Eco Minute 13:30

BULLETIN 7 February 1:30 pm

Good afternoon, here is your Eco Minute:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says government is continuing to build successful multilateral partnerships in the global effort to halt the devastating impact of climate change. In his state of the nation address, the president stated that the country’s Just Energy Transition is gaining momentum. Ramaphosa says the transition’s Implementation Plan will guide South Africa’s transition to a low-carbon economy, through the scaling up of renewable energy sources and reducing reliance on coal:

# New data has indicated that last month was the warmest January on record. Figures released by the European Copernicus climate service show average temperatures around the world in January were 1.75 degrees Celsius warmer than before greenhouse gas emissions started to rise significantly in the industrial revolution around 150 years ago. That is 0.1 degree Celsius above the record set last January. A climate scientist at Imperial College London, Friederike Otto, warns the Los Angeles wildfires are a stark reminder that the world has already reached an incredibly dangerous level of warming.

# And finally: Australian scientists have produced the world’s first kangaroo embryo through in vitro fertilisation in a breakthrough they say could help save other species from extinction. Using specimens from eastern grey kangaroos, the researchers successfully injected a single sperm cell into an egg, but said achieving a live birth would require more work. The feat provides important insights into marsupial breeding and could aid efforts to improve the genetic diversity of endangered species. Australia houses the largest variety of marsupial mammals but also has the highest rate of mammal extinctions.

Stay tuned for more news………….