Eco Minute 13:30

BULLETIN 26 April  1:30 pm

Good afternoon, here is your Eco Minute:

# Cosatu has welcomed the National Council of Provinces unanimously adopting the Climate Change Bill. The bill, which was passed by the National Assembly last year, supports a just transition to a climate-resilient, equitable, and internationally competitive low-carbon economy and society. Cosatu’s, Matthew Parks, says whilst the bill lays a progressive foundation for South Africa’s response to climate change, it will only achieve its objectives if the government resources its organs to implement it:

# The influence and growing presence of fossil fuel and petrochemical industries are not what the people want, nor what the climate needs. This is the view of Greenpeace’s Graham Forbes. Discussions at the United Nations Treaty talks in Canada are attempting to break the deadlock between fossil fuel nations, and others pushing for an ambitious treaty to deal with the whole lifecycle of plastic. Forbes says UN member states must step up and deliver a global plastic treaty that will cut plastic production and end single-use plastic.

# And finally: The Stranded Marine Animal Rescue Network has confirmed that a southern elephant seal beached at Victoria Bay earlier this week. The network’s Desiree Peens says the seal, named Colombo, is a four-year-old juvenile from Sub-Antarctic and Antarctic waters. Peens explains that Colombo, blind in one eye, has been visiting the Garden Route coastline since December 2023 to molt. Southern elephant seals breed on land but spend winters in the Antarctic ice. They derive their name from their trunk-like inflatable snouts.

Stay tuned for more news………….