To address the myths of nuclear power, the Heinrich Böll Foundation has commissioned renowned international nuclear experts to deliver reports that provide the public with an overview of current facts and nuclear-critical know-how.
South Africa plays host to the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP 17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This dossier aims to provide analysis of the major issues at stake.
Southern Africa prepares to adapt to climate change. Three studies - on South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe - provide information on policies, institutions and actors addressing adaptation issues and identify governance challenges in climate change adaptation in the region.
Our four Africa offices commissioned studies to evaluate the state of preparedness for climate change adaptation in seven African countries. What are the impacts of and vulnerabilities to climate change in Africa? To what extent do existing adaptation policies, strategies and plans respond to the vulnerabilities identified?
The year 2010 offered mixed results concerning global climate policy, with serious setbacks as well as some small victories. This publication offers regional analysis of climate policy in 2010 and the UN climate conference in Cancun (COP 16).
This dossier sheds light on the current state of energy policy in South Africa. It examines three inter-related issues: the possibility of a low-carbon future, the great energy policy disconnect within government, and the prospects for renewable energy in South Africa.
The paper examines whether democracy at the country level and global climate change matter for another. It raises the question of how to support democracy’s advance in the face of multiple challenges that include the adverse effects of global warming and extreme weather events merits much more attention than it has received so far.
Parliament's portfolio committee on energy has less than a fortnight in which to intervene on the public’s behalf, before SA gets locked into an energy policy that could turn it into an economic dinosaur. The consequences of this could be soaring inflation, burdensome carbon taxes, loss of “green” job creation opportunities, and growth of an energy intensive economy at a time when much of the globe is steering away from this technology.
Violence against foreigners and violence against women are two forms of violence that are viewed with horror by the general public and outside world but are, in fact, normalised ways in which South African society interacts with minority and vulnerable groups. The double jeopardy that faces foreign women is just that: they are at the intersection of these two groups that are so vulnerable to exploitation, abuse and violence.
While xenophobia may seem far removed from racial tensions, poverty, and public protest, how we understand and address these concerns is inseparable from the bias and violence against outsiders. At the root of these tensions is a discourse of citizenship and transformation that insists – often implicitly – on the categorization of people into a relatively homogenous, entitled majority and those for whom, by virtue of their experience, origins, or occupation, political recognition comes only by demonstrating their utility to a true and deserving political community.
