Eco Minute 13:30

BULLETIN 16 September 1:30 pm

Good afternoon, here is your Eco Minute:

# Communities from the Wild Coast are squaring off against Shell, Impact Africa, and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy in the Constitutional Court today. The case is centred around the gas seismic surveys off the Wild Coast and oil exploration rights, granted to Shell and Impact Africa in 2014. At stake is whether the Supreme Court of Appeal’s decision to suspend a ruling invalidating Shell’s exploration rights can stand. Green Connection’s Neville van Rooy says seismic surveying has major environmental effects:

# A landmark World Trade Organisation agreement banning billions of rand in harmful fishing subsidies has come into force. Approved by Brazil, Kenya, Tonga, and Vietnam, the deal prohibits subsidies for overfished stocks and fishing in international waters. Governments currently spend 614-billion-rand annually on such subsidies, mainly by China, the European Union, the US, South Korea, and Japan. Poorer nations will access a support fund. Activists say the move benefits local fishers and marine ecosystems as the agreement restores global fish stocks.

# And finally: Today is International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, a day used to spread awareness regarding the ozone layer’s depletion and finding solutions to preserve it. This year’s theme is, From Science to Global Action. This day commemorates the date of the signing, in 1987, of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. The protocol regulates the production and consumption of nearly 100 man-made chemicals. The United Nations says climate gains have been achieved through the protocol, including phasing out potent greenhouse gases.

Stay tuned for more news………….