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A scene from the floods that killed more than 450 people in KwaZulu-Natal in April 2022 shows the damage. (Delwyn Verasamy)

Study: Linking climate change to health doubles support for public action

New research shows that health-based climate messaging significantly increases public support for government action, especially in South Africa where concern over children and…

Komati Power Station decommissioned after serving for 60 years. The shutdown took place on 31 October 2022. The power plant will be converted into a renewable generation site powered with 150MW of solar, 70MW of wind and 150MW of storage batteries.

UPDATED: Komati illustrates the human cost of South Africa’s energy transition

What should have been a model for climate action has become a cautionary tale of what happens when communities are excluded from decisions that reshape their lives

Book alert: Sustainable development cannot treat the twin crises of
general poverty and energy poverty as afterthoughts, says the author.

Sustainable development cannot be an end in itself

It must be viewed as a means for radical, irreversible socio-economic transformation that redefines the lives of the marginalised and excluded

Countries are ‘still in the climate fight’, the United Nations climate chief Simon Stiell said

COP30: Nations chose unity, science and economic common sense amid ‘stormy political waters’

Countries are ‘still in the climate fight’, the United Nations climate chief Simon Stiell said

With COP30 closing this week, one truth has come sharply into focus: climate extremes are natural, but disasters are not. (Flickr)

COP30 analysis: the weather is natural, the disaster is not

The weather’s natural, but the disaster isn’t

Former environment minister Dion George. (Photo: Environmentza/X)

Axing of former minister Dion George risks undermining SA’s climate leadership at COP30

The organisations argued that South Africa’s active participation at COP30 has always been crucial

Kumi Naidoo, a leading voice for climate justice advocating for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty and fair finance, has been calling for governments to act on the ‘moral failure’ of continued fossil fuel expansion (Photo supplied)

South African climate activist makes a desperate plea for urgent action, kneeling in a protest

Kumi Naidoo, a leading voice for climate justice advocating for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty and fair finance, has been calling for governments to act on the ‘moral…

With COP30 closing this week, one truth has come sharply into focus: climate extremes are natural, but disasters are not. (Flickr)

COP30 launches global forest finance facility amid indigenous rights concerns

Indigenous groups and NGOs caution that the facility risks becoming another top-down market mechanism that benefits investors more than the forests themselves

The Congo Basin faces growing pressures from logging, mining, oil and gas development, agriculture, infrastructure and urban expansion, compounded by climate change and governance challenges.

Congo Basin under-researched and ‘chronically underinvested’, new report says

Deforestation, weak governance and extractive pressures also threaten this vital ecosystem, scientists said in the landmark COP30 report

Europe’s unusually warm and humid summer in 2025 contributed to 718 human cases of West Nile virus and 49 deaths in Italy alone.

Climate change is spreading dengue, chikungunya and West Nile virus worldwide

A new COP30 report finds that rising temperatures, extreme weather, evolving pathogens and climate-driven migration are reshaping disease patterns

COP30 got underway in Brazil on Monday. (@antonioguterres/X)

Africa’s COP30 priorities: Finance, adaptation, technology and fair trade

Power Shift Africa is urging the summit to move from promises to delivery, highlighting Africa’s vulnerabilities and climate finance needs

Emissions are still climbing. In 2024, global greenhouse gas emissions increased by 2.3%, reaching 57.7 gigatons of CO₂ equivalent — a faster rate of growth than in 2023 and more than four times the annual average of the 2010s.

Off target: Unep warns that the world is still falling short of the Paris climate goals

A decade after the Paris Agreement united countries behind the goal of limiting global warming to well below 2°C, the latest Emissions Gap report from the United Nations…

South Africa, the world’s seventh-largest coal producer, faces a climate challenge that has largely flown under the radar: methane emissions from coal mines.  (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Governments’ fossil fuel production plans threaten Paris climate goals, new report warns

It finds that the fossil fuel output will exceed 1.5°C limit by 120% by 2030

A decade later, the implementation of the agreement is struggling to take hold, and disputes over fairness block real progress. Photo: Fatih Aktas/Getty Images

The Paris Agreement is a delusion

A decade later, the implementation of the agreement is struggling to take hold, and disputes over fairness block real progress

The Constitutional Court will rule on whether parliament acted lawfully when it rejected a Section 89 panel report recommending an impeachment inquiry into President Cyril Ramaphosa over the Phala Phala scandal

Ramaphosa calls for ‘rules-based order’ to protect the vulnerable

Addressing G20 finance ministers, the president said a rules-based international order was needed to manage tension and resolve conflicts