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We highlight the work of those accelerating sustainable living in SA – at a vital moment for the environment
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Introducing Greening the Future 2020

We highlight the work of those accelerating sustainable living in SA – at a vital moment for the environment

Lights out: Kendal power station is being put under pressure by the environmental department because it continues to release more pollutants than is legally permitted.

Polluting power plant faces closure

The environment department has lost patience with Eskom’s defiance of air pollution regulations

Cyclone Idai’s devastation of Beira.

The decade that decides our fate

If we don’t do enough, in a decade’s time there’ll be droughts, floods, wildfires and crop failure on an apocalyptic scale

(Foto24/Herman Verwey)

Slice of life: Dumped: Popcorn, sex and gold

A look at what was once a landmark on Johannesburg’s horizon and central part of the Egoli story

At half a million rand, Opel Astra 1.6 gives a lot of luxury and features such as self-park and lane assist, but there’s a shouty car hidden away behind the restrained bodywork.

Opel Astra is an interesting enigma of a sports car

It took a bicycle ride in the heat to finally work out what the vehicle is all about

Petrochemical giant Sasol and Anglo American are among the companies gearing up to restructure their businesses for hydrogen and fuel cell technology development.(Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Glug, glug, glug – Sasol will sink us

The company cannot exist in the future. But this is a country where difficult decisions are rarely taken — especially when it comes to climate crisis

Despite its low contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, Africa faces the brunt of climate change. Photo: Patrick Meinhardt/AFP

The horror: Tales of climate change

A year after the UN sounded the klaxon, warning of ‘some countries becoming dysfunctional’ thanks to the climate crisis, governments aren’t responding

National reports show that only 14-16% of municipal water systems consistently provide water that is safe to drink. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Our future is here: Empty taps, dry lands, thirsty power plants

Johannesburg uses 530-million more litres of water than it is allowed to – every single day

The “hard-fought” negotiations to develop a landmark United Nations treaty to end plastic pollution closed on Friday without agreement and have been extended again

Inaccessible Island tells the plastic truth

The researchers say that an estimated 12.7-million tonnes of plastic ends up in our oceans every year

Fragile: About 12% of the 3?000 animals in South Africa that were assessed in the report are at risk of extinction.The cheetah was the second-most threatened carnivore after the African wild dog. (SylvainCordier/hemis.fr)

We’re killing off life, but there is hope

Sipho Kings reports on the findings of a mega government report on the state of our plants and animals, and what’s being done to secure their future

All dressed up: The Nissan Navara Stealth’s bells and whistles may look smart in the city, but can be a hindrance when driving off-road

A good drive but far from stealthy

The Nissan Stealth does what it promises to do – and well. But it’s hard to justify its diesel emissions if you’re just a weekend warrior

South Africans on average know less about climate change than their counterparts in other African countries; it’s time this changed. (Photo: Jakub Wlodek/Agencja Gazeta via REUTERS)

Responding to the climate crisis

Carbon emmissions continue to soar, but the urgency of the moment is driving change around the world

(Borja Suarez/Reuters)

Stories from around the world will bring home the reality of the emergency

Afrobarometer research shows that 59% of people in South Africa do not know what climate change is

(Reuters)

M&G joins global climate reporting network

The Mail & Guardian has joined one of the most ambitious reporting collaborations in history, joining 250 other newsrooms reporting the climate crisis

On ability alone, the NP300 is a brilliant machine.

Nissan NP300 twin cab review

A brilliant, functional bakkie with an awful cabin. Buy it but don’t buy it new

Researchers have found that air pollution from particulate matter is the single greatest threat to human life. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Live in JHB, lose three years of life

The air in South Africa’s biggest city is the country’s most polluted, playing havoc with health, so move to Cape Town

With two units at Koeberg nuclear power station likely to be out of commission at the same time, Eskom will struggle to keep the lights on, said Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa.

Air pollution death toll rises by 170

Eskom has said that it cannot afford to meet the legal levels and that some of its plants will need to run until the early 2030s.

A study found that 83% of the animals had started doing more at night — “separating themselves in time rather than in space”. (Mint Images/Londolozi Images)

Nature’s Nocturne: Unfettered human sprawl drives animals into the night

The long-term effect of humans on animals is increasingly well documented

While this was the first such event recorded for southern Africa, extreme heatwave events like this are already common in Australia. (David Mercado/Reuters)

Kalahari will become too hot for birds

Losing birds in the Kalahari has a wider effect. Desert areas are critical to overall evolution in avian species, adding diversity to the species

Maygen Reddy suffers from severe asthma. Her family believes it is caused by the pollution in the south region of Durban where they live. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Breath, death and data: The air in our cities is killing us

​In Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Bloemfontein and Cape Town, the air people breathe is often so dangerous that it is killing them