSIS), William Gumede told delegates at a roundtable discussion on "The Media and Climate Change" that climate change is about bread and butter issues. Gumede chaired the roundtable discussion co-hosted by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung South Africa Office and SACSIS. The discussion sought to ascertain how the South African media is reporting on climate change in the run up to...

Olivier Serrao: What the Friedrich Ebert Foundation is about in South Africa

Video In his opening remarks at a roundtable discussion on "The Media and Climate Change," Olivier Serrao of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) South Africa Office, talked about the work of the foundation in the country. FES is a private cultural, non-profit political institution committed to the ideas and basic values of a social democracy and the labour movement. The foundation's mission internationally is to promote democracy and social justice through capacity building, policy...

Fazila Farouk: The Poor are Disproportionately Affected by Climate Change

Video Fazila Farouk, executive director of The South African Civil Society Information Service (SACSIS) opened the SACSIS/Friedrich Ebert Stiftung roundtable discussion on "The Media and Climate Change." The event sought to examine how the South African media is reporting on climate change in the run up to COP17, the United Nations climate conference taking place in Durban from 28 November  to 9 December 2011. SACSIS has an interest in how the media reports on critical development...

South Africa's Neoliberal Water Policies Exacerbate the Effects of Climate Change on the Poor

Picture: www.schools.indiawaterportal.org Michelle Pressend - One of the major threats stemming from climate change is increased water scarcity.  The South African government’s National Climate Change Response White Paper released in October this year argues, “Based on current projections, South Africa will exceed the limits of economically viable land-based water resources by 2050.” This projection is extremely worrying considering millions of South Africans do not have access to water and sanitation.  South Africa’s...

The Bad Host: Africa's Biggest Polluter Hosting Cop17

Picture: www.skoolmasti.webs.com Glenn Ashton - If we had to choose a country to host the COP17 international climate change negotiations and broker a consensus deal to manage the increasingly urgent matter of human induced climate change, we could not do much worse than choose South Africa. It is not that South Africa won’t be a gracious host. This is a nation renowned for its hospitality and its open, welcoming nature, across all cultures in this multifaceted society. South Africans are certainly excellent negotiators as well....

Honduras Needs Help from the South

Picture: Kathy Hoyt Mark Weisbrot - Imagine that an opposition organizer were murdered in broad daylight in Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador or Venezuela by masked gunmen, or kidnapped and murdered by armed guards of a well-known supporter of the government.  It would be front page news in the New York Times, and all over the TV news.  The U.S. State Department would issue a strong statement of concern over grave human rights abuses.  If this were ever to happen. Now imagine that 59 of these kinds of political...