Sustainable Development

On the 7th of February 2019, the French energy company Total announced a ‘significant gas condensate discovery’ some 175 kilometres off the southern coast of South Africa. The find was described by Total, as ‘a new world-class gas and oil play’.On the very same day South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, stated during his annual State of the Nation Address, that the find ‘could well be a game-changer for our country and will have significant consequences for our country’s energy security and the development of this industry’. This brief report critically evaluates these claims and assesses its likely environmental effects.

Eskom hike wipes out R80 increase on pensioners’ old-age grants.

High poverty, unemployment, inequality could be addressed by small-scale farming – campaign.

For 200 years we've been building a gigantic worldwide machine for permanent economic growth.

In the wake of the 2015 Paris Agreement adopting “well below 2°C” as the international goal to limit global warming, geoengineering is increasingly being promoted as a technological means to counteract climate change or its effects. This article unpacks the state of play of these technologies in South Africa.

The water crisis has thrust the Cape Town population into a major panic. For some, this is the first we find ourselves under such circumstances. However, Cape Town has faced severe water shortages before. This is the second major water crisis to hit the city in a 100 years.

The Heinrich Boell Foundation congratulates Makoma Lekalakala and Liz McDaid for being awarded the Goldman Environmental Price 2018.

In response to the growing demand for energy security and financial independence in women-led households, HBS together with its partner Sustainable Energy Africa has been providing training on green entrepreneurship to a group of women in George. This evaluation report documents a 5 day training recently  held in George, Western Cape.

South Africa is heavily dependent on coal as a source of energy. However, a growing body of research and modelling shows that it is possible for South Africa to make a significant shift to renewable energy. But despite this, and despite its commitments under the Paris Agreement, South Africa continues to build new coal-fired power stations and to authorise major new coal mines. 

  Despite its importance and uniqueness, the Philippi Horticultural Area (PHA) has come under threat from inappropriate urban and industrial development. To this end, the City of Cape Town started a process of rezoning the area from an agricultural land use to industrial in order to accommodate the planned development.