Eco Minute 13:30

BULLETIN 10 April 1:30 pm

Good afternoon, here is your Eco Minute:

# The Green Connection and Natural Justice have formally lodged objections against exploratory oil and gas surveys in Blocks 9 and 11B/12B, of the Outeniqua Basin in the Western Cape. The organisations argue that the exploration, development, and downstream use of oil and gas resources will result in unacceptable significant emissions of greenhouse gases. The Green Connection’s Liz McDaid says to combat climate change, government must stop all new fossil fuel projects:

# President Donald Trump’s administration has cancelled funding for the US Global Change Research Programme, an entity that produces the federal government’s climate change study. America’s Climate Assessment is published approximately every four years and is the country’s broadest assessment of current climate change impacts and climate science. According to experts, the assessment plays a key role in local and national decision-making about agriculture, energy production, and land and water use. The next assessment is due by 2027. 

# And finally: Greenpeace Africa says forest protection cannot be treated as a secondary concern, but must be at the forefront of climate action. Kenya’s overall forest cover has been shrinking with over 12-thousand hectares of forest lost every year. In Cameroon, illegal logging is rampant in vast areas of the rainforest, with an area larger than Paris being cleared for rubber and palm oil plantations. Greenpeace Africa says the global geopolitical agenda must shift toward protecting forests as a foundation for a broader strategy for climate adaptation.

Stay tuned for more news………….