Being Green

PROUDLY SPONSORED BY GERLINDE MOSER OF RE/MAX. Being Green – Your window on the environment broadcast every Friday morning at 9.30. Glynis Crook will focus on key issues affecting our lifestyles, science and research outcomes, the quest for sustainable living and a healthier planet.

We’ve been hearing a lot this month about climate change and the impact the rise in global temperatures is having on so many aspects of our lives. One of these is the likelihood that the size, frequency, and severity of wildfires will increase in the years to come. In Being Green this week, Glynis Crook, speaks to Working on Fire managing director, Trevor Abrahams, about the impact of global warming on the “fire season” in the Western Cape.

Christmas is a wonderful time of the year, but it does tend to be excessive in terms of all the delicious meals we eat. And we shouldn’t forget that the world’s food system is a huge contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. So, how can we keep the environment in mind when preparing all those special celebratory meals. To give us some ideas, Glynis Crook is joined on Being Green this week by Dr Christian Reynolds, a Reader in Food Policy at City, University of London, and an expert on food loss and waste.

There was a standing ovation on Wednesday morning when a landmark deal was agreed on at the end of the United Nations climate summit in Dubai. While it doesn't specifically mention the "phasing-out" of fossil fuels, it does call for parties to contribute to efforts to "transition away" from the use of fossil fuels in energy systems in a way that will achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. But while the COP28 deal is being hailed as an historic step in the right direction, many analysts believe it may not be fast enough to avoid the worst climate change impacts. In this week’s Being Green, Glynis Crook looks at the agreement with Professor Francois Engelbrecht, Director of Wits University’s Global Change Institute.

Some 120 governments have now signed a pledge to triple the world’s renewable energy capacity by 2030, essential to delivering the scale of emissions reductions needed globally to combat climate change. South Africa is not one of them, despite our abundant renewable energy sources. International NPO, The Climate Group, has released a report outlining the economic potential of investment in renewables, and barriers to this, in eight G20 countries, including South Africa. Glynis Crook speaks to the organisation’s director of energy, Sam Kimmins, in this week’s edition of Being Green.

In Being Green this week, Glynis Crook speaks to Olivia Rumble of Climate Legal about what African countries are hoping for from this year’s

In this week’s edition of Being Green, Glynis Crook speaks to Willem van der Westhuizen, one of the founders of the community-led project, ZeroToLandfill, which collects recycling and organic waste in the Little Mowbray-Rosebank area of the city.

In this week’s edition of Being Green, Glynis Crook speaks to Stellenbosch University marine biologist, Dr Sara Andreotti, who together with a group of scientists and environmentalists has developed an eco-friendly shark barrier which is being used for the first time on a private island in the Bahamas.

In this week’s edition of Being Green, Glynis Crook visits the Arnold Street dog park where she meets with retired music teacher, Liz Sole, and artist Kallie Doran, two of a group of Observatory residents who have got together to revive the space for the pleasure of both humans and their furry friends.

Concrete is the most widely used man-made material in existence, but it is also one of the worst climate change offenders, contributing at least 8% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. But, for the moment, we can’t live without it. In Being Green this week, Glynis Crook speaks to UCT Emeritus Professor of Civil Engineering, Mark Alexander, about a paper he co-authored looking at steps that can be taken to reduce its negative impact.

In this week’s edition of Being Green, Glynis Crook speaks to moss artist, Gert van Tonder, who has created a spectacular garden at Tokara wine estate, about the role this seemingly unimportant plant plays in protecting the environment. The garden is open to the public for 4 days during the annual Stellenbosch Garden Town week.

In this week’s edition of Being Green, Glynis Crook speaks to Dr David Roberts, a clinical veterinarian for the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (Sanccob) about the critical endangered African Penguin and the fight for their survival. Penguin adoptions assist with fundraising. It cost R600 to adopt and name a penguin. Find out more at adopt.sanccob.co.za SANCCOB

In this week’s edition of Being Green, Glynis Crook speaks to Samantha Ralston-Paton of BirdLife South Africa about the dangers that wind turbines pose to birds and a new potential solution that is being tested in the Western Cape.

Cape Town mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis, is back on Being Green with Glynis Crook, this week talking about some of the other renewable energy projects and plans for the city.

In this week’s edition of Being Green, Glynis Crook speaks to Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis about the City of Cape Town’s green energy plan.

Following the dramatic sea surges experienced across the Western and Eastern Cape last weekend. Glynis Crook speaks to Professor Marcello Vichi, head of UCT’s Department of Oceanography, to find out how much climate change is to blame.

As we mark a slew of national and international clean-up days, in this week’s edition of Being Green, Glynis Crook asks WWF South Africa’s circular economy portfolio senior manager, Lorren de Kock, if we are facing a ‘waste crisis’.

In the declaration at the end of the inaugural African Climate Summit in Kenya this week, African leaders proposed new global taxes and reforms to international financial institutions to help the continent fund actions that will help it adapt to increasingly extreme weather. In Being Green this week, Glynis Crook gets reaction to the gathering from Dr Nicholas Simpson of the African Climate Mobility Initiative

In Being Green this week, Glynis Crook talks to Vergelegen’s senior horticulturist, Richard Arm, about the importance of Arbor Week and a wonderful opportunity to buy indigenous trees at the wine estate over the next seven days.

- In Being Green this week, Glynis Crook talks to Prof Francois Engelbrecht, a climate scientist at Wits University’s Global Change Institute about a new study which suggests that the extreme weather and weather-related events experienced in the northern hemisphere this summer will increase in frequency and severity unless the world stops burning fossil fuels.