Eco Minute 13:30

BULLETIN 11 November 1:30 pm

Good afternoon, here is your Eco Minute:

# There has been a gradual upward trend in the cost of extreme weather events between 2014 and 2023, with a spike in 2017 when an unusually active hurricane season battered North America. This is according to a report commissioned by the International Chamber of Commerce. The report, which analysed four-thousand climate-related extreme weather events, found economic damages hit around seven-trillion-rand across the past two years alone. The chamber’s secretary-general, John Denton, says the data shows definitively that climate change is not a future problem.

# South Africa is reportedly facing a significant shortage of talent required to transition from coal to renewable energy. Multinational corporations lack skilled technicians and engineers to set up and maintain large-scale wind and solar farms. According to the University of Pretoria’s researcher, Sean Kruger, the pool of green talent needs to be doubled by 2050 if the world is to move away from fossil fuels. In his article, published in The Conversation, he states that developing a green talent strategy is key to advancing South Africa’s green economy.

# And finally: Inland water sources in the Western Cape are in decline, posing significant risks to ecological reserves and agricultural production. This is according to the provincial government’s State of the Environment Outlook Report, which assessed the state of water resources, water availability, and ecological systems. Provincial Department of Environmental Affairs’ Francini van Staden says a key finding of the report is that while management of the Western Cape water systems has improved, the high demand for water consumption and various long-term water quality issues have worsened in recent years.

Stay tuned for more news………….