2012 Climate Change Diary

CLIMATE CHANGE DIARY 2012 A Sustainable Development Learning Guide Published by

Uvuyo Trading 103 cc P.O. Box 147 Okiep 8270, Springbok, Northern Cape South Africa in association with the

South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI)

Design and typesetting by Andre van Wilgen - Designset cc Cover Design by: Saverio Turiaco You may copy material from this publication for use in non-profit education programmes if you acknowledge the source. Whilst great care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information provided herein, the author, editor and publishers cannot take responsibility for any errors in the diary or any consequences arising from such errors.

Disclaimer: No guarantee is made concerning the validity of the information in this publication and no responsibility will be accepted for any errors or omissions, or comments made by our contributors.

ISBN 978-0-620-48084-0 Your feedback is welcome, please contact the editor: Lyzzette September lyzzettes@gmail.com

www.climatechangediary.org

Dr. Khanyisa Brian Mantlana Director Climate Change and BioAdaptation SANBI Associate editor: Climate Change Diary Lyzzette September UvuyoTrading 103 cc Editor: Climate Change Diary

Andre van Wilgen Designset cc Saverio Turiaco Uvuyo Trading 103cc Technical support and research

2

3

Foreword Welcome to the fourth climate change diary! This innovative and informative product is now no longer a babe in arms, but has become a stout toddler. Once again the production team deserves a profound commendation for their excellent work in continuing to communicate the climate change message in a format that allows a broad sweep of topics to be covered. It remains true, as pointed out in last year’s foreword, that the area of climate change is going through significant perception and policy shifts internationally, and strong development nationally in South Africa. The Climate Change Diary is an important reflection of this, and has become even more important as a way to inform and to engage people of all walks of life in this critical environmental issue.

After the relative disappointment of the Copenhagen Climate Summit outcome in December 2009, it appeared that international trust has been lost between key nations.

The year 2010 therefore saw several significant efforts to rebuild trust and re-establish momentum towards a fair, ambitious and balanced outcome. It was gratifying that much was achieved during a smaller scale and more muted Conference of the Parties took place in December 2010 in Cancun. Cancun outcomes, in retrospect, have built on elements of the Copenhagen Accord that will ultimately direct the world towards a global treaty to ensure a sustainable climate path. Cancun therefore gave some substance to the incomplete political agreement from Copenhagen, and elaborated many details around, for example, new institutions such as an Adaptation Committee and a Green Climate Fund.

While the year 2010 saw an unprecedented attack on the science of climate change by some in the media and a range of special interest groups, recent developments in the science have provided further strong evidence that human-caused climate change is both a real and present threat. However, there is also a sea-change in perception starting to occur national and internationally – namely to see climate change responses as a socio-economic opportunity of grand proportions. This spirit is embodied in South Africa’s White Paper on Climate Change Policy published at the end of 2011. This momentous and creative document lays a framework for an effective national response on a range of fronts, and provides many exciting openings for socio-economic development that is both climate-resilient and socially rewarding.

I now have no doubt that efforts such as contained in this climate change diary have been contributing to promoting balanced and wellinformed views on the climate change issue, and that we can observe a growing public engagement in this issue. This will be enhanced by promoting a message of optimism, hope and opportunity rather than one of threat and loss. This evolving positive message must inform a majority view nationally and globally that reflects the true nature of the opportunities embodied in climate change responses. Please enjoy, once again, our Climate Change Diary.

Dr. Guy F Midgley Chief Director: Climate Change and BioAdaptation

4

Contents

The theme for the Climate Change Diary is climate change impacts on the African Continent, linked to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). “Despite Goal 7 of the MDGs being on environment and climate change, we rarely hear the discussion on climate change in the context of the MDGs. We hear a lot about how not addressing climate change will put the MDGs at risk. But almost nothing on how not achieving the MDGs will exacerbate climate change.” Salil Shetty, Director UN Millennium Campaign The Climate Change Diary aims to inspire and motivate educators, learners and members of the broader community to gain a better understanding of climate change processes, impacts and the possible measures that could be taken to reduce these impacts.

It includes 12 inspiring lesson plans to help students understand complex global issues and sustainable solutions, and offers creative tools for action taking in local and global communities.

The resource is to be used as an engaging contextual framework within which core subjects and skills are taught. Lessons are designed for grades 7 to 9 and are interactive and fun.

The Climate Change Diary lessons are relevant to social studies, science, math applications, Language arts, culturally appropriate, geared towards critical thinking, problem solving, multiple intelligences and learning styles.

LESSON PLANS: • January – an introduction to climate change • February – sustainability: economy, environment and society • March – water resources • April – agriculture and food security • May – consumerism introduction and recycling to climate

• June – biological change gender and diversity and water conflict ecosystems

sustainable • July – population development energy growth and deforestation

sustainable economy, carrying environment, capacity society

population • August - gender sea growth levels equality and agriculture and conflict

& food coastal • September – security areas

deforestation

• October – sea human levels, oceans & biodiversity health consumerism & recycling coastal areas • November – energy and climate change • December – human health

5

South Africa Ready To Host Cop17 An increasingly vocal player in the fight against climate change, South Africa leads by example When the sun rises over Durban's Indian Ocean coastline in November, the world's eyes will be firmly centered on the city as the world gathers for the 17th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP 17). The parties to the convention have met annually from 1995 in Conferences of the Parties (COP) to assess progress in dealing with climate change.

In 1997, the Kyoto Protocol was concluded and for the first time established legally binding obligations for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Whether or not more landmark policies to fight climate change will be agreed in Durban, COP17 is an opportunity for South Africa to take a leadership position in showcasing its efforts to address this global issue.

COP 15, held in Copenhagen in 2009, marked a huge shift in the politics of the fight against climate change when South Africa, alongside China, India and Brazil, played a key role in drafting the Copenhagen Accord. Unfortunately, COP 15 was seen by many as a failure because of the conference's inability to pass binding carbon reduction policies. However, others have argued that this perceived failure at Copenhagen may prove useful, if it allows new global leaders like South Africa to rally the support of developing countries and broaden dialogue on the critical issues of climate change.

Durban, as host to COP 17, is foremost an African city, a place of rich contrasts and honored traditions where vast undeveloped landscapes provide the backdrop for large-scale urban growth and traditional rural lifestyles. Through this diversity, the city embodies the challenges facing most cities in the developing world. Long a leading light and success story for sustainable urban development, South Africa has undertaken several bold projects to mitigate climate change while providing a platform from which to generate socio-economic benefits.

Within an African context, Durban's municipal leadership is mindful that its renewable energy and climate change mitigation projects are not simply about protecting the natural environment, but about creating jobs and fostering development.

The local government has introduced pioneering initiatives that protect the city's open spaces and biodiversity and a large-scale domestic recycling project as well as poverty relief programs that provide employment and improved inner-city public transport systems. It is also developing innovative water technologies and catchment management programs.

Speaking in June 2011, South Africa's Finance Minister called for "A new formula, which links action on climate change to genuine development, and that such initiatives should be directed at genuine job creation and skills development." He also reiterated his belief that Africa would become the R&D site for new technologies and policies to fight climate change. While South Africa is clearly taking climate change seriously from a policy-making standpoint, its corporate leaders are equally involved.

Climate activists have long urged for collaboration between policy-makers, corporate entities, academics and NGOs. To this end, the UN established the Green Climate Fund following the Cancun COP meeting in 2010.

The $100 billion fund is co-chaired by South Africa's National Planning Minister, Trevor Manuel, a further testament to the international community's recognition of South Africa as a leader in climate change solutions. The fund, which is financed through carbon pricing, is used to mitigate deforestation and open up new agricultural land in Africa.

South Africa's role as host to COP 17 follows a year where it has become increasingly vocal on the world stage. In addition to being the only African nation holding G20 membership, it recently joined the BRICS group of nations alongside Brazil, Russia, India and China, and is one of the non-permanent members on the UN Security Council.

These are all forums where South Africa provides a voice for the fight against climate change and environmental development that balances with the demand for job creation and economic diversity. adapted from: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2011-09/15/content_13689781.htm

6

7

P O T S A T C I X R F NE A H T U O S

THE KYOTO PROTOCOL

THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE If you have ever tried organising a group of friends to do something on the weekend and encountered great difficulties trying to reconcile one person’s preference for the movies with another’s preference for the beach, spare a thought for the 2,500 scientists who form the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It is their task to consider scientific research from dozens of nations and thousands of scientists around the world and channel it into one report that is agreed to by all.

The IPCC was established in 1989 by the United Nations and the World Meteorological Organisation. In 1990, it released its First Assessment Report that highlighted concerns about global warming and its environmental impact. The report was extremely influential because, for the first time, thousands of scientists from around the world had reached a consensus on the existence of climate change and the likelihood that the problem was caused by humans. In other words, the conclusions of the report had been agreed to by all the scientists involved, conclusions that could not be agreed to were not included.

In 1997 representatives from countries around the world came together in Kyoto, Japan, to develop a plan to deal with global warming. The result was the Kyoto Protocol, a historic agreement that reflected over a hundred years of scientific research.

The Kyoto Protocol is a legally binding agreement made under the UNFCCC. Its aim is to avoid dangerous climate change. The first step was to set emission targets for developed nations to achieve between 2008 and 2012. It was always expected that later agreements would build on this, so the Kyoto Protocol was the first, not the last step.

Each developed nation received individual emission targets, which were expressed as a percentage of their emissions in 1990. Although three countries received a target that allowed emissions to increase from their 1990 levels, the combined effect of the Protocol, if all countries meet their targets, will be that average annual emissionswill decrease by five per cent below 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012.

Most of the countries that initially signed the Kyoto Protocol also ratified it.

That is, they formally agreed to be bound by its obligations. South Africa ratified the Kyoto Protocol in 2002.

By the start of 2008, 176 countries had ratified the Kyoto Protocol and the only developed country not to have ratified the Protocol is now the United States.

As far back as 1896, the Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius claimed that increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could cause the planet to warm. He was the first person to warn that human activities could lead to changes in the Earth’s climate.

adapted from Australia Institute 2008

8

9

Climate Change Vulnerability in Africa North Atlantic Oscillation a key factor in international climate vulnerability, with impact on fisheries industries

The Millennium Development Goals

Egypt/Cairo/The Nile: Coastal areas threatened by sea-level rise; Nile river basin sensitive to climate, with regional implications

Horn of Africa heavily affected by recurrent droughts

Rainfall variability modulated by vegetation dynamics, surface properties in the Sahel; empirical evidence of species changes

Important commercial agriculture adapted to bimodal rainfall; shifts in rainfall patterns would have far- reaching impacts

High proportion of population concentrated in coastal areas in West African cities such as Lagos and Banjul, thus especially vulnerable to sea-level rise

East African Great Lakes and reservoirs respond to climate variability with pronounced changes in storage

Regional climate modeling experiments show deforestation in Central Africa will impact the climate in other places. (teleconnections)

Western Indian Ocean Islands

Coastal marine fishery likely to be negatively affected by changes in Bangwuela current

Floods in 1999 severely affected coastal population and infrastructure, with long-lasting economic and development impacts; adaptation and recovery very costly and beyond the means of African countries

Long-lasting impacts of drought on national economies for SADC region

Complete loss or displacement of Succulent Karoo biome projected under climate change, and many species losses in other biomes

Intensity of extreme events increased significantly over South Africa; biome shifts will favor horticulture over plantation forestry; malaria risk areas projected to expand southward

The vulnerabilities Desertification

Deforestation

Sea level rise

Loss of forest quality

Reduced freshwater availability

Degradation of woodlands

Spread of malaria

Cyclones

Coral bleaching

Impacts on food security

Coastal erosion

Sources: Anna Ballance, 2002.

10

11

YOUTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT

12

13

push to end poverty

Today's global youth population, ranging in age from 15 to 24 years, is an estimated 1.03 billion, or 18 per cent of the people inhabiting the Earth. The majority of these young men and women live in developing countries, and their numbers are expected to increase well into the twenty-first century. The median age of Africa is 18, making Africa the most youthful continent in the world. Africa's young people therefore have a critical role to play in environmental affairs. Their imagination, ideals and energies are vital for sustainable development on the continent.

The problems of young men and women, as well as their vision and aspirations, are an essential element of the challenges facing today's societies and future generations The deterioration of the natural environment is one of the principal concerns of young people worldwide as it has direct implications for their well-being now and in the future.

While every segment of society is responsible for maintaining the environmental integrity of the community, youth have a special interest in a healthy environment because they will be the ones to inherit it. The involvement of youth in environment and development decision making is critical to the implementation of policies of sustainable development.

Source:Adapted from A handbook of key environmental issues and concepts;www.unep.org

2012 CLIMATE CHANGE DIARY

2012 CLIMATE CHANGE DIARY

is your school

14

Nine years on, the WESSA/ WWF Eco-Schools Programme is showing that commitment and hard work does pay off. More than 1800 awards have been presented to schools over the past years which is a symbol of their commitment to improved environmental learning and action-taking. And many of these schools have defended their flags for nine years!

AN ECO-SCHOOL?

15

So how can you become an Eco-School?

Follow 7 simple steps: 1. Register for 2012: download the registration form from www.wessa.org.za or contact the National Eco-Schools office on 033 330 3931 ext 111. Your Eco-School Toolkit will be posted to you on registering.

2. Form an Eco-Committee at your school (learners, teachers, parents, community members etc).

3. Do an audit to help you decide on a theme – you only need to choose 1 of 5 themes in your first year.

4. Implement your Eco-Code through planning for lessons on your chosen theme and taking action.

5. Write up an Eco-Code based on your chosen theme.

6. Document all your learning and action-taking in an Eco-Report (you can follow the reporting guidelines in the toolkit).

7. Apply for your Eco-Award! You need to submit your Eco-Report to your Regional Eco-School office by the end of October every year.

Remember in order to retain your Eco-School award status you need to re-register with the programme every year and show that you are sustaining and growing your Eco-School Projects!

For more information contact: The National Co-ordinators: Bridget or Anisa; ecoschools@wessa.co.za Tel: 033-330 3931 ext 111 P O Box 394, Howick 3290 www.wessa.org.za

In South Africa: * There are EcoSchools in all 9 provinces! * In the first year (2003) there were 115 schools participating in the Programme. * In 2011 there were 1200, and * Over half of these received an Eco-School award for 2011!

www.wessa.org.za

ecoschools@wessa.co.za

16

2012 ENVIRODAYS JANUARY

FEBRUARY

17

2012 envirodays

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

1 Worker's Day

Fr

1

We

2

Sa

2

3

Th

3

Su

3

We

4

Fr

4

Mo

4

5

Th

5

Sa

5

Tu

5 World Environment Day

Tu

6

Fr

6 Good Friday

Su

6

We

6

7

We

7

Sa

7 World Health Day

Mo

7

Th

7

We

8

Th

8 Int.Women's Day

Su

8

Tu

8

Fr

8 World Oceans Day

9

Th

9

Fr

9

Mo

9 Family Day

We

9

Sa

9

Tu

10

Fr

10

Sa

10

Tu

10

Th

10

Su

10

We

11

Sa

11

Su

11

We

11

Fr

11

Mo

11

Th

12

Su

12

Mo

12

Th

12

Sa

12

Tu

12

Fr

13

Mo

13

Tu

13

Fr

13

Su

13

We

13

Sa

14

Tu

14

We

14

Sa

14

Mo

14 World Migrating Bird Day

Th

14

Su

15

We

15

Th

15

Su

15

Tu

15 Int. Day of Families

Fr

15

Mo

16

Th

16

Fr

16

Mo

16

We

16

Sa

16 Youth Day

Tu

17

Fr

17

Sa

17

Tu

17

Th

17

Su

17 World Desertification Day

We

18

Sa

18

Su

18

We

18

Fr

18

Mo

18

Th

19

Su

19

Mo

19

Th

19

Sa

19

Tu

19

Fr

20

Mo

20 World Day of Social Justice

Tu

20

Fr

20

Su

20

We

Sa

21

Tu

21 Int. Mother Language Day

Sa

21

Mo

21

Th

21

Su

22

We

22

Su

22 Earth Day

Tu

22 Int. Biological Diversity Day

Fr

22

Mo

23

Th

23

Fr

23 World Meteorological Day

Mo

23

We

23

Sa

23

Tu

24

Fr

24

Sa

24

Tu

24

Th

24

Su

24

We

25

Sa

25

Su

25

We

25 World Malaria Day

Fr

25

Mo

25

Th

26

Su

26

Mo

26

Th

26

Sa

26

Tu

26 Int. Day Against Drugs

Fr

27

Mo

27

Tu

27

Fr

27 Freedom Day

Su

27

We

27

Sa

28

Tu

28

We

28

Sa

28

Mo

28

Th

28

Su

29

We

29

Th

29

Su

29

Tu

29

Fr

29

Mo

30

Fr

30

Mo

30

We

30

Sa

30

Tu

31

Sa

31

Su

1 New Year's Day

1

Th

1

Su

1

Tu

Mo

2 Public Holiday

Th

2 World Wetlands Day

Fr

2

Mo

2

Tu

3

Fr

3

Sa

3

Tu

We

4

Sa

4

Su

4

Th

5

Su

5

Mo

Fr

6

Mo

6

Sa

7

Tu

Su

8

Mo

We

We 21 Int. Day of Elimination of Racial Discrimination Th 22 World Water Day

National Water Week = 19 - 25 March

2012 - International Year of Sustainable Energy for All

Th

(SA)

20 World Refugee Day

31 World No-Tobacco Day

Environmental Weeks Environmental Days Public Holidays Saturday and Sunday

2012 - International Year of Co-operatives

18

2012 envirodays JULY

AUGUST

19

2012 envirodays

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

We

1

Sa

1

Mo

1 Int. Day of Older Persons

Th

1

Sa

1 World AIDS Day

2 Int. Day to Co-operatives

Th

2

Su

2

Tu

2 Int. Day for non-Violence

Fr

2

Su

2

Tu

3

Fr

3

Mo

3

We

3

Sa

3

Mo

We

4

Sa

4

Tu

4

Th

4 World Habitat Day

Su

4

Tu

3 with Disabilities 4

Th

5

Su

5

We

5

Fr

5 World Teachers' Day

Mo

5

We

5

Fr

6

Mo

6

Th

6

Sa

6

Tu

6 Int. Anti-War Day

Th

6

Sa

7

Tu

7

Fr

7

Su

7

We

7

Fr

7

Su

8

We

8

Sa

8 Int. Literacy Day

Mo

8

Th

8

Sa

8

Mo

9

Th

9 National Women’s Day (SA)

Su

9

Tu

9

Fr

9

Su

9

Tu

10

Fr

10

Mo

10

We

10 World Mental Health Day

Sa

10

Mo

10 Int. Human Rights Day

11 World Population Day

Sa

11

Tu

11

Th

11

Su

11

Tu

11 Int. Mountain Day

Th

12

Su

12 Int.Youth Day

We

12

Fr

12

Mo

12

We

12

Fr

13

Mo

13

Th

13

Sa

13

Tu

13

Th

13

Sa

14

Tu

14

Fr

14

Su

14

We

14

Fr

14

Su

15

We

15

Sa

15 Int. Day of Democracy

Mo

15

Th

15

Sa

15

Mo

16

Th

16

Su

16 Int. Ozone Preservation Day

Tu

16 World Food Day

Fr

16

Su

16 Day of Reconcilliation (SA)

Tu

17

Fr

17

Mo

17

We

17 Int. Poverty Eradication Day

Sa

17

Mo

17 Public Holiday

18 Int. Nelson Mandela Day

Sa

18

Tu

18

Th

18

Su

18

Tu

18 Int. Migrants Day

Th

19

Su

19 World Humanitarian Day

We

19

Fr

19

Mo

19

We

19

Fr

20

Mo

20

Th

20

Sa

20 National Marine Day

Tu

20 Universal Children's Day

Th

20

Sa

21

Tu

21

Fr

21 Int. Day of Peace

Su

21

21

Fr

21

Su

22

We

22

Sa

22

Mo

22

We

22

Sa

22

Mo

23

Th

23

Su

23

Tu

23

Th

23

Su

23

Tu

24

Fr

24

Mo

24 Heritage Day (SA)

We

24

Fr

24

Mo

24

We

25

Sa

25

Tu

25

Th

25

Tu

25 Christmas Day

Th

26

Su

26

We

26

Fr

26

Fr

27

Mo

27

Th

27 World Tourism Day

Sa

Sa

28

Tu

28

Fr

28

Su

29

We

29

Sa

Mo

30

Th

30

Su

Tu

31

Fr

31

Su

1

Mo

We

We

Sa 25 Int. Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

26 Day of Goodwill

Su

26

We

27

Mo

27

Th

27

Su

28

Tu

28

Fr

28

29 World Maritime Day

Mo

29

We

29

Sa

29

30

Tu

30

Th

30

Su

30

We

31

Fr

Mo

31

National Arbor Week = 1 - 7 September

2012 - International Year of Sustainable Energy for All

Int. Day for Persons

Environmental Weeks Environmental Days Public Holidays Saturday and Sunday

2012 - International Year of Co-operatives

20

2012 calendar S M 1 2 8 9 15 16 22 23 29 30

S M

6 7 13 14 20 21 27 28

January T 3 10 17 24 31

T 1 8 15 22 29

W 4 11 18 25

T 5 12 19 26

may W 2 9 16 23 30

T 3 10 17 24 31

F 6 13 20 27

F 4 11 18 25

september

S M T W T F

2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 21 2330 24 25 26 27 28

FEBRuary

S M T

5 6 7 12 13 14 19 20 21 26 27 28

S 7 14 21 28

S 5 12 19 26

S M T W T

3 4 5 6 7 10 11 12 13 14 17 18 19 20 21 24 25 26 27 28

S M 1 7 8 14 15 21 22 28 29

01 02 21 06 09 27 01 16 18 09 24 16 17 25 26

Jan Jan Mar Apr Apr Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Dec Dec Dec Dec

swaziland HOLIDAYS New Year’s Day Su Good Friday Fr Easter Monday Mo King Mswati III b/day Th National Flag Day We Labour Day Tu Ascenion Day Th Late King Sobhuza b/day Fr Umhlanga Reed Dance We Somhlolo Day Th Incwala Day Sa Christmas Day Tu

F 3 10 17 24

F 1 8 15 22 29

october

S 1 8 15 22 29

Su Mo We Fr Mo Fr Tu Sa We Th Mo Su Mo Tu We

T 2 9 16 23

june

South African PUBLIC HOLIDAYS New Year’s Day Public Holiday Human Rights Day Good Friday Family Day Freedom Day Workers’ Day Youth Day Mandela Day National Women’s Day Heritage Day Day of Reconciliation Public Holiday Christmas Day Day of Goodwill

W 1 8 15 22 29

01 Jan 06 Apr 09 Apr 19 Apr 25 Apr 01 May 17 May 22 Jul 01 Aug 06 Sep 01 Dec 25 Dec

T 2 9 16 23 30

W 3 10 17 24 31

T 4 11 18 25

F 5 12 19 26

S 4 11 18 25

S 2 9 16 23 30

S 6 13 20 27

march

S M T W

4 5 6 7 11 12 13 14 18 19 20 21 25 26 27 28

T 1 8 15 22 29

F S 2 3 9 10 16 17 23 24 30 31

JULY

S M T 1 2 3 8 9 10 15 16 17 22 23 24 29 30 31

W T F 4 5 6 11 12 13 18 19 20 25 26 27

NOVEMBER

S M T W

4 5 6 7 11 12 13 14 18 19 20 21 25 26 27 28

T 1 8 15 22 29

LESOTHO PUBLIC HOLIDAYS New Year’s Day Moshoeshoe’s Day Good Friday Easter Monday Workers’ Day Ascension Day Africa Day/Heroes' Day Family Day King Letsie III's Birthday Independence Day National Sports Day Christmas Day

Su Su Fr Mo Tu Th Fr Wed Tu Th Fr Tu

01 11 06 09 01 17 25 04 17 04 05 25

Jan Mar Apr Apr May May May Jul Jul Oct Oct Dec

Boxing Day

We 26 Dec

botswana PUBLIC HOLIDAYS New Year’s Day Public Holiday Good Friday Public Holiday Easter Monday Labour Day Ascension Day Sir Seretse Khama Day President’s Day Public Holiday Botswana Day Public Holiday Christmas Day

Su Mo Fr Sa Mo Tu Th Su We Th Su Mo Tu

01 02 06 07 09 01 17 01 18 19 30 24 25

Jan Jan Apr Apr Apr May May Jul Jul Jul Sep Dec Dec

and holidays

S 7 14 21 28

F S 2 3 9 10 16 17 23 24 30

S M 1 2 8 9 15 16 22 23 29 30

april

T 3 10 17 24

W 4 11 18 25

T 5 12 19 26

august

S M T

5 6 7 12 13 14 19 20 21 26 27 28

W 1 8 15 22 29

T 2 9 16 23 30

F 6 13 20 27

F 3 10 17 24 31

S M T W T F

2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 21 2330 2431 25 26 27 28

S 7 14 21 28

S 4 11 18 25

01 06 09 18 01 25 09 10 22 25 26

S 1 8 15 22 29

Jan Apr Apr Apr May May Aug Aug Dec Dec Dec

Correct at time of going to press NAMIBIA public holidays New Year’s Day Public Holiday Independence Day Good Friday Easter Sunday Easter Monday Workers’ Day Casinga Day Ascenion Day Africa Day Heroes’ Day Public Holiday Int. Human Rights Day Christmas Day Family Day

Su Mo We Fr Su Mo Tu Fr Th Fr Su Mo Mo Tu We

01 02 21 06 08 09 01 04 17 25 26 27 10 25 26

Birth of Holy Prophet

SA

04 Feb

Laylatul Meraaj

Su

17 Jun

Laylatul Baraah

We

04 Jul

Ramadaan

Sa

21 Jul

Eid ul Fitr

Su

19 Aug

Youmi Arafah

The

25 Oct

Eid ul Adgha

Fr

26 Oct

Muharram

Th

15 Nov

Day of Ashura

Sa

24 Nov

Correct at time of going to press, Please note dates have been computed on the basis of expected moon visibility and are subject to change depending on actual sighting.

Hindu Festivals

Jewish HolIDays & Feasts Purim Pesach 1st day Pesach 2nd day Pesach 7th day Shavout 1st day Shavout 2nd day Ros Hashanah 1st day 2nd day Yom Kippur Sukkot 1st day 2nd day Chanukah 1st day 8th day

Th Sa Su Fr Su Mo Mo Tu We Mo Tu Su Su

08 Mar 07 Apr 08 Apr 13 Apr 27 May 28 May 17 Sep 18 Sep 26 Sep 01 Oct 02 Oct 09 Dec 16 Dec

Makar Sankranthi

Sa

Maha Shivarathri

Mo 20 Feb

14 Jan

Ramayan Week begins Fr

23 Mar

Ramanavami

Su

01 Apr

Khrisna Janmashthami Fr

10 Aug

Pitr-Paksha

Su

30 Sep

Navaratri

Tu

16 Oct

Deepavali/Diwali

Tu

13 Nov

Correct at time of going to press.

Personal birthdays, events and special days reminder:

zimbabwe public holidays Su Fr Mo We Tu Fr Th We Sa Tu We

2012 RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS Islamic Holy Days

december

New Year’s Day Good Friday Easter Monday Independence Day Workers’ Day Africa Day Heroes’ Day Defence Forces’ Day Unity Day Christmas Day Boxing Day

21

Jan Jan Mar Apr Apr Apr May May May May Aug Aug Dec Dec Dec

Name/Special day

Date

..............................................................................................................

.......................................................

..............................................................................................................

.......................................................

..............................................................................................................

.......................................................

..............................................................................................................

.......................................................

..............................................................................................................

.......................................................

..............................................................................................................

.......................................................

..............................................................................................................

.......................................................

..............................................................................................................

.......................................................

..............................................................................................................

.......................................................

..............................................................................................................

.......................................................

..............................................................................................................

.......................................................

..............................................................................................................

.......................................................

2012 south african SCHOOL TERMS Inland Provinces: Free State, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and North West

Term 1 Term 2 Term 3 Term 4 18 Jan - 30 March 10 April – 22 June 16 July - 28 Sept 08 Oct - 09 Dec

Coastal Provinces: Eastern Cape, Kwa-Zulu-Natal, Northern Cape and Western Cape

Term 1 Term 2 Term 3 Term 4 11 Jan - 23 April 10 April – 22 June 16 July - 28 Sept 09 Oct - 07 Dec

THE MONDI WESSA NATIONAL INTERSCHOOLS ENVIRO QUIZ

22

23

Everything is connected!

This diagram shows how the Earth’s atmosphere, climate, oceans, snow and ice, and ecosystems are all connected, which means extra greenhouse gases in the atmosphere lead to many other changes.

In 1990, the Umvoti Branch of WESSA (the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa) held the first interschool enviro quiz amongst local high schools. It proved to be a great success and in 1994 the quiz grew to become a provincial contest. A few years later, it became a national event! Over the years, the quiz has enjoyed valuable sponsorship and support from Mondi.

During the early part of each year, young people of high school ages compete together on environmental issues, and winning teams meet for the national finals, held in late July/early August at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, in Pietermaritzburg.

The aim is not simply to win but to inspire young people to learn about the environment in a fun-filled manner. An excursion to a local WESSA environmental education field centre, Umgeni Valley Nature Reserve, is organized for all competitors for the Saturday morning after the quiz.

Climate Challenge:

www.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/basics/concepts.html

1, Imagine that last summer was much hotter than usual where you live. Is this a sign of climate change? Yes or no?

No. The weather naturally varies from year to year, and some years are hotter than others.

2. Imagine that almost every summer for the past decade has been hotter than usual. Is this a sign of climate change? Yes or no?

Yes. Climate change occurs over many years, so a pattern of many hotter summers could be a sign of climate change. This is especially true if the same pattern is happening in many places around the world.

It was the first official worldwide statement by university administrators to commit to environmental sustainability. The declaration serves as a ten-point action plan to incorporate sustainability in education and research.

The University of the Western Cape is a national university, alert to its African and international context as it strives to be a place of quality, a place to grow. It is committed to excellence in teaching, learning and research, to nurturing the cultural diversity of South Africa, and to responding in critical and creative ways to the needs of a society in transition. Drawing on its proud experience in the liberation struggle, the university is aware of a distinctive academic role in helping build an equitable and dynamic society.

Our commitment to environmental sustainability UWC is on a journey to manage its everyday activities with the lightest footprint on the environment.

As one of the universities that have signed the Talloires Declaration, the campus has a long standing commitment to sustainability. This declaration was made in 1990 in Talloires, France at an international conference and has been signed by over 350 universities in 40 countries.

UWC is dedicated to make constructive contributions to environmental sustainability and as an institute of higher learning the campus community realises its responsibility which is key to success.

Reducing waste, water and energy use are part of our commitment to achieve more efficient management of resources on campus. With over 19 000 students and 2313 staff on campus, the potential for positive change is massive, and with joint commitment to will lead to sustainability success at UWC. Facilities Management have commissioned for an audit of hot water usage at residences and research into the viability of having all lights replaced with energy efficient lighting. Another aim is to replace electricity used to heat water with heat pump technology.

Once the data is collected, opportunities for saving energy will be targeted and implemented. These will be monitored to track progress on energy saving. The payback period for these changes estimated to be between 3 to 4 years with savings on overall electricity expected to be some 30%.

Pro Vice Chancellor Patricia Lawrence,

Ways you can help UWC achieve energy celebrating Green Day at savings on campus: UWC by planting a tree.

- Turn the light off when you leave a room.

- Turn off any unnecessary hall way or passage lights at night - Make the most of natural lighting.

- Turn off computers when not in use.

- Turn off entertainment devices such as radios when you leave the room.

- Unplug phone and laptop chargers when they are not in use.

- Unplug appliances at the wall socket when not in use.

- Keep to a maximum of 7 minutes in the shower.

- Boil only the amount of water you need for your cup of coffee/tea. This will also save you time.

- When you feel cold, put on an extra layer of clothing or socks before you consider turning on the heater. dsaffier@uwc.ac.za

www.uwc.ac.za

January 2012

26

27

Introduction to climate change

The weather and the climate

Greenhouse effect

The Earth’s atmosphere is like a big blanket that surrounds the globe keeping humans warm. If it was suddenly stripped off the Earth’s average temperature would plummet and everything would freeze.

Have you ever wondered why it can rain one minute and be sunny the next?

The reason is simple: while the weather can change quickly, with big variations over a day, the climate changes over much longer timeframes. Rainfall patterns do not simply change overnight.

Like a blanket that could be made from a mix of cotton and wool, the Earth’s atmosphere is made from a mixture of gases.

The main gases are nitrogen, oxygen and argon. However, there are also trace gases such as carbon dioxide, water vapour, methane, ozone and nitrous oxide. These are called the greenhouse gases because they create a warm environment for the Earth.

Changes in the weather are generally well-understood and despite what many people think meteorologists are pretty good at predicting what the weather will be the following day.

Climate is a different matter. The Earth’s climate system is affected by the interactions of different subsystems such as the atmosphere, the hydrosphere (the oceans and rivers) and the biosphere (including the forests, the plants and the soil).

Figure 1: The Greenhouse Effect

Although individual interactions between, for example, the forests and the atmosphere are well understood, the way all these different subsystems interact is very complex and much harder to understand.

This makes the temperature of the atmosphere and the Earth higher than it would be without the presence of the greenhouse gases.

In the past, scientists have had great difficulty understanding and predicting changes in the climate.

More recently, reliable evidence has emerged of how these subsystems have inter-acted to produce past climatic changes.

Using complex climate models that have been improved with sophisticated computer programs, scientists have been able to simulate the weather and the climate and to predict the changes that could follow from human-induced changes that may occur.

The greenhouse effect occurs because the Sun’s shortwave radiation passes through the atmosphere and warms the Earth’s surface. This warm surface then radiates long wave infra-red radiation back into space. However, the greenhouse gases absorb some of the infrared radiation and re-radiate back to the atmosphere and the ground.

http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/science/ faq/question1.html

See Figure 1: The process is similar to how a greenhouse traps warmth and why the term greenhouse effect has become part of everyday language. Any change to the volume of greenhouse gases therefore changes the temperature on Earth. It is a bit like putting an extra blanket on your bed – it traps more of your body heat under the covers. As the earth slowly warms, the whole climate system is affected.

28

january 2012 Human activities and the enhanced greenhouse effect Since the middle of the 19th century and the Industrial Revolution, when major changes occurred in agriculture, manufacturing and transportation – including the replacement of organic fuels like wood with fossil fuels like coal – the concentration of greenhouse gases (with the exception of water vapour) has been increasing. For example, the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has been increasing rapidly since the Industrial Revolution as we have burnt more fossil fuels.

To check whether this might simply be a coincidence, scientists have examined the long term geological record to see whether the increase in CO2 over the last two centuries is normal or unusual. Ice cores taken from Antarctica and the Arctic indicate that, since pre-industrial times, the concentrations of CO2 have risen at a rate that has no precedent in the geological record. There are no known natural processes that would create such a large increase in CO2, so scientists conclude that human activities are the main cause of the increase in CO2 in the atmosphere.

Methane (CH4) is generated by the bacterial decay of dead plant and animal material (including in waste landfills), by livestock farming (due to fermentation processes in the gut of ruminants such as cattle), rice cultivation, and by leakage from fossil fuel production processes such as coal mining and natural gas distribution.

The analysis of ice cores indicates that changes in methane concentrations in the atmosphere over time coincide with rises in the human population. This suggests that human activities associated with urbanisation, industry and agriculture are all significant factors in methane production, and hence climate change.

In addition to these two major greenhouse gases, other trace gases that are important include nitrous oxide (N2O), ozone (O3) and water vapour, as well as a range of synthetic gases with chlorine and/or fluorine in their molecular structures, known as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

Similar patterns of change since the industrial revolution are also evident with these gases, which can be attributed to various human activities.

In addition to burning fossil fuels, clearing of forests and the release of industrial gases such as refrigerants have also contributed to the enhanced greenhouse effect.

Table 1 Sources, concentrations and contributions of greenhouse gases Carbon Methane dioxide CH4 CO2

Nitrous Chlorofluoro Tropospheric oxide carbons ozone N2O CFCs O2

Water vapour O2

Pre industrial concentrations (parts per billion)

280,000

790

288

0

10

Not known

Present concentrations (parts per billion)

355,000

1720

310

0.28-0.48

20-40

3000-6000

60%

15%

5%

12%

8%

Not known

Relative contribution to human-induced greenhouse effect

Source: Skinner, BSkinner, B., Porter, S. and Botkin, D. 1999, The Blue Planet: an introduction to earth system science, Wiley and Sons, New York.

29

Introduction to climate change

The issue of ozone depletion is an entirely different process to the greenhouse effect. The two are commonly confused, but they are, simply, two destructive processes occurring in the atmosphere in response to human activities.

Ozone Layer

Ultraviolet radiation is a part of the solar radiation spectrum. It causes sun-burn and is deadly to living organisms, including humans. Ozone can absorb the most lethal type of ultraviolet rays and is therefore crucial to life on Earth. Since 1980, the ozone in the atmosphere has been depleted by around four percent per decade largely because of pollutants emitted from human manufacture, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

Although they are commonly confused, ozone depletion is different from the enhanced greenhouse effect.

While some materials with a greenhouse impact also have an effect on the ozone layer (for example, CFCs), they are two quite distinct environmental problems that affect the atmosphere.

Are human activities really the cause of global warming?

Climate is generally unpredictable and changes over time. This is called ‘natural variability’ and is caused by: • the complex, chaotic behaviour of the many subsystems like the atmosphere and the oceans that make up the climate; • the natural oscillation, or swinging, between warm and cool periods over years, decades or centuries, such as the El Nino effect; • variations in solar activity such as sun spots; and • random volcanic eruptions, which can put soot into the atmosphere and cause cooling.

The study of ice cores, coral and tree rings has helped scientists understand how the climate has varied over the past. This has been helped by the use of climate models. By understanding natural climate variability, we can use the models to compare trends in climate in the post industrial period with past climates.

Scientists have discovered that the rate of global warming and climate change is far beyond what can be explained by natural variability. Based on the work of around 2,500 scientists, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that there is a 90 per cent certainty that humans are the cause of climate change.

adapted from: www.teachingclimatechange.com.au acessed 14/07/2011.

january 2012

30

31

Climate models

Monday Public Holiday

Thursday

Tuesday

Friday

2

5

3

6

Wednesday

Saturday

4

7

Sunday

8 DID YOU KNOW?

A model is a set of mathematical equations that represent interactions between various components of a complex system.

Models can never capture all of the complexity of a system like the climate or the economy, so there is always some uncertainty remaining.

january 2012

32

33

Climate models

Monday

Thursday

Tuesday

Friday

9

12

10

13

Wednesday

Saturday

11

14

Sunday

15 CLIMATE MODELS

Climate models simulate the interactions between the different subsystems.

For example, they can predict, to a degree, the impact on the climate if huge tracts of the Earth’s forests are destroyed.

january 2012

34

35

Carbon dioxide (CO2)

Monday

Thursday

Tuesday

Friday

16

19

17

20

Wednesday

Saturday

18

21

Sunday

22 CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2)

Some greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide are constantly added to and removed from the atmosphere by natural processes.

However, the recent increase in their concentration and the addition of new gases due to human actions is the driving force of changes in climate that the world is now experiencing.

january 2012

36

37

Methane (CH4)

Monday

Thursday

Tuesday

Friday

23

26

24

27

Wednesday

Saturday

25

28

Sunday

29 METHANE (CH4)

Another of the main greenhouse gases is methane (CH4), which is 25 times as effective a greenhouse gas as CO2 on a mass for mass basis.

This means that although methane is less abundant than CO2, its presence has a major impact on heat absorption in the atmosphere.

In other words, although most of the blanket surrounding the Earth is made of CO2, the part made of methane is a bit like pure wool, it keeps you very warm.

1. Climate, 2. Atmosphere, 3(a). Carbon-dioxide, 3(b). Methane, 3(c). Temperature, 4. Weather, 5. Decomposition, 6. Cow.

is the air above the Earth's surface, which naturally contains "greenhouse

Millennium Development Goals 4. The correct answer is d.

While progress varies between regions and goals, progress in Sub-Saharan Africa has been slow on nearly all fronts. It is the region with the largest proportion of its people living in extreme poverty (less than $1 a day), and despite improvements, goals for maternal health and child mortality remain major challenges in the region.

5. The correct answer is c.

1.3 billion people - about a fifth of the world's population - live on less than $1 a day. Though a vast improvement over the one-third living in extreme poverty in 1990, this is still an unacceptable number.

It demonstrates how far the MDGs have come, but also how far they have to go.

6. The correct answer is e.

23 partner organizations and a whole lot more, ranging from the International Telecommunications Union to the World Bank, are working together with UN Member States to achieve the MDGs. As the Goals span a variety of challenges, they can only be achieved through joint efforts that utilize the full range of strategies and resources.

. are the two common greenhouse gases that warm

2. gases."

1. The correct answer is d.

In September 2000, world leaders came together at UN Headquarters to adopt the UN Millennium Declaration, committing to a global partnership to reducer extreme poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets that have become know as the Millennium Development Goals, or MDGs. 2. The correct answer is c.

There are 8 goals: 1. Eradicate Extreme Hunger; 2. Achieve Universal Primary Education 3. Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women; 4. Reduce Child Mortality; 5. Improve Maternal Health; 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases; 7. Ensure Environmental Sustainability; 8. Develop a Global Partnership for Development.

3. The correct answer is c.

The deadline for achieving the MDGs is 2015. We are a little over halfway to that deadline, and so far progress has been mixed. There has been overall improvement, with many areas on pace to meet some of the goals. However, other areas are still far behind, requiring a renewed and invigorated commitment from the global community to reach all the goals by the 2015 deadline.

is a word describing sunny skies, rainfall, snowfall, and drought. If the Earth's temperature rises, it would disrupt these patterns. is causing a rise in the Earth's and

is the average weather we experience over a long period of time.

The Answers and explainations are upsidedown below.

the weather Source: http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/k00-001.pdf

6. A releases methane into the atmosphere (when it burps) as a result of digestion of food, during which the bacteria present in its stomach produce methane!

5. is the chemical deterioration of our garbage after it is dumped in a landfill and in the process large quantities of methane is released into the atmosphere.

4.

the Earth enough for us to live comfortably, but nowadays increased concentration of these gases 3.

1.

Match the descriptions below with these words: Atmosphere, Carbon Dioxide, Climate, Cow, Decomposition, Humans, Methane, Products, Temperature, Weather.

Classroom Activity 2: Word Search of the above words.

Class activity: Explain the meaning Word Search 1: Search for the following weather related words in the scrambled matrix of letters below: Atmosphere, Radiation, Greenhouse, Trees, Gases, Industry, Weather, Carbon, Vehicles, Ozone, Ocean, Haze.

Tick the correct white box. \/

Classroom Activity 1: Word Search

What do you know about

38

39

Test your knowledge of the

PPC NATION BUILDING COMPANY PPC continues to be the leading supplier of cement in southern Africa with 40 eight manufacturing plants and five cement depots in South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe. In 2011 PPC reconfirmed its commitment to social upliftment and the development of communities in which PPC has a footprint by investing in areas of arts, education, food security and infrastructure development.

As a response to the Millennium Development Goals, PPC has, during the year under review, spent approximately R9.1 million on various socioeconomic development projects within South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

Job Creation and Poverty Alleviation

Time for Change (TFC) beneficiaries are now true ambassadors of the PPC social brand and a great testimony to the “Invest to Empower” payoff line. Early this year, they were featured on CNBC Africa’s Entrepreneurial Programme as an NGO that is working towards true sustainability.

PPC’s return on investment into the bakery and sewing equipment has seen the number of youths from the streets and ex commercial sex workers being trained in the baking and sewing and thereafter securing employment. Most of the women trained under Time Sewing are self-employed and are now members of the recently formed former sex workers co-operative that is being managed with assistance from the Department of Social Services. More than 100 people are now fully employed; and four boys are at WITS University studying Engineering and Accounting.

Time Sewing also completed a number of orders from others NGOs and these include track suits for the Field Band Foundation, uniforms for the Gift of Givers, curtains and cricket shirts for the French Institute etc. In the last three years, the Department of Social Services registered Time Sewing as one of the suppliers of school uniforms for the Banapele Programme. Siziwe Mini bakery and Time Sewing initiatives at TFC have certainly brought dignity and self-worth to the marginalized people.

Forest Town School

PPC has a relationship with Forest Town School for children with disabilities since 2008, when the playgrounds in the school were upgraded. In line with the CSI philosophy of “Invest to Empower” – PPC invested in a fully working commercial bakery at the Forest Town School Work Experience Programme (WEP) section. The bakery is providing skills to learners with disabilities, helping them to become useful and happy citizens, fully realizing their human rights to dignity, integration, and respect.

Grow Smart Organics

Vermiculture project is a newly established community-based initiative in Wittewater. They manufacture vermicompost and vermicompost tea from shredded cement bags, cow manure and organic food scraps. The compost tea, a liquid extract of compost is brewed from high quality vermicompost and nutrients and sold to farmers as part of their soil fertilisation programmes. At its full production cycle; the project will create jobs for 16 people. PPC invested in the start-up funds which covered the acquisition of the capital equipment, earth wormery, company and product registration.

Other stakeholders include Cape Vermicast providing technical support and mentoring; South African Biological Products – also providing technical support, mentoring and marketing. Wittewater Opsienersraad provided the land and the Bergrivier Municipality is providing waste materials and technical skills.

Food Security

Cucumber tunnel in Saldanha - PPC invested in the construction of a cucumber tunnel as well as the growing, harvesting and marketing of cucumbers. This project is in partnership with the West Coast Business Centre. PPC committed to support the initiative for 3 years which has to date created employment for 5 people.

ACHIEVING THE MILLENNIUM GOALS 41 Mushroom Harvesting - PPC invested in

the construction of a mushroom harvesting house and training courses a project which was implemented in partnership with Siyakhana Initative under Wits Health Consortium whom PPC are in partnership with for 3 years. Members of various NGOs were trained in mushroom harvesting for implementation at their various sites.

Arts & Culture

The Field Band Foundation is about “Music for Life” where youth from marginalised areas are not only trained in musical instrument playing, movement and dance, but also receive HIV and AIDS peer education, general education in social development and specific life skills training competitiveness, teamwork, discipline and timekeeping.

PPC in partnership with De Beers supports three Field Bands – Kimberley Field Band serving the youth from Greenpoint and Galeshewe; Danielskuil Field Band serving Danielskuil, Kluisville and Thlakalatlou; Cullinan Field band with participants from Refilwe, Cullinan and Mamelodi East in Pretoria.

The Cullinan Band performed at the Human Right’s Day Celebration at the Union Buiding in Pretoria, playing in front of the President of South Africa, his cabinet, local and international VIPs and the public at large. The Danielskuil Field Band has made a huge impact in Danielskuil – a quiet little town in the Northern Cape where most of the band members come from families that are poverty stricken and alcohol consumption in the communities is a problem. The band is providing the much needed after school extra-mural activities.

From the Hip: Kulu (FTH: K) FTH:K facilitates communication between the deaf and the hearing through Sign Language, Education and Development. PPC invested in the development of the Tell-Tale Sign programme including a tour of 15 Deaf schools in 4 provinces. The programme is currently training South Africa’s first generation of deaf people for inclusion in the professional performing arts industry.

South African Marine Rehabilitation Centre (SAMREC)

PPC supports SAMREC in theirs efforts to rescue and rehabilitate marine animals in distress, especially marine birds; and in particular the endangered African Penguin.

In 2011 PPC assisted with funding for the electric fence, three sand filters for the penguin pools and the installation of a filter system in the quarantine pool.

sustainability: Economy What if future generations were able to speak to us? Just what would they say to us if they could? If they had a voice today, what would they ask us to do for them?

Would they be concerned about the many depressing reports we read in our news-papers and see on televisions everyday? Escalating fighting and war.

Growing misunderstanding and conflict between cultural, ethnic and religious groups. Desperate poverty, malnutrition and starvation. Flourishing multibillionaires and fashion shows while millions live on less than a dollar a day. Continued oppression of women, refugees and children in an age that is supposed to be becoming more democratic. Increasing incidence of floods and hurricanes due to global warming. The destruction of tropical forests. Encroaching deserts. Millions more species lost.

Cities choking, water courses trickling and vast dead oceans heaving with oil and other undigestables left behind by the human race.

Or would they see that we are really trying to do our best, that we are making great strides in improving environmental quality, reducing global poverty, caring for the unfortunate and underprivileged, and seeking to build the conditions for peace not war? Just what would they say to us today? Would they thank us for seeking to live our lives in ways that ensure that our descendants - our future generations - have a clean and safe environment and access to all the resources they need to have a good quality of life?

A Letter from the Future has come to us.

Before you read the letter think about what you think it might say.

Q1. How do you think future generations might feel about the way the human race is managing the world - their inheritance - today? What do you think will be the main message in the letter? How do you think future generations will feel about us and what will they say?

Reading the Letter Now read the Letter from the Future.

Q2. What three messages in the Letter from the Future are most important to you?

Q3. Did you expect the letter to be so positive? Why?

environment and society 42

43

Through your public policies and daily lives, the people of your era have tremendous power to influence the future course of humanity's story. We strongly care about your choices, of course, since we benefit or suffer from them quite directly. We live downstream from you in time; whatever you put into the stream flows on to our era. This is why we are very pleased that you care so deeply about the well-being of future generations. That is what we want most from you: your caring for us, your concern for our well-being, your willingness to take our needs as seriously as you take your own needs.

We admire and thank you for taking our needs seriously. We treasure our past and our predecessors as well as our future. We respect and love you. We hope that you and the children currently in your schools will continue care about us and will treat us with respect.

It is also true that we occasionally feel frustrated and angry with you for taking enormous risks that could severely damage our prospects, and for sometimes treating us in thoughtless, selfish, uncaring ways. At a deeper level, though, we feel a strong kinship bond with you, because all of us participate in the same never-ending procession of generations that stretches over the centuries. And all of us share a love for our home that vibrant planet called Earth with its richly diverse geography and life.

It is our hope and trust that early 21st Century society does everything possible to help people feel a deep bonding or connectedness with all of humankind, with the planet and its diverse forms of life, and with future generations. This is why we are pleased that the United Nations has made 2005 - 2014 a Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, and why we are happy that so many teachers are studying the UNESCO programme, Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable Future.

Source: This letter is a small, adapted section from Allen Tough's on-line book A Message From Future Generations which provides a full copy of the letter.

The Descending Spiral of Unsustainable Development Living conditions for a great many people in the world are far from good. Even though total global economic production around the world is huge, much of it is distributed very unequally. For example, the top 20% of the world's income earners - those living in the North - are generally doing well while the vast majority of people are living in conditions of great poverty in many of the countries of the South. In fact, the three richest billionaires in the world have more assets than the combined annual production of the world's 600 million poorest people! Thus, for many people the world is in a descending spiral of declining living standards and declining environmental quality.

NORTH

A Letter from the Future Thank you for listening to this message from future generations - those of us who will inhabit this lovely planet for many decades to come. Our voices are usually overlooked by your generations, so we are very appreciative of your willingness to listen to our perspective. Even though we live in a century very different from yours, we too work, play, talk, eat, laugh, hope, cry, sing, learn, worship, think, and wonder. You are alive at a pivotal moment in humanity's development. You are making some of the most important choices in human history. Your era is marked by positive and negative potentials of such newness and magnitude that you can hardly understand them.

SOUTH

February 2012 44 The descending spiral of unsustainable development is not the result of any one factor but, rather, of the re-inforcing interactions of many problems. This was recognised in the 1987 Report of the United Nations World Commission for Environment and Development, commonly called the Brundtland Report, after Mrs. Gro Harlem Brundtland of Norway who chaired the Commission. Until recently, the planet was a large world in which human activities and their effects were neatly compartmentalized within nations . . . and within broad areas of concern (environmental, economic, social). These compartments have begun to dissolve. This applies in particular to the various global 'crises' that have seized public concern, particularly over the last decade. These are not separate crises: an environmental crisis, a development crisis, an energy crisis. They are all one.

Source: World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) Our Common Future, Oxford University Press, Oxford, p. 4.

The Commissioners reported that this realisation made them focus on one central theme: many present development trends leave increasing numbers of people poor and vulnerable and at the same time degrade the natural environment. As a result, the descending spiral of unsustainable development can only be reversed by actions that simultaneously address social, economic and conservation goals: No long-term strategy of poverty alleviation can succeed in the face of environmental forces that promote persistent erosion of the natural resources upon which we all depend. And no environmental protection programme can make headway without removing the day-to-day pressures of poverty that leave people little choice but to discount the future so deeply that they fail to protect the resource base necessary for their own survival and their children's well-being.

Source: Dowdswell, E. (1995) Editorial, Our Planet, 7(2), p. 2.

The message of sustainable development can be summarised in three themes: 1. Everything is connected to everything else.

2. Human quality of life is just as important as economic development.

3. There can be no long-term economic development without attention to human development and the quality of the environment.

It is important to remember that these ideas about sustainable development are not 'new'. These ideas are central to the wisdom and values that inform ways of living sustainably that have characterised indigenous and farming peoples in many parts of the world for thousands of years. They are also found in the programmes and campaigns for appropriate and sustainable development of ecology movements around the world, and especially in the women's ecology movement in the South. Given that these ideas are not 'new' and are already being practiced in many parts of the world, it is possible to change the direction of the descending spiral of unsustainable development into an ascending spiral of sustainability.

The question, of course, is: how can this be done? This is an important question for governments, as well as businesses, schools, community groups, families and individuals. We all have a role to play in reversing the descending spiral and helping set the world on a path to a sustainable future. One reason for this is that major issues are not just global - they also have national and local manifestations - and we need to be able to identify the level at which our actions can be most appropriate.

Source: United Nations Environment Programme.

Leaders of tomorrow, and today

It is hard to believe that we are at the end of the 2nd International Year of Youth.

Celebrated 25 years after the first Year of Youth, this year was set to bring together young people and leaders around the world to think about our common future. Monique Coleman, UN Youth Champion for the year, travelled the world to hear young people’s issues and concerns. During the tour, she visited more than 20 countries of 5 different continents and listened to the aspirations of thousands of youth. Global conversations

Economy, environment and society 45

around the International Year of Youth focused on asking the hard questions: How can young people meet the challenges facing the world today and those that will arise tomorrow? How can the next generation of leaders and citizens improve living conditions of the poor and work together to secure their common future? How can we ensure that every young person finds her/his place as a citizen in the era of globalization and new technologies? Debates on these issues have resulted in guiding documents, intended to equip young people who want resources to help them realize their common goals.

Common Goal: "Dialogue and Mutual Understanding" Youth representatives from all over the world gathered at the United Nations in New York in July 2011, where they presented the results of their efforts during the International Year of Youth. They also talked about how they will do a better job of integrating young voices into the decision-making process. The outcome will be a final document, which member countries will commit to. Some of the common concerns that came out of the gathering were: • ICT and the fight against the digital divide: Increasing access to the information technologies that are quickly becoming central to our world.

• Health and Prevention: Ensuring access to health care and social services. Promoting sports, diet and disease prevention and working against dependencies on products harmful to health (tobacco, alcohol, drugs).

• Education and the fight against unemployment: Offering academic and professional training adapted to the needs of dynamic sectors, supporting entrepreneurship.

• Supporting young migrants, and fostering respect for human rights and children.

Several speakers, including the Minister of Youth for Namibia, recommended the creation of a specialized U.N. agency modeled on UN Women and dedicated to the promotion of development priorities of young people.

Taking It Forward

© 2007 Jane Genovese. Learningfundamentals.com

As part of the Year of Youth, UN Habitat awarded grants of up to $25,000 to support pilot projects run by young people. The fund saw record participation, with 5,700 projects submitted. Sixty have been selected for funding.

The energy and spirit of the Year of Youth will live on through these concrete projects.

For more information, join the official "Change Your World" campaign on Facebook. How did you celebrate the year? The day? Let us know in the comments. http://youthink.worldbank.org/issues/development/leaders-tomorrow-and-today

FEBRUARY 2012

46

47

GET READY TO CHANGE THE WORLD World Wetlands Day Thursday

Monday

2

30

JANUARY

Tuesday

Friday

31

3

JANUARY

Wednesday

Saturday

1

4

Sunday

5 GET READY TO CHANGE THE WORLD! Muster all your creativity and innovation, because now is your chance to solve real-world issues like hunger, poverty, disease, conflict and climate change. Get ready to play EVOKE. PPC has established Environmental Stakeholder Forums at all sites to provide a platform for dialogue on environmental issues. Look at establishing a similar forum in your community and lets start talking about environmental improvements.

EVOKE is a new game brought out by the World Bank Institute. It empowers you - young people all over the world - to plunge right into the challenge and look for creative solutions.

Visit: http://youthink.worldbank.org/ blog/get-ready-change-world

FEBRUARY 2012

48

GET READY TO CHANGE THE WORLD

Monday

Thursday

Tuesday

Friday

6

9

7

10

Wednesday

Saturday

8

11

Sunday

12 GET READY TO CHANGE THE WORLD! - continued

Applying the waste hierarchy, PPC avoids generating waste and focuses on reducing, reusing, recycling and recovery. Are you applying the waste hierarchy?

Set in the year 2020, the story follows the efforts of a mysterious network of Africa’s best problem-solvers.

Each week, as players unravel the mystery of the Evoke network, they will form their own innovation networks: - brainstorming creative solutions to real-world development challenges, - learning more about what it takes to be a successful social innovator, and - finding ways to make a difference in the world.

Visit: http://youthink.worldbank.org/blog/get-ready-change-world

FEBRUARY 2012

50

51

development

Monday

Thursday

Tuesday

Friday

13

16

14

17

Wednesday

Saturday

15

18

Sunday

19

Energy efficiency is using less energy to provide the same level of energy service. PPC has signed the Energy Efficiency Accord and will reduce our energy consumption by 15% by 2015. What are you doing to be energy conscious?

50

WHAT IS DEVELOPMENT? Reaching a decent standard of living for all people by improving economic and social conditions.

The aim of development is to help people become more productive and to improve the quality of life for individuals, families, communities and countries as a whole. As people become more productive, a country is in a better position to trade with other countries, and more trade means more goods and services to continue improving living conditions. Development is a complex process, though. A country must concurrently pay attention to social, economic, political, cultural and environmental issues to ensure that development is sustainable and beneficial to all.

ent” is m n o r i v “The “en e live, and e where w ent is what wto m develop in attempting n all do e our lot withi e improv ode. The two ar that ab able. insepar mmon Future.

Our Co

FEBRUARY 2012 Monday World Day of Social Justice

52

53

sustainable development Thursday

20

23

Tuesday International Mother Language Day

Friday

21

24

Wednesday

Saturday

22

25

Sunday

26

Climate change has been reported as the greatest threat to development and prosperity on this planet, endangering people and cultures as well as the natural base of life. PPC will reduce its carbon footprint by 20% by 2020. You can start by planting a tree to cool the globe.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Reaching an acceptable standard of living for all people includes giving everyone access to the basics: • Food

• Health Services • Housing

• Education • Jobs

• Safety and Security Sustainable development means meeting today's needs and planning the country's growth without creating problems for future generations.

55

were still providing farmers with incentives to convert their wetlands for agriculture. Studies in several areas have suggested that between 35% and 60% of South Africa’s wetlands have already been lost or severely degraded. This condition is exacerbated when it is taken into account that by 2025, South Africa will be one of fourteen African countries classified as water scarce (less than 1000 cubic metres per person per year).

SANBI’s Working for Wetlands Programme Our wetlands collectively play an important role in sustaining the ecology and economy of the country. They represent natural infrastructure for gathering, managing and delivering water for human use. With their proven ability to purify water, many wetlands have been likened to the kidneys of the landscape. Wetlands also have significant worth as warehouses of biodiversity and as sites of spiritual, recreational, educational and scientific value. With climate change predicted to change rainfall patterns, our wetlands will play a more important role than ever before in reducing the impacts of floods and droughts. By providing highly productive agricultural land, grazing, water, fish, fibre and medicines, wetlands underpin the health and livelihoods of many rural communities.

Despite these vital linkages between wetlands and people, they have been severely affected by human activities. Wetlands have often been perceived as wastelands, having little productive use to society and no direct economic value to landowners. They needed to be “reclaimed” to enhance the economic benefits that people could derive from them. As recently as the 1970s, many governments around the world, including South Africa,

Responding to this crisis, the Working for Wetlands programme was formed to champion the rehabilitation, protection and sustainable use of South Africa’s wetlands. The programme is managed by a government agency, the South African National Biodiversity Institute, on behalf of the departments of Environmental Affairs (DEA), Water Affairs (DWA) and Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF). Working for Wetlands forms part of the government-wide Expanded Public Works Programme, which seeks to draw significant numbers of unemployed into the productive sector of the economy, gaining skills while they work and increasing their capacity to earn income.

As a result, Working for Wetlands uses an approach to the implementation of its projects that maximises “green” employment creation, creates and supports small businesses, and transfers relevant and marketable skills to its beneficiaries. The programme’s philosophy is underpinned by four interlinked pillars – rehabilitation; communication, education, participation and awareness; applied research and building capacity.

Since 2004, about 800 wetlands have been rehabilitated at a total cost of more than R500 million. The social benefits provided by Working for Wetlands include employment, training, enterprise development and the dignity of decent work. In support of the objectives of the Expanded Public Works Programme, Working for Wetlands has created 15 000 job opportunities since 2004 for people from the most vulnerable and marginalized groups.

MARCH 2012

56

It is vital to understand and pay attention to Wetlands in South Africa and how they can form part of our response to mitigating and adapting to climate change. This fact sheet explains why.

Fact Sheet DID YOU KNOW? • About 115 000 wetlands, covering 4,21 million hectares, or 3,5% of the country’s surface area, have been mapped to date in South Africa.

• These wetlands are part of our natural infrastructure for gathering, managing and delivering water for human use. Many wetlands are able to improve water quality, reduce flood impacts, control erosion and sustain river flows.

• Wetlands directly support human health and livelihoods, through the provision of food, fibre, water and natural products to many communities. They also have significant worth as warehouses of biodiversity and as sites for tourism, subsistence farming, grazing, education, recreation and spiritual activities.

• Despite these values, it is estimated that up to 60% of the wetlands in some catchments have been damaged or destroyed due to human impact.

• Peatlands are wetlands containing a special type of soil, called peat, which is found only in wetlands. Permanently saturated conditions in some wetlands inhibit the decomposition of dead plant and animal matter. Instead of decomposing, some of this material accumulates over time and becomes peat, which is the first step in the formation of coal.

• Although at least 30% of the world's wetlands are peatlands, most are concentrated in the northern hemisphere. Southern hemisphere peatlands are generally small, shallow and sparsely distributed.

• Peatlands are rare in South Africa. It is estimated that they cover 29 500 hectares, or 1% of the country’s total wetland area, and contain about 280 million cubic metres of peat. It is estimated that peat accumulates at a rate of about 0,5mm per year in South Africa, compared to the global average of 1-2mm per year.

• Peat enhances normal wetland functions, making peatlands particularly efficient at carbon and water storage and highly effective as filters.

Peatlands are also used for subsistence farming, grazing, harvesting of plant material and water collection.

57

Water month

What is the link between wetlands and climate change?

• Peatlands play a complex but important role in climate regulation, by influencing the global balance of three main greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.

• In their natural state, peatlands remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere via peat accumulation. Although peatlands also emit methane, the long-term negative effect of methane emissions is smaller than the positive effect of carbon dioxide removal.

• After oceanic deposits, peatlands are the world’s most important carbon stores. While covering only 3% of the world’s land area, they contain 30% of all global soil carbon, nearly as much as the entire atmosphere.

• If left undisturbed, peatlands can store this carbon for thousands of years and as a result are called ‘carbon sinks’.

• When peatlands are disturbed and peat is exposed to the air, the decomposition process resumes and stored carbon is released back into the atmosphere. Degraded peatlands can thus become significant sources of carbon dioxide.

• Draining and burning of peatlands releases about 3 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere every year. This is equivalent to more than 10% of global fossil fuel emissions.

• A 2008 assessment identified 7 100 hectares, or 25%, of South Africa’s remaining peatlands as being degraded, which resulted in about 300 000 tons of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere in 2008 alone.

What can be done for wetlands?

• Keep our remaining wetlands healthy and resilient.

• Target the main activities that are responsible for ongoing wetland loss and degradation; • Focus on actions that support both the health of wetlands and the health of people, since there is a direct link between the two.

• Rehabilitate degraded wetlands, since healthier wetlands are more resilient than degraded ones. Rehabilitation and good management of our wetlands can generate multiple benefits including poverty alleviation, combating of land degradation, maintaining biodiversity and mitigating climate change.

- Because of the large emissions from degraded peatlands, rewetting and rehabilitating them is one of the most cost-effective ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Recognising this, although peatlands make up a fraction of South Africa’s wetlands, 40% of all current and previous rehabilitation projects undertaken by the Working for Wetlands Programme have targeted peatlands or their catchments.

Develop a better understanding of the impact of climate change on wetlands and the species that depend on them, so that suitable actions can be designed to mitigate and adapt to the changes.

MARCH 2012

58

Activity 1: Wetlands are wonderful!

water month

59

ACTIVITY: UNDERSTANDING THE VOCABULARY: All the words in the crossword can be found in the text for this activity. Use the clues given (across and down) to fill in the spaces.

During these LANGUAGES activities, learners find out more about wetlands. A reading activity introduces the importance of wetlands, followed by a word search, a comprehension and a fun way of writing poetry.

Across

Wetlands are often thought of only in terms of their hydrological importance, but they also hold great cultural significance.

Many cultures have developed traditional practices and belief systems for regulating the use of wetlands and to protect these valuable ecosystems.

Wetlands are also known as vleis, bogs, swamps, marshes or sponges. They are regarded as some of the most productive ecosystems in the world because they serve as sponges that regulate river flow, they provide habitats for a variety of plant and animal species and they help to absorb silt and cleanse water of pollutants.

Wetlands are at risk all around the world due to practices of draining the land for alternative use. Construction of dams, removal of plants, waste water pumped into the area by industries, seepage of agricultural fertilisers and mining are all threats to these sensitive ecosystems.

Each year, government departments, non-governmental organisations, schools and groups of individuals undertake actions to raise awareness of the values and benefits of wetlands as well as the important role they play in sustainable freshwater use.

2 February is the anniversary of the signing of the Ramsar Convention in 1971. The Convention took place in the Iranian city of Ramsar and is an inter-governmental treaty to promote national action and international co-operation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. There are presently 153 Contracting Parties to the Convention with 1 629 wetlands sites, totalling 145.6 million hectares.

1. This word describes the laws and properties of water.

4. Matter that has soaked or oozed through a filter.

6. Making or creating.

8. Impurities, dirt and toxins in water.

9. Things that we are able to use.

1

2

3 5

4

6

7

8

Down

2. Adjusting, controlling or 9 keeping order.

3. Of different traditional beliefs and practices.

4. Something that is ongoing, that will continue and not be used up.

5. Specific areas in which plants and animals live.

7. Specific habitats and the relationship between all living and non-living parts within it.

ACTIVITY: COMPREHENSION:

After reading the article on wetlands, answer the following questions in full sentences.

1. Wetlands are important for their storage and filtering of freshwater. In what other ways are they important?

2. What are other names given to wetlands?

3. Name two threats that endanger our wetlands?

4. If wetlands clean pollutants out of the water, why would waste water from industries be a threat to the wetlands?

5. What is a non-governmental organisation?

6. Do you think raising awareness of the problems in wetlands is enough? Give a reason for your answer.

7. For how many years has the Ramsar Convention been in existence?

8. What is a treaty?

9. By looking at the statistics given here, do you think this treaty has been effective?

10. Do you know of any wetlands in your area that require better management? Describe.

ACTIVITY: THERE’S A POET IN ALL OF US!!!

A cinquain is a special kind of poem with 5 lines that's fun, easy and quick to write. Here is the basic structure of one: 1 word – subject 2 words – descriptive words about the subject 3 words – also descriptive words about the subject 4 words – a phrase 1 word – the subject again.

An example would be: Waterlilies Delicate, beautiful Round, green, floating Found in all wetlands Waterlilies

Learners can write two or three cinquains on wetlands. If your school produces a yearly magazine, pass the best ones on to the editor!

Information and some of the pictures supplied by the International Mire Conservation Group, Working for Wetlands, iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority and Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

MARCH 2012

60

61

IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Monday

Thursday

27

1

FEBRUARY

Tuesday

Friday

28

2

FEBRUARY

Wednesday

Saturday

29

3

FEBRUARY

Sunday

4 1. IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Many wetlands in South Africa are likely to be affected in some ways by changes in temperature and rainfall brought about by climate change: - Some wetlands with a limited capacity to adapt to rapid change may be especially vulnerable to climate change. Damage to these ecosystems could be irreversible.

- Coastal wetlands including salt-marshes and mangroves are likely to be negatively affected by sealevel rise.

- Certain invasive species may expand their ranges.

- Higher water temperatures and extreme events like floods and droughts are projected to decrease water quality and increase erosion in many of our wetlands.

MARCH 2012

62

63

IMPORTANCE OF WETLANDS

Monday

5

International Women's Day Thursday

8

Tuesday

Friday

6

9

Wednesday

Saturday

7

10

Sunday

11 2. IMPORTANCE OF WETLANDS Wetlands are already important for reducing the impacts of extreme weather events like floods and droughts. Changes in rainfall intensity and variability due to climate change are expected to increase flooding and drought in many areas.

Wetlands can play a more important role than ever before in mitigating such extreme events, but they can only do this if they are in a healthy state.

MARCH 2012

64

65

CARBON DIOXIDE

Monday

Thursday

Tuesday

Friday

12

15

13

16

Wednesday

Saturday

14

17

Sunday

18 3. CARBON DIOXIDE It is estimated that a further 194 million tons of carbon dioxide could still be released into the atmosphere if the remaining healthy peatlands in South Africa were to be degraded.

Experts estimate that many of our other permanently saturated wetlands also contain soil carbon, although not in sufficient concentrations to qualify as peat. This stored carbon could amount to a further 2 200 million tons of carbon dioxide that could be released into the atmosphere if these wetlands become degraded.

MARCH 2012

66

ECOSYSTEMS

67

World Water Day Thursday

Monday

19

22

World Meteorological Day Friday

Tuesday

20

23

Wednesday Human Rights Day

Saturday

21

24

Sunday

25 4. ECOSYSTEMS The recently completed Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, the most thorough examination of the health of the planet’s ecosystems, points out that the continued loss of wetlands will further reduce human health and wellbeing, especially for the poor.

Although we all benefit from wetlands in some way, wetland-derived goods and services are especially important for the poorest and most vulnerable sectors of our society.

MARCH 2012

68

FRESH WATER

69

Monday

Thursday

Tuesday

Friday

26

29

27

30

Wednesday

Saturday

28

31

Sunday

1

APRIL

5. FRESH WATER Freshwater is already a scarce resource in South Africa. The ecosystems that sustain the water resource, and which are in turn reliant on it, are inseparable from it. This means that further impacts to our already threatened wetlands will have corresponding effects on water quantity, quality and availability for human use.

70

71

AFGRI and Food Security

What is food security?

AFGRI contributes to food security in South Africa and sees enormous opportunity for its future growth in addressing the challenge presented by deteriorating food security. AFGRI produces poultry, vegetable oil and soya protein for human consumption and it converts the primary agriK]T\]ZIT XZWL]K\[ WN UIQbM [WaI _PMI\ IVL []VÆW_MZ \W IVQUIT NMML[ ¸ I ÅZ[\ [\MX QV \PM XZWL]K\QWV WN IVQUIT XZW\MQV []KP I[ JMMN XW]T\Za IVL milk. The Group further provides inputs to the production of primary agricultural products, including seed, fertiliser, capital equipment and XZWL]K\QWV ÅVIVKM

Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to enough safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy lifestyle.

(World Food Summit 1996)

AFGRI Foods prides itself on its safe, healthy, quality products, produced using the latest technology in appropriately controlled, hygienic and ethical environments. The Grain Management business provides a quality and quantity guarantee for product stored.

More information is available on AFGRI’s website at: www.afgri.co.za

What the world needs to watch Global warming is mainly the result of CO2 levels rising in the Earth’s atmosphere.

Both atmospheric CO2 and climate change are accelerating. Climate scientists say we have years, not decades, to stabilize CO2 and other greenhouse gases.

To help the world succeed, co2now.org makes it easy to see the most current CO2 level and what it means. So, use this site and keep an eye on CO2. Invite others to do the same. Then we can do more to send CO2 in the right direction.

To be food secure means that: Food is available The amount and quality of food available globally, nationally and locally can be affected temporarily or for long periods by many factors including climate, disasters, war, civil unrest, population size and growth, agricultural practices, environment, social status and trade.

Food is affordable When food prices increase and richer people will likely still be able to feed themselves, poorer people may have difficulty obtaining sufficient safe and nutritious food without assistance.

Food is utilised At the household level, sufficient and varied food needs to be prepared safely so that people can grow and develop normally, meet their energy needs and avoid disease.

What happens when people do not have food security?

For the more than 800 million people who do not get enough regular, healthy food, ill health and a shorter life expectancy are real risks. Children, and especially very young children, who suffer from food insecurity will be less LM^MTWXML \PIV KPQTLZMV WN \PM [IUM IOM _PW PI^M PIL []NÅKQMV\ NWWL <PMa will most likely be shorter and weigh less, and be less able physically and intellectually, because of poor nutrition.

What Is Hunger?

72

73

Can you find the words?

We all know what hunger is. We recognize that feeling in our stomachs. And when we feel it, we don’t usually have too much of a problem putting an end to it.

Environmental Populations Food Security Poverty Malnutrition Starvation Hidden Hunger Farming Food Waste Biodiversity Conservation Climate Change

But for more than 850 million people, the hunger never ends.

What is Starvation?

Try to imagine what it would be like if you were hungry and no food was available. None. Your body starts to feed on its own fat and body tissues.

If you don’t eat for a long time, you may lose about 50 percent of your body weight. Your skin becomes thin, stiff, pale, and cold. Your hair becomes dry and sparse and falls out easily. After about 8 to 12 weeks without food, you starve to death.

Starvation caused by famine is the most serious form of hunger. What is “The hidden hunger”? This is another kind of hunger you should know about. Millions of people survive on a very limited diet. They eat almost the same thing every day. Because of this, they don’t get the vitamins and minerals they need to be healthy.

sight. An estimated 250 000 to 500 000 are permanently blinded.

1WLQVM LMÅKQMVKa Q[ IVW\PMZ \MZZQJTM problem. Each year, 100 000 babies are born with irreversible brain damage because their mothers’ diets lacked iodine before and during pregnancy.

Overall, chronic undernourishment and a diet that lacks essential vitamins and minerals kill more than 5 million children every year.

This micronutrient malnutrition is often called the “hidden hunger”. It affects over 2 billion people and it has serious consequences.

For example, between 100 and 140 million children suffer from vitamin ) LMÅKQMVKa )[ I ZM[]T\ UWZM \PIV 2 million children each year suffer severe problems with their eye-

Remember, these people don’t live on another planet. These are our neighbours. We need to look after one another.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

6KRS DW IDUPHUV· PDUNHWV DQG JHW WR NQRZ IDUPHUV LQ \RXU UHJLRQ (QFRXUDJH ORFDO VWRUHV DQG UHVWDXUDQWV WR EX\ IURP ORFDO JURZHUV -RLQ RU VWDUW D FRPPXQLW\ JDUGHQ 9ROXQWHHU DW D ORFDO VRXS NLWFKHQ RU IRRG SDQWU\ 'RQDWH WR SURJUDPV WKDW IHHG WKH KXQJU\ DQG RU KHOS WKHP EHFRPH PRUH VHOI UHOLDQW :RUN ZLWK ORFDO VFKRROV WR LPSURYH PHDO SURJUDPV WR RIIHU IUHVK DQG QXWULWLRXV IRRGV IRU DOO VWXGHQWV 6WDUW D IDUP WR VFKRRO RU IDUP WR FROOHJH SURJUDP

Harvest Maze

Can you navigate the tractor through the maze to go and harvest the wheat crop?

APRIL 2012 Monday

2

Tuesday

3

Wednesday

4

74

75

WHAT IS HUNGER? Thursday

5

Good Friday Friday

6

World Health Day Saturday

7

Sunday

8

APRIL 2012

76

77

FOOD SECURITY

Monday Family Day

Thursday

Tuesday

Friday

9

10

Wednesday

11

12

13

Saturday

14

Sunday

15

APRIL 2012

78

79

HIDDEN HUNGER

Monday

Thursday

Tuesday

Friday

16

17

Wednesday

18

19

20

Saturday

21

Earth Day Sunday

22

APRIL 2012 Monday

23

Tuesday

24

Wednesday World Malaria Day

25

80

81

STARVATION Thursday

26

Freedom Day Friday

27

Saturday

28

Sunday

29

june 2012

98

99

biodiversity and ecosystems

99

BIODIVERSITY MONTH

100

Your Ecological Footprint Have you ever noticed your footprints in the sand?

When you step, you leave a mark, which can last a long time after you have left.

101

JUNE 2012

The Earth is able to replenish its resources at about 1.8 hectares per person per year.

But globally, our current annual ecological footprint is 2.2 hectares. We are therefore “spending” more resources than the Earth can sustain.

How big is your ecological footprint?

Scientists use complex formulae to work out exactly how big the ecological footprint of a population group is. But the ideas behind the calculations are simple and we can get a rough idea of our footprint by being honest about our lifestyles. One way to reduce your ecological footprint is to buy locally produced foods and goods, which don’t have to be transported long distances.

In the same way, humans place pressure on the environment by the way they live their lives. Scientists came up with the idea of the “ecological footprint” to show how hard we tread on the Earth’s resources.

How large is your ecological footprint?

The size of your ecological footprint depends on how much biologically productive land and water you require to live your life. You can reduce your ecological footprint by not wasting electricity and water, cycling or walking to places close by rather than driving, and eating locally produced rather than imported food.

The average South African’s ecological footprint is 2.8 hectares of food, fibre, timber, land and energy, according to the World Wildlife Fund’s 2001 Living Planet report. But the Earth can only support an average of 1.8 hectares per person. Can we afford to take more than our fair share of resources from the Earth?

Every person can make a difference by changing her or his pattern of behaviour.

The quantity of resources you require to continue living the way you do is called your “ecological footprint”. In 2001, the World Wildlife Fund’s Living Planet report estimated that populations on Earth had an ecological footprint about 20% bigger than what the Earth could sustain. This means humans are taking more than what the Earth can replenish in a given year. We are running up an ecological debt and soon the Earth’s “natural capital” will run out. We cannot sustain this trend.

Your ecological footprint is how much of the Earth’s biologically productive land you need to support your lifestyle.

If you are careful about the amount of electricity and fuel you use, the types of food you eat, the amount of water you use and the amount of waste you produce, you could have quite a small footprint – which is good for the environment. But if we all live by consuming too many of the Earth’s resources, the Earth won’t be able to recover in time to support the lifestyles of future generations.

The World Wildlife Fund has calculated that South Africans have an average ecological footprint of 2.8 hectares.

That is how much food, fibre, timber, land and energy we use to live our lives each year. But nature is only able to renew the supply of 1.8 hectares per person, which means that we are running on overdraft.

DID YOU KNOW? If the whole world lived like South Africans, we would need 1 and a half Earths to sustain us. But if we all lived liked Americans, we would need about 5 planets to sustain our way of life.

BELOW ARE SOME QUESTIONS YOU CAN ASK YOURSELF: How often do you eat meat?

• Often. Almost every day.

• Occasionally. Once or twice a week.

• Seldom or never When you shop, do you make an effort to purchase locally produced food?

• No, not really.

• Sometimes. I look out for South African brands (like Weetbix and locally produced boerewors) that I like.

• Always. Where possible, I buy South African brands, especially local fruit and vegetables.

How do you get to school or work?

• By car • By bus, minibus taxi or in a car pool • By bicycle or on foot How many of the following items do you recycle? – paper, glass, aluminum or tin cans • None • 1 • 2-3 How much waste does your family throw away per week?

• More than 30kg or 2 full bin bags • Two full bin bags (or a wheelie bin) – 30kg • One full bin bag – 15kg

Visit http://www.myfootprint.org to accurately calculate your footprint.

If you find yourself answering most questions with the first answer, your ecological footprint is probably quite big. Try to think about ways you could reduce it. Every small contribution will help. If you selected the second answer most often, your ecological footprint is slightly smaller, and it is smallest if you picked the third answer most often.

We can all do more to reduce our ecological footprints.

Reducing your footprint – one small step at a time.

Looking after the environment is often about personal choices. Nobody can force you to change your lifestyle.

Below are some practical ways of reducing your ecological footprint. Pick a few and try them out.

Reduce waste Don’t throw everything in the bin. Some items can be re-used or recycled. Paper, cardboard, tins, cans and glass are all recycled in South Africa. Re-use shopping bags and envelopes.

Buy less. If you buy less, you will throw away less.

BIODIVERSITY MONTH

102

Try to buy products with less packaging. Economy packs often give you more value for money and less packaging per kilogram than smaller packs. Buying your fruit and vegetables fresh rather than pre-packaged can also cut down on packaging waste.

Remember the four R’s - reduce, reuse, repair and recycle!

Go Local Buy items that are locally produced. Food grown in your country, your province or near your home, often tastes better than food shipped thousands of kilometres. The huge food transport industry adds to carbon dioxide emissions, which pollute the air.

103

JUNE 2012

Water Our water “footprint” has skyrocketed over the last 150 years, from each person using on average 18 litres per day in the mid-19th century to about 160 litres per day at the end of the 20th century.

By employing a few, easy water-saving techniques, you can reduce your water footprint.

Start a vegetable garden. You can’t get fresher vegetables than those grown in your garden. They taste great as well! Growing your own can save you money and reduce your ecological footprint.

Take a shower rather than a bath. A shower uses less than half the water needed for a bath, which saves water as well as the electricity needed to heat it. Try and take shorter showers.

Build a compost heap. By throwing your leftover food on the compost heap, you will reduce the amount of waste that needs to be transported to the dump and the amount of energy needed to generate new vegetables.

Save water by turning off the tap while brushing your teeth, shaving or washing your hands.

Air

Throw junk in the bin, not in the toilet. Dispose of tissues, dead insects and other waste in the bin where possible.

Reduce air pollution. You can reduce your ecological footprint by choosing a more efficient mode of transport.

Water your garden during the cool parts of the day. You can lose substantial amounts of water to evaporation if you water on hot and/or windy days.

Use a car with a smaller engine. Cars with smaller engines release less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Look for hidden water leaks. Check your water meter when no water is being used. If it does not read exactly the same after two hours, you have a leak. A small drip can mean hundreds of litres of water wasted in a year.

Start a lift club. This will save money and reduce carbon emissions. Using public transport instead of your car also means less pollution in the air.

Walk or cycle if possible. It’s healthier and the only carbon dioxide you emit is through your breathing (very little).

Fire Did you know that if your home is electrified it is powered by fire? If you follow the wire on the other end of your wall socket out of your house and along the power lines to its source, it will probably end up at a coal-fired power station. 92% of South Africa’s electricity is produced from coal.

So when you switch on a light or any appliance, you are in effect starting a fire, which emits carbon into the atmosphere – a major contributor to global warming.

How can I reduce my energy footprint?

Lighting. Use energy-saving lamps instead of ordinary bulbs and turn off your lights when they’re not needed. Energy-saving lamps use about a quarter of the electricity of ordinary lamps.

Heating. Your house needn’t be a sauna in winter. Put on an extra jersey rather than turning the heat up. Properly insulating your house can also drastically reduce heating and cooling costs.

Appliances. Cook with small appliances where possible. Toasters, electric grills, electric kettles and pressure cookers use less electricity than bigger appliances like electric stoves. Also, look out for energy efficiency ratings on appliances which will save energy and you money in the long run. Only boil the amount of water you need or leave the oven on only when really necessary.

MATCHING:

Using the word list below, write the letter (A-N) in the blank next to its clue (1-14).

A. Sun B. Fresh Water C. Paper D. Earth Day E. Reuse F. Wind Power G. Trees H. Recycle I. Bicycle J. Humans K. Coal L. Oil M. Reduce N. Air

Source: www.maropeng.co.za/ecological footprint

1. Another name for using fewer resources.

One of the “three Rs".

2. To use something more than once. One of the “three Rs".

3. When one thing is made from another. One of the "three Rs".

4. The day designated for celebrating the environment, April 22.

5. The Earth’s closest star gives off more clean energy than people currently use.

6. A clean form of energy from nature that is captured in giant fans.

7. This fossil fuel looks like a dirty rock, is widely used, and gives off the most pollution.

8. This fossil fuel is a liquid used for cars. It comes from dinosaurs and other organisms that lived millions of years ago.

9. The cleanest form of transportation.

10. People and animals need this to live. We swim in it, but it is not found in the ocean.

11. These take in the carbon dioxide you breathe out and put oxygen back into the air.

12. It is made from trees and can be recycled.

13. The animal that has the biggest impact on the Earth's resources.

14. We breathe it and we need to keep it clean!

BIODIVERSITY MONTH

104

105

Monday

JUNE 2012 Thursday

4

7

Tuesday World Environment Day

World Oceans Day Friday

5

8

Wednesday

Saturday

6

9

Sunday

10 BIODIVERSITY LOSS Not since the dinosaurs expired has the Earth lost so many plants, animals, and ecosystems.

Economically, our destruction of nature could be even more self-defeating than climate change. However, preserving nature could yield huge financial rewards.

BIODIVERSITY MONTH

106

107

JUNE 2012

Monday

Thursday

Tuesday

Friday

11

14

12

15

Wednesday

Youth Day Saturday

13

16

World Desertification Day Sunday

17

SPECIES LOSS We are living through the greatest mass extinction of life in about 65 million years. We lose three species an hour to urbanization, deforestation, overfishing, climate change, and invasive species, reckons the United Nations.

It is shocking to think of a world without tigers or orangutans, but species loss is just the tip of the iceberg. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Biodiversityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; includes not just species but the genes that make species and the ecosystems that support them. Therefore biodiversity loss ranges from the eradication of ancient seed varieties to the destruction of coral reefs.

BIODIVERSITY MONTH

108

109

JUNE 2012

Monday

Thursday

Tuesday

Friday

18

21

19

22

Wednesday World Refugee Day

Saturday

20

23

Sunday

24 A COSTLY FREE LUNCH? What’s gone unnoticed until recently is how expensive biodiversity loss can be, between 2 and 4.5 trillion dollars in 2008, according to a landmark UN report The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB).

That’s more than the 1.7 trillion dollars in economic costs that the Stern Review calculates will result from the same year’s planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. In other words: biodiversity loss will hit the global economy harder than climate change.

BIODIVERSITY MONTH

110

111

JUNE 2012

Monday

Thursday

Tuesday International Day Against Drug Abuse

Friday

25

28

26

29

Wednesday

Saturday

27

30

Sunday

1

JULY WHY A COSTLY FREE LUNCH? (continued) That’s because biodiversity provides us with vital ‘ecosystem services’ like fertile soil and freshwater.

Forests, for example, provide flood prevention and drought control services, as well as nutrients and freshwater for farming, fuel wood for cooking, fodder for cattle, construction materials and foods.

Over a billion of the world's poorest people depend on these services, which are generally available free.

102

Major extreme weather and climate events in 2011 caused a large number of casualties and billions of Rands in damage across the world.

103

Record-breaking temperatures and precipitation, as well as intense storms, tropical cyclones, floods, droughts and wildfires, resulted in many deaths and widespread destruction. According to the IPCC, climate change contributes to changing patterns in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events (IPCC 2011a). A connection between climate change and geophysical events, such as earthquakes, has not been established.

104

Population growth and sustainable carrying capacity

105

For Individuals, 7 Billion Actions is about shared commitment We are all connected. We all must recognize, and embrace, our individual and collective capacity to change and improve the world. It takes individual action to produce institutional change. Each of us can commit, in whatever way we can, to address the challenges and pursue the opportunities that a world of 7 billion presents.

For Government, 7 Billion Actions is about shared leadership

The challenges and opportunities of 7 Billion will be addressed by countries with skilled and healthy workers, strong commitment to research and technology and efficient ways to move people, goods and information. Government at all levels (national, regional and local), share responsibility to support organizations and individuals working to improve society. Governments can work together to guide and shape our collective understanding of what is important, to break down barriers that impede critical progress, and to enable innovation that benefits the world. Sound government leadership can propel human progress.

7 Billion Actions Campaign:

7 Billion Actions 7 Billion Actions is a platform for individuals, businesses, governments, NGOs, media and academia to contribute to a better world for all people. It is an opportunity to showcase stories, connections and actions. 7 Billion Actions will shine a bright light on the good works being done by many and encourage more to join. It also will serve as a springboard to generate collective actions that can make a huge difference for present and future generations.

Background The status quo is not sustainable. We must evolve away from ever-widening income and consumption disparities towards meeting basic needs, reducing inequities, and shifting to cleaner energy and technology.

Many people are living longer and healthier lives, and couples are choosing to have smaller families. But 215 million women in developing countries who would like to plan and space their children lack access to effective contraception. Too many young people lack education, training and employment. Too many women are denied equal opportunity.

To create a sustainable and peaceful world, we must invest wisely. By investing in health and education and moving to a green economy, we can improve the well-being of people and our planet. As lives improve, population growth tends to stabilize.

Platform for Partnership You are one of 7 Billion. Every individual and organization has a unique role and shared responsibility to address issues that affect us all.

As the United Nations agency responsible for marking this milestone, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is leading an innovative global campaign—7 Billion Actions—to build awareness around the opportunities and challenges of a world of seven billion people. UNFPA has enlisted a wide group of corporations, organizations, and individuals to deliver this unique initiative, using online, mobile and offline actions to tell the story of the people behind the number.

The initiative – Objectives 7 Billion Actions aims to achieve two key objectives: • Building global awareness around the opportunities and challenges associated with a world of seven billion people.

• Inspiring governments, NGOs, private sector, media, academia and individuals to take actions that will have a socially positive impact.

Themes The campaign will build awareness around seven key issues, then count the activities the campaign stimulates to address them.

The issues are: • Poverty and inequality; • Women and girls empowerment; • Reproductive health and rights; • Young people; • Ageing population; • Environment; • Urbanization. http://7billionactions.org for more information

106

july 2013

107

world population day

Monday

Thursday

Tuesday

Friday

1

4

2

5

Wednesday

Saturday

3

6

Sunday

7

The ultimate test of our conscience is our willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will never be heard.

Gayloard Nelson

A GLOBAL INITIATIVE FOR ALL HUMANITY By the close of 2011, the global population has already reached 7 billion. A world of 7 billion has implications on sustainability, urbanization, access to health services and youth empowerment â&#x20AC;&#x201C; however, it also offers a rare call-to-action opportunity to renew global commitment for a healthy and sustainable world.

108

july 2013

A WORLD OF 7 BILLION PEOPLE

Monday

109

World Population Day Thursday

8

11

Tuesday

Friday

9

12

Wednesday

Saturday

10

13

Sunday

14

Treat others as thou would be treated What thou likest not for thyself, dispense not to others.

Sufism - Abdullah Ansari

7 BILLION IS A CHALLENGE Already, too many people suffer from poverty, discrimination, and violence.

Conflicts and weather-related disasters are forcing people to flee their homes. Climate change is exacerbating food and water shortages. As more and more people join those of us already here, solving existing challenges will become increasingly more urgent â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and new challenges will arise that demand the best in each of us.

110

july 2013

111

OUR COMMON FUTURE

Nelson Mandela Day Thursday

Monday

15

18

Tuesday

Friday

16

19

Wednesday

Saturday

17

20

Sunday

21

Speak to the Earth, and it shall teach thee Job 12:8

7 BILLION IS AN OPPORTUNITY Never before has the world nurtured so many talented, creative, educated people. Never before has humanity been so interconnected. We are now part of a global community where actions taken in one country or region can have an immediate impact on other parts of the world. We have yet to realize the vast human potential among women and girls â&#x20AC;&#x201C; who comprise half the world's population â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and the energy and talents of some two billion young people.

112

july 2013

WE NEED TO COUNT ON EACH OTHER

113

Monday

Thursday

Tuesday

Friday

22

25

23

26

Wednesday

Saturday

24

27

Sunday

28

When all is said and done, our youth is our future and each generation is the temporary custodian of God's glorious creation.

Our goal is to make them better custodians than we have been.

Willem Diepeveen

7 BILLION IS A CALL TO ACTION This milestone provides an occasion to recognize and celebrate our common humanity and diversity. It is also a time to demonstrate our shared responsibility to care for each other and our planet. Ensuring the well-being of current and future generations will require unprecedented global cooperation. Individuals can make a difference by uniting through social networks, popular culture and the shared values reflected in international agreements.

In a world of 7 Billion people, incremental actions will create exponential results.

QPC Vision

WHAT PEACE BUDDIES CAN DO TO STOP BULLYING AT SCHOOLS

Our vision is of a society in which people are able to have confidence in their own and others ability to address issues without resorting to violence.

Encourage teachers and learners to become active bystanders and not stand back when they witness incidents of bullying. l Form a circle with other peace buddies around any fight you see taking place on the school grounds and stop the fight. l Speak out about bullying. l Design posters and slogans about what to do if you are being bullied and display these at schools. l Be prepared to listen to learners who feel bullied. l Support learners who are victims of bullying. l

We do not define peace as the absence of conflict but as a dynamic process that cultivates awareness of the responsibilities that come with freedom and the need to create and maintain social cohesion.

QPC Mission Our mission is to work actively toward a society in which the energy generated by conflict is harnessed to engage with social problems in a creative and constructive way.

A caring curriculum takes cares of the academic needs of learners while at the same time providing support for the individual’s emotional needs.

A caring curriculum also teaches learners to respect themselves, others and the environment.

It’s our planet, it’s our lives.

Let’s care for each other and for our planet.

PEACE BUDDY

WHAT PEACE BUDDIES CAN DO TO REDUCE THE RATE OF CLIMATE CHANGE Plant and look after peace gardens at your school. l Advocate that people use public transport instead of their own cars. l Inform people about the causes of climate change. l Don’t burn rubbish. l Support “Meat-free” Mondays. l

Learning about how to say “ No!” to bullies.

A bully-free school is child-friendly and free from violence, abuse and exploitation.

What can you do if you are being bullied?

• Tell a trusted grown-up or peer if you feel you are a victim of bullying.

• If a trusted grown-up or friend cannot be found write a letter, a text message or an email to a stranger like a priest, an imam or a neighbour.

• Ask for help to learn how to tell the bully to stop or leave you alone in a strong, loud and confident voice.

an action that is • planned • calculated • intended to hurt • and is repeated over and over again.

for HELP:

Call Childline Hotline 0800 0555 55 Childline is available free on MXit for online counselling, and through the website: www.childlinesa.org.za

Rape Crisis is available on: facebook™ : Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust • Follow them on; Twitter™: @rapecrisis - Visit their webpage: www.rapecrisis.org.za

A Peace Buddy speaks out against bullying at the Non-Violent Schools Indaba 2011

Bullying is an abuse of power;

Or, for telephone counselling, phone: Observatory - +27 (0)21 447 1467 Counselling line - +27 (0)21 447 9762 Athlone - +27 (0)21 684 1180 Counselling line - +27 (0)21 633 9229 Khayelitsha - +27 (0)21 361 9228 Counselling line - +27 (0)21 361 9085

Visit our website for the Confronting Bullying in Schools booklet: my bully my bra

Glendale High Schools Anti–Bullying Posters Email: qpc@qpc.org.za http://www.qpc.org.za

Contact The Manager details: Quaker Peace Centre

3 Rye Road, Mowbray, Cape Town 7700

South Africa Tel: +27 21 685 7800 Fax: +27 21 686 8167 Email: qpc@qpc.org.za http://www.qpc.org.za

august 2012

124

125

gender equality and conflict

women share responsibilities for decision-making, family budgets benefit all family members.

The redress of gender inequalities is a precondition for sustainable growth in Africa.

It requires the commitment of all. http://www.afdb.org/en/topics-and-sectors/sectors/gender/

Education: The Big Picture Why can’t every child go to school?

Every girl and boy has the right to a good education, but millions of children and young people miss out. Education isn’t just about finding a job. When one is educated one is more likely to be aware of his/her rights, and better able to make sure that those rights are respected. Education gives people choices - and the confidence to take advantage of those choices.

Education is important not just for the individual, but also for members of the individual’s community. For example, a student can share what she has learned about staying healthy with her family. She can teach her friends about safety issues. She’ll be in a better position to be an active, participating member of her community and may even convince someone of the value of an education for every child. She’ll also be exercising her right to education, which is a right defined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Some of the reasons why so many children might not be able to attend school include:

Gender equality and conflict Gender equality is fundamental for achieving economic growth and poverty reduction in Africa. It is essential for reaching the Millennium Development Goals as well. Most African countries are signatories to international and regional commitments to gender equality promoting more equally allocated work, education, resources, and control.

Yet, for most women, access to and control over income, productive assets and decisionmaking power remains elusive, even as they contribute the lion’s share of productive and reproductive labor. Better primary education enrolments and health care services have been undercut in many cases by the HIV/AIDS pandemic; conflicts and fragilities on the continent have exposed women increasingly to gender-based violence, and climate change is weakening the ability of rural populations to subsist. Many women and children are working harder to grow food and collect water and firewood.

Redressing gender inequality must empower women and men. Economic empowerment requires that more women receive secondary and tertiary educations, that they be trained in science and technology to enhance their chances of finding jobs. Access to credit is essential: the availability of micro-credit has encouraged small-scale income-generation, but graduating to small and medium-sized entrepreneurship remains fraught with problems. Many poor rural men are also subjected to social pressure to drop out of school to work before having acquired sufficient skills; some, like women, also face difficulties in accessing credit.

Gender inequalities, which are deeply entrenched in cultural attitudes, values and practices, become institutionalized in laws, regulations and policies. Gender inequalities are neither natural nor static; practices and laws evolve. As women’s roles change, therefore, men and boys must define new and better-adjusted roles, and need support to do so.

Achieving gender equality benefits girls and boys, women and men. When boys and girls are encouraged to stay in school and achieve, family incomes have a better chance of increasing, fertility rates go down, and healthier behaviors take hold. When men and

• Poverty: Families may have difficulty affording school fees or the cost of uniforms, or may need and children to work to contribute to the family income.

• Safety: Families may keep their children at home if they feel the journey to school is too long or that it's dangerous to walk to school alone. They may also be worried about bullying, sexual harassment or violence, especially for girls.

• Local traditions: In some countries, families place more emphasis on the education of boys, and may not believe it is important to send their daughters to school. Girls may also be forced to marry young, drop out of school, and dedicate themselves to housework.

• Emergencies: Conflicts, economic crises and natural disasters prevent millions of children around the world from getting an education.

Other forms of education Most often we think of schools when we think about education, but learning happens in other ways too: • Non-formal education involves learning via organized activities outside of school. For example, teens learn organizational and leadership skills by volunteering in their community or being part of a youth organization.

• Informal education happens while talking to friends or parents.

For example, one can learn important life skills such as how to prevent HIV by discussing it with friends. http://www.voicesofyouth.org/sections/education/pages/education-the-big-picture

august 2012

126

127

gender equality and conflict

Monday

Thursday

30

2

JULY

Tuesday

Friday

31

3

JULY

Wednesday

Saturday

1

4

Sunday

5 WHAT IS VIOLENCE? Violence takes place when someone uses their strength or their position of power to hurt someone else on purpose, not by accident.

Violence includes: â&#x20AC;˘ Threats of violence and acts which could possibly cause harm, as well as those that actually do. The harm involved can be to a person's mind and their general health and well-being, as well as to their body. â&#x20AC;˘ Deliberate harm people do to themselves, including killing themselves.

Violence against children exists in every country of the world, whatever the culture, ethnic group or background they are from. It doesn't matter whether their families are well-educated or not, rich or poor. Violence can take place anywhere.

august 2012

128

129

gender equality and conflict National Women's Day SA Thursday

Monday

6

9

Tuesday

Friday

7

10

Wednesday

Saturday

8

11

International Youth Day Sunday

12

VIOLENCE IS OFTEN HIDDEN Much violence against children is hidden. Often the abuse of children happen behind closed doors and is perpetrated by those the child is supposed to be able to trust - parents, family members and acquaintances. Children often suffer in silence, afraid to speak out for fear of retribution or shame.

All children are at risk of violence by the very fact that they are children. However, some children - because of their gender, race, ethnic origin, disability, or school status - are more vulnerable.

Drama about Bullying at the Non-Violent Schools Camp June 2011

august 2012

130

131

gender equality and conflict

Monday

Thursday

Tuesday

Friday

13

16

14

17

Wednesday

Saturday

15

18

World Humanitarian Day Sunday

19

HOW DOES VIOLENCE AFFECT CHILDREN? Violence can have many effects on children, which can still be felt many years later. Effects may include: • Physical health problems, such as changes in the development of the brain, injuries, bruises and fractures.

• Difficulties in dealing with other people, learning problems.

• Finding it hard to express feelings in a way that other people can understand.

• Emotional health problems including anxiety, depression, aggression or even wanting to kill him or herself.

• Being more likely to do dangerous things like using drugs or having sex at a very young age.

Inflicting violence on a child, in whatever form, teaches that child that violence is acceptable and so perpetuates the cycle of violence. By preventing violence today, we help build a future where violence will no longer be tolerated.

august 2012

132

133

gender equality and conflict

Monday

Thursday

Tuesday

Friday

20

23

21

24

Wednesday

Saturday

22

25

Sunday

26 DID YOU KNOW? 86 per cent of children 2–14 years old experience physical punishment and/ or psychological aggression. Two out of three children are subject to physical punishment. (Progress for Children 2009) In 35 countries with available data, the percentage of mothers or caregivers who think physical punishment is necessary to raise a child is consistently lower than the percentage of children 2–14 years old who are actually subjected to such discipline. (Progress for Children 2009) Data from 68 countries indicate that more than 50 per cent of girls and women 15–49 years old think that a husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife under certain circumstances.

(Progress for Children 2009)

august 2012

134

135

gender equality and conflict

Monday

Thursday

Tuesday

Friday

27

30

28

31

Saturday

Wednesday

1

29

SEPTEMBER

Sunday

2

SEPTEMBER DID YOU KNOW? Children 15â&#x20AC;&#x201C;17 years old is the worst forms of child labour, including hazardous work, or in household chores for 43 or more hours per week. (Progress for Children 2009) The UN estimates the number of children associated with armed groups or armed forces at more than 250,000.

(Progress for Children 2009) 83 per cent of children 2â&#x20AC;&#x201C;14 years old experienced violent forms of discipline, and 60 per cent experienced physical punishment. (Progress for Children 2009) http://www.voicesofyouth.org/sections/violence-war-andconflict/pages/page--2 accessed 15/10/2011

136

137

SEPTEMBER 2012

138

139

deforestation

due to climate change. Therefore, stabilizing the climate might also help stabilize these forests."

The problems of climate change and deforestation also reinforce each other through human economic and agricultural practices. Some experts project that global warming will drive more people into poverty, and encourage the unsustainable environmental and agricultural practices brought about by economic need.

Projects under way "We have been seeing similar statistics about deforestation for twenty or thirty years now," says Steve Howard, CEO of The Climate Group, an international NGO that advises governments and businesses about climate-friendly policies. "Now is the time to make a push to do something about it."

Several like-minded NGOs and organizations agree. The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Conservation International, for example, are two NGOs deeply involved in protecting thousands of hectares of rainforest and old-growth forest, as well as promoting consumer awareness, forest restoration projects, and sustainable forest management in many parts of the world.

Sawing off the Branch We Are Sitting On by Valdis Wish Logging, farming and armed conflict still menace Africa's jungles, which include the Congo Basin, the world's second largest after the Amazon, but analysts are increasingly hopeful its remaining wilds can be rescued (Source: Reuters) The rate of deforestation has jumped dramatically fuelling climate change and the destruction of an invaluable resource.

A new approach to conservation could help.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that during 1990-2000, net forest loss was a staggering 8.9 million hectares per year. Since 2000, this annual rate has decreased only slightly - to 7.3 million hectares per year, roughly the size of entire nations of Panama or Sierra Leone. According to the FAO, much of this deforestation occurred in developing countries, such as Brazil, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Sudan.

There are many reasons for this dramatic increase. Certainly, industrialization, urban sprawl and population growth has played an important role in widespread deforestation.

So, too, have political and economic conditions. In many cases, cutting down forests promises short-term profit for farmers and landowners in developing countries who use the land for cattle grazing or to grow cash crops, such as soybeans.

Connected issues In recent decades, researchers have established direct links between deforestation and climate change. Forests are vital for absorbing and storing the world's carbon dioxide (CO2). When forests are cut and burnt en masse, the damage is two-fold: the world's capacity to absorb CO2 is reduced, while large amounts of stored carbon are released into the atmosphere.

"About a fifth of current greenhouse gas emissions are from deforestation-this is often overlooked in the public debate," says Wolfgang Cramer of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany.

"Hence stopping deforestation is direct climate protection," adds Cramer. "Besides, there are some indications that Amazon rainforests might be threatened by substantial losses of rainfall

At the international policymaking level, there are some efforts to incorporate forestry issues in wider initiatives to slow climate change. International policies, such as the Kyoto Protocol and the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme, allow nations and companies to meet commitments to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by supporting projects that aim to cut emissions and slow global warming.

The international community is currently discussing practical ways of incorporating forestry and land-use activitiesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;such as afforestation (the planting of trees on non-forest land), reforestation (planting of trees after the destruction of a forest), and avoided deforestation - into its policies, with the wider aim of slowing global warming.

Source:http://knowledge.allianz.com/search.cfm?75/deforestation-wolfgang-cramer-climate accessed 15-10-11

SEPTEMBER 2012

140

141

deforestation

QUIZZ 1. Which of these is an example of climate change?

• A windy day • A rainy day • A hot summer day* • A sunny day 2. Where do greenhouse gases trap energy?

• In the atmosphere* • In the mountains • In outer space • In the soil 3. Which one of these is a greenhouse gas?

• Oxygen • Carbon dioxide* • Wind • Sulphur dioxide 4. For how long has the Earth’s climate been changing?

• 100 years • 1 million years • 1 billion years • 5 billion years* 5. What is one reason why scientists think that the sea is getting higher?

WORD SEARCH ATMOSPHERE

BIODIVERSITY

CATASTROPHE CLIMATECHANGE DEFORESTATION DESERTIFICATION EXTINCTION

FLORAANDFAUNA

GLOBALWARMING PHOTOSYNTHESIS PLANTATION

RAINFOREST

REFORESTATION

SUFFOCATE TROPICALFOREST URBANIZATION WATERVAPOUR

N W R E F O R E S E O A N U A F D N G S I B C A T A S N Y P T W A T E R I E G N A H C E T M E Q A H C S U F R G T O N O I T A A Q J M C N W F B W E X T I N C T I L U R B A N I Z A A T S E R O F N I B P H O T O S Y N O A T M O S P H E L B I O D I V E R G Q N O I T A T S

T A T I A A R O T R O P V A P O A M I L F O C A T N A L Y T L W O N F Q T I O N A R R M T H E S R E S S S I T Y E R O F

O L H U C T P Z F N M I V E E

N F E R I E U H D P T S G S D

• Ships make the water higher • Melting glaciers add more water to the sea* http://www.wordsearchfun.com/143220_Deforestation_wordsearch.html • The ozone hole is warming the ocean • All of the above.

RAINFOREST - Vocabulary Words Week 1 1. Decomposers Organisms which break

down dead organic matter 2. Deforestation The process of clearing an area of trees and other vegetation 3. Epiphytes Sometimes called air plants; do not need soil for

their roots; get moisture and food from the air 4. Extinct No longer existing in the living state 5. Environment The surrounding conditions that influence nature 6. Pollute To contaminate with man-made waste 7. Vegetation Plant-like cover of an area 8. Ecology A branch of science concerned with the relationship

of organisms and their environment 9. Climate A region with specified weather conditions 10. Habitat An area that provides enough food, water, shelter,

and space for an organism to survive and reproduce 11. Food web A linked series of food chains.

Answers to the Quizz: Those with the pink asterisk(*) are correct.

Answers to Missing Words: 1. warmer, 2. human, 3. fossil fuels, 4. greenhouse gases. 5. crbon dioxide, 6. methane, 7. atmosphere, 8. levels, 9. floods, hurricanes and Drought, 10. Kyoto Protocol.

MISSING WORDS

Deforestation Worldwide

Climate change Complete the sentences below with the appropriate words.

1. The earth's climate is changing and the world is becoming w_____________

RAINFOREST - Vocabulary Words

2. Climate change is caused by h____________ activities.

Week 2

3. Petrol, oil, and coal are called f ______________ ____________.

4. The burning of fossil fuels releases harmful g__________________ 5. One of the main greenhouse gases is __________________

____________.

_____________ (CO2).

6. Another harmful gas is called m_________________.

7. Greenhouse gases trap heat from the sun in the earth's a______________________.

8. As a result of the ice melting in the North and South Poles, the sea l_________ are rising.

9. Climate change can cause an increase in f________, h_____________ and d_________.

10. An international agreement on climate change is called the K________ P___________.

1. Exploitation To use for some purpose or product for one’s own advantage or profit 2. Emergent The uppermost layer of a rainforest, consists of the tops of the tallest trees 3. Forest floor The bottom layer of the rain forest made up of tree roots, soil, ferns, shrubs,

and decaying matter 4. Tropical Large areas of land covered with trees and undergrowth located in the hot

rainforest and humid zone between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn 5. Understory Second layer of the rainforest of trees and shrubs 6. Liana A climbing plant with a woody stem in a tropical rainforest 7. Botanist A person who studies plant life 8. Preservation To restrict an area for the protection of natural resources 9. Food chain A series of living things that depend on each other for energy 10. Canopy The layer of the rainforest made up of the tops of trees 11. Parasite A person or organism living in or on another organism.

SEPTEMBER 2012

142

143

conservaTION HEROINE

Monday

Thursday

Tuesday

Friday

3

6

4

7

International Literacy Day Saturday

Wednesday

5

8

Sunday

9 UNEP PAYS TRIBUTE TO PROFESSOR WANGARI MAATHAI Dar es Salaam â&#x20AC;&#x201D; The death of the renowned Kenyan environmentalist and politician, Prof Wangari Maathai, on Sunday was received with shock with many describing her as a dedicated woman who fought for the betterment of all people.Prof Wangari Muta Maathai, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and conservation heroine, died at the Nairobi Hospital on Sunday after a long battle with cancer.

Nairobi, 26 September 2011 - Professor Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, founder of Kenya's Green Belt Movement and patron of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Billion Tree Campaign, has died in Nairobi. She was 71 years old.

SEPTEMBER 2012

144

145

deforestation International Literacy Day

Monday

10

Tuesday

Thursday

13

Friday

11

14

International Day of Democracy Saturday

Wednesday

12

15

World Ozone Day Sunday

16

CLIMATE CHANGE Africa will be the continent hit hardest by climate change. The biggest threat is drought.

Between 1893 and 1902, the "Emutai" (meaning "to wipe out") brought drought, famine, and pandemics. Now, history could repeat itself.

According to climate science, temperature rises could be double those anywhere else in the world. Desertification could accelerate and water shortages happen regularly. As Africa contributes very few greenhouse gas emissions but will suffer the most, the continent wants billions of dollars of aid from the industrialized world to compensate. (Source: Reuters)

SEPTEMBER 2012

146

147

deforestation

Monday

Thursday

17

20

International Day of Peace Friday

Tuesday

18

21

Wednesday

Saturday

19

22

Sunday

23 WHAT IS DEFORESTATION? Deforestation is the removal of trees from an area because of changes in land use. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by photosynthesis, helping to control the greenhouse effect.

Deforestation releases significant amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere because of soil disturbance, burning, and removal of above ground biomass from the ecosystem.

SEPTEMBER 2012

148

149

deforestation World Tourism Day Thursday

Monday Heritage Day (SA)

24

27

Tuesday

Friday

25

28

World Maritime Day Saturday

Wednesday

26

29

Sunday

30 WHAT IS DESERTIFICATION? Long-term damage to dry lands caused by drought and by human activities such as over cultivation, deforestation, and poor irrigation practices that turn the land into a desert, unable to grow anything.

Existing dry lands, which cover over 40% of the total land area of the world, mainly in Africa and Asia, are most at risk for desertification resulting from drought caused by climate change.

october 2012

150

151

oceans and coastal areas

Africa’s coastal environment is becoming an increasingly attractive destination for global tourism. In some countries, especially the small island developing states (SIDS), tourism, and its related services, is a main contributor to national economies (WTTC 2005).

Most countries recognize the value of their coastal and marine biodiversity and have gazetted marine and wetland protected areas to ensure their sustainability (UNEP-WCMC 2000). The protection and restoration of Africa’s coastal and marine ecosystems and their services are long-term objectives for local to global communities. These objectives must be achieved in the face of the pressures from land-use change, including urbanization, and climate change, including the rising sea level, coastal erosion and lowland flooding (IPCC 2001). This demands policy approaches that are multisectoral and occur at multiple levels.

http://www.unep.org/DEWA/Africa/docs/en/aeo-2/chapters/aeo-2_ch05_ COASTAL_AND_MARINE_ENVIRONMENTS.pdf

Regional overview As coastal populations in Africa continue to grow, and pressures on the environment from land-based and marine human activities increase, coastal and marine living resources and their habitats are being lost or damaged in ways that are diminishing biodiversity and thus decreasing livelihood opportunities and aggravating poverty.

Degradation has become increasingly acute within the last 50 years (Crossland and others 2005). Arresting further losses of coastal and marine resources, and building on opportunities to manage the resources that remain in a sustainable way, are urgent objectives.

The main causes of this degradation, apart from natural disasters, are poverty and the pressures of economic development at local to global scales.

Economic gains, many bringing only short-term benefits, are being made at the expense of the integrity of ecosystems and the vulnerable communities that they support. The overexploitation of offshore fisheries impacts on the food security of coastal populations.

Another key concern is the modification of river flows to the coast by damming and irrigation, and pollution from land, marine and atmospheric sources (Crossland and others 2005). Africa’s coastal and marine areas also have important non-living resources. There are offshore commercial oil and natural gas reserves in some 20 countries and many of these are being developed to supply the global energy market as well as domestic needs (EIA 2005). Many countries in Western Africa, for example, are oil producers, with Cameroon, Gabon and Nigeria being net exporters. Alluvial diamond- and heavy mineralbearing sands have long been worked from the coastal sediments of Southern Africa.

Exploitation of these non-living resources has damaged the coastal environment and, in the case of oilproduction in the Niger delta, caused civil conflict.

WORD SEARCH ANTARCTICA

ARTIC

ATMOSPHERE

BEACHES

CLIMATE

DENSITY

FLOODS

GLACIERS GLOBALWARMING ICECAPS

NORTHPOLE

OCEAN

SOUTHPOLE

TEMPERATURE

TIDEGAUGE

WARMWATER

I E F Y T I S N E D C T B U Y

X T Z L U D S R E I C A L G K

P U A S E S P A S D O O L F P

A C N Y N E E C R U M E W P N G A P E I C B O X N U I J I H

I T C E R Z L O P S P A T A R I A M D W O E G W G L J A T M U D I G Q L E A G M S O R E T

R A T N A C R H V H J C G B H T R O N K E C E C I O B A E P M E T A C Q R Y O G E H A R T I C V E I D T Y T U S Y Y J R Q J J O S P H E R E J Y N U G F H E T A M I L C Q Z E D W A U U T H P O L E A W M R A W F

http://www.wordsearchfun.com/28236_ Climate_change_and_Sea_Level_wordsearch.

october 2012

152

153

oceans and coastal areas

Monday International Day of Older Persons

World Habitat Day Thursday

1

4

World Teachers' Day Friday

Tuesday International Day for non-Violence

2

5

Wednesday

Saturday

3

6

Sunday

7 OCEANS ARE OUR LIFE SUPPORT Oceans support life, drive our climate, provide our rainfall and are a vital source of food.

If you are thinking a year ahead, sow seed. If you are thinking ten years ahead, plant a tree. If you are thinking 100 years ahead, educate the people.

Chinese poem 500 BC

Yet humans have devised new and deadly ways to slaughter the inhabitants of our seas, endangering the marine environment for all of us.

october 2012

154

155

oceans and coastal areas

Monday

Thursday

Tuesday

Friday

8

11

9

12

Wednesday World Mental Health Day

Saturday

10

13

Sunday

14

The politicians of this planet must act soon for if they do not, they will not have a planet left to practise politics on.

Paul McCartney

37% LIVE WITHIN 100KM OF A COAST More than 37% of the worlds population lives within 100 km of a coast and this percentage is rising! Land prices are rising too, forcing change in economic activity and forcing out local fishing villagers. Oceans are the largest ecosystems on Earth.

Seventy-five per cent of all sea pollution is from land-based human activity. People abuse the coastal marine environment by destroying habitats, by over-fishing and pollution.

october 2012 Monday

15

International Poverty Day

Tuesday World Food Day

16

Wednesday International Poverty Eradication Day

17

156

157

oceans and coastal areas Thursday

18

Friday

19

National Marine Day Saturday

20

Sunday

21

Children are among the first victims both of underdevelopment and environmental degradation. In all countries of the world, rich and poor, they are the first to suffer from poverty, malnutrition, disease and pollution.

Boutrous Boutrous-Ghali

MOST COUNTRIES USE THE SEA AS A SEWER For example, coastal cities in Africa dump hundreds of millions of litres of sewage and industrial waste into the sea a year. This will continue as they cannot afford sewage treatment plants.

As sewage, fertilisers and other pollutants are poured into the seas, sea weeds and algae spread like a horror movie, using up all the oxygen that fish need to stay alive. In the past, the Soviets dumped nuclear waste in the shallow seas of the Arctic circle. As these began to leak, the marine life came under threat.

october 2012

158

159

oceans and coastal areas

Monday

Thursday

Tuesday

Friday

22

23

Wednesday

24

25

26

Saturday

27

Sunday

28

THINGS YOU CAN DO TO PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT EVERY DAY, WHEREVER YOU ARE! • Don't leave your rubbish lying around.

• Support conservation campaigns eg: Adbusters, No shopping days, Trash free lunches, Greenpeace...

• Get your family and school thinking about environment issues daily!

• Start a horticultural, bird, hiking or nature club.

• Get traffic out of residential areas!

• Do environmental assemblies at your school.

Celebrate Earth Day (22nd April) and World Environment Day (5th June) • Plant trees - care for and nurture them • Get your community to encourage recycling of all their waste • Promote anti-pollution awareness: demand car-free days • Create a garden! Grow fruits and vegetables.

Reward yourself with nature's riches every day! http://www.grida.no/publications/other/geo2000/pacha/

november 2012

Answers to Word Puzzle Leaky taps - Fix immediately Food scraps - Compost Glass and plastic bottles - Rycycle Lights - Switch off when not needed TV's - Switch off at the walll Washing clothes - Use cold water Drying clothes - Use the clothes line Blinds and curta - Close on hot days

WORD PUZZLE Match the energy efficiency actions on the right, to the household items on the left.

Household Items Energy Efficiency Actions Leaky taps Use cold water Food scraps Switch off at the wall Glass and plastic bottles Compost Lights Recycle TVs

Fix immediately Washing clothes Switch off when not needed Drying clothes Close on hot days Blinds and curta Use the clothes line

160

Global warming - cool it Some of the things we use daily and the ways we produce energy have contributed to the greenhouse effect - an increasingly hotter and wetter world. Temperatures are likely to heat up an extra 1.4 to 5.8 degrees by 2100, and sea levels will be from 9 to 88 cm higher. The problem is so huge that it's global. What can we do?

There are lots of things we can do around our own homes and gardens to help. We can have a big impact on the amount of greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere by saving energy at home . . .and it saves money too.

Ever walked around the house and found every light was on?

Turning off a few of these can make a difference. Energy efficient lights, such as fluorescent tubes or compact fluorescent lamps, add less greenhouse gas than ordinary lights; they also last longer and cost less in electricity. Make the most of daylight in your house and turn off extra lights at night. Computers, televisions, video recorders and stereos all use electricity, adding to greenhouse gases. Switch them off when they are not in use.

Fridges and freezers are big guzzlers of energy, and produce the most greenhouse gases of all household appliances apart from heaters. If your family is buying a new fridge, an energy efficient model is a good

161

ENERGY efficiency

Washing and drying clothes is another big energy user. This doesn't mean we should all run around dirty and smelly; using the washing machine efficiently saves money and helps the planet. Save your washing until you have a full machine load rather than a small load - both make the same amount of greenhouse gases.

Washing clothes in cold water generates less than one-fifth the greenhouse gases of washing in hot water.

Detergent is another big problem for the Earth - just a few tablespoons of detergent is responsible for more than ten times that amount of greenhouse gas! Drying clothes in the sun makes no greenhouse gases, but if you use a dryer it helps to clean the lint filter and spin-dry clothes first.

Fuel or electricity to heat water produces a huge two tonnes of greenhouse gases a year.

Energy efficient water heaters and solar hot water systems can reduce bills and produce less greenhouse gases, too. Use cold water when you can, and use a water-efficient showerhead or take shorter showers. And watch out for dripping taps - fixing these can prevent 100 kg of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere.

Putting on a sweater instead of the heater makes you warm without warming the planet.

Open wood fires, electric fan heaters, oil heaters and radiators all use lots of energy.

Natural gas heaters and electric reverse-cycle air conditioners use less energy.

Electricity produces greenhouse gases because it is made from burning coal and other fossil fuels. Making electricity with wind, the sun and water is called 'green' electricity and it produces little or no greenhouse gases. Investigate the different types of electricity available in your state green electricity may cost a bit more, but it is a huge saving for the planet.

One family's car can produce 6 tonnes of greenhouse gases a year.

Imagine how much greenhouse gas all the cars put together releases!

Better cars are being built, but until then, a car in good condition with good tyres can reduce the impact your family car makes on the environment. Plan to avoid unnecessary trips. Combine several activities in one trip, or share the trip with a friend. Where possible walk or ride to school, or use public transport.

Remember; Refuse, Reduce, Re-use and Recycle - refuse extra packaging, reduce the waste you make, re-use what you can and recycle!

idea - check for lots of stars on the sticker of new fridges. The sticker is an energy label - the more stars the more energyefficient the appliance is. You can make the most of your existing fridge too - get your parents to put it in a cool spot, and leave a gap so that air can move around the back of the refrigerator.

● Reverse cycle air conditioners are energy efficient, but the best way to warm up is to put on a sweater instead.

This can save up to 250 kilograms of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere each year. Making sure the fridge door is closed properly; and putting food and drinks back in the fridge straight away will also save on energy.

● Most electricity is made from burning fossil fuels. Solar water heaters make energy from sunlight instead.

● Washing clothes in cold water uses twenty times less energy than washing in hot water. ● Energy labels tell you how much energy an appliance uses. More stars mean the appliance is cheaper to run and it makes less greenhouse gases, too!

http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/education/factsheets/coolit.html

162

This information is provided by the City of Cape Town, based on research about the most impactful and cost-effective ways to save electricity in households. Average figures are used, so your consumption may differ.

163

This information is provided by the City of Cape Town, based on research about the most impactful and cost-effective ways to save electricity in households. Average figures are used, so your consumption may differ.

november 2012

164

165

ENERGY efficiency

Making connections How is using energy such as electricity connected to climate change and how could this affect people? Fill in the missing words in the boxes, then place them in sequential order to help explain how turning on a light switch is connected to flooding for people living near rivers and the sea.

Making the connections Most power stations make When river and _________ electricity by burning coal, ____________ rise, people oil and natural gas. These living nearby get flooded.

are called

________

_______.

The earth warms up causing global warming, leading to ________ ________.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a __________ gas found in the atmosphere around our planet. It helps form an invisible blanket that keeps the earth warm by trapping heat.

________ __________ is causing more rain and stronger storms. Heavy rain causes river and sea levels to rise.

Land ice and glaciers __________ and flow into rivers and seas, adding to rising water levels.

The more _______ ______ (CO2) we produce, the more heat gets trapped in the atmosphere.

______________.

Burning fossil fuels like ____, ______ and ______

______ creates carbon dioxide (CO2).

This goes

into the

air and

some of

it stays

there.

Warmer weather also causes sea _____________ to rise. The water molecules expand (get bigger) adding to rising sea levels.

The ‘invisible blanket’ works by trapping _______. It comes from the sun.

It bounces off the earth but gets trapped by the ‘blanket’.

Sign up for downloadable toolkit updates at: www.actionaid.org.uk/powerdown

CAN YOU SOLVE THE CLUES AND FIND THESE WORDS IN THE WORD GAME? Check up and down, sideways and diagonally!

O E Y T S E L L I S

1. Fridges and __________ are big guzzlers of U L H C G energy.

2. The more stars on an energy __________, the R E C Y C more energy efficient the appliance is.

H C D R Y 3. Putting on a __________ instead of the heater E T D J I makes you warm without warming the planet.

T R Q U M 4. Natural gas heaters and ___________reverse W I J M R cycle air conditioners use less energy.

5. ____________clothes in the sun makes no H C U P Q greenhouse gases.

M X W E H 6. ___________ the waste you make.

7. Remember Refuse, Reduce, Re-use and_______. C A F R E

R E Z D E L E D J E I N G L L R G L A R E Y C B I D J D E M U O G L V C T R A I E Z E R S

Answers to Making the connections: climate change, fossil fuels, sea levels, greenhouse, warmer weather, electricity, melt, carbon dioxide, temperatures, flooded, oil, coal and natural gas, heat.

Answers to above: 1. stoves, 2. label, 3. jumper (sweater), 4. electric, 5. drying, 6. reduce. 7. recycle.

When river and sea levels rise, people living nearby get

Lights use __________ which is supplied by power stations.

november 2012

166

167

ENERGY efficiency

Monday

Thursday

29

1

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

Tuesday

Friday

30

2

OCTOBER

Wednesday

Saturday

31

3

OCTOBER

Sunday

4 THE NATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE RESPONSE POLICY Government’s National Climate Change Response Policy was approved on Wednesday 12 October 2011 and was formally published as a White Paper in the Government Gazette on Wednesday 19 October 2011 (Gazette No. 34695, Notice No. 757).

This White Paper presents the South African Government’s vision for an effective climate change response and the longterm, just transition to a climate-resilient and lower-carbon economy and society.

november 2012

168

169

ENERGY efficiency

Monday

Thursday

Tuesday International Anti-War Day

Friday

5

8

6

9

Wednesday

Saturday

7

10

Sunday

11 ENERGY AND THE HOUSEHOLD ENVIRONMENT Coal is used by about 950 000 households countrywide. This causes indoor air-pollution problems, which have a serious health impact.

It has been found that in some cases, especially regarding particulate matter, exposure can exceed World Health Organisation (WHO) standards (180 mg/m3) by factors of six to seven during winter, and two to three in summer. A national programme has been established to introduce low-smoke energy alternatives into the townships.

november 2012

170

171

ENERGY efficiency

Monday

Thursday

Tuesday

Friday

12

15

13

16

Wednesday

Saturday

14

17

Sunday

18 FUEL WOOD IS USED BY MILLIONS Fuel wood is used by millions of rural households as their primary energy source.

Studies have shown that fuel-wood users are exposed to even higher levels of particulate emissions than coal users. Government is investigating the introduction of improved woodstoves and other alternatives, such as solar cookers and biogas, in an attempt to address these pollution problems.

november 2012

172

173

ENERGY efficiency

Monday

Thursday

Tuesday Universal Children's Day

Friday

19

22

20

23

Wednesday

Saturday

21

24

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women Sunday

25

SOUTH AFRICA’S RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE HAS TWO OBJECTIVES: • Effectively manage inevitable climate change impacts through interventions that build and sustain South Africa’s social, economic and environmental resilience and emergency response capacity.

• Make a fair contribution to the global effort to stabilise greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that avoids dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system within a timeframe that enables economic, social and environmental development to proceed in a sustainable manner. http://www.environment.gov.za/PolLeg/WhitePapers/national_ climatechange_response_whitepaper.pdf

november 2012

174

175

ENERGY efficiency

Monday

Thursday

Tuesday

Friday

26

29

27

30

World Aids Day Saturday

Wednesday

28

1

DECEMBER Sunday

2

DECEMBER

The Government supported clean-energy research at a number of universities and universities of technology in 2010.

In March 2010, the Department of Energy invested in an electric car and the prototype of a hybrid e-bike.

The hydrogen-fuelled bike called “A hi Fambeni” (Tsonga for “let’s go”) was designed by a leading South African-born motorbike designer, Pierre Terblanche, and was being developed at the Tshwane University of Technology.

Art with heArt Africa

176

177

human Health

SOMETHING IN THE AIR WORD PUZZLE Check up and down, sideways and diagonally!

Can you fill in the spaces and find the words in the word puzzle?

Art with heArt Africa is an organisation designed to heal and inspire the vulnerable and poverty stricken child, in the rural and urban areas. This year AWHA has launched at the Soweto Festival in Gauteng, showcasing various Crafts from local Artisans. As custodians of the Arts, our work encompasses the sustainability and promotion of various art forms within the Arts & Crafts fraternity additionally representing multi-disciplines.

We are embarking on various holistic programmes within Alexandra Township, bringing art classes to schools who do not offer Art as a subject, this is a joint initiative with AlexSan Kopano and joining the Alexandra Chamber of Commerce run programs for the Centenary Festival in Alex in 2012, we hope to do more work with our school that we have adopted in Siyabuswa, Kwa Mhlanga - the home of the Ndebele People, funding is an on-going battle.

We plan on facilitating art groups with children from Squatter Camps and Street Kids, with the view of diagnosing problems through careful assessment of their drawings and painting, by our Education Psychologist. We are working on raising awareness through creating art programmes addressing environmental issues. Ms AbrahamsAliveriotis is the Steering Committee Head of the Global Zone, an organisation that intends bringing the Youth Global Warming Summit to South Africa in 2012, this is in its inception phase at this time. AWHA is a member of GOMACC an organisation that is dedicated to the Development, Growth and Capacity Building of Community based Artistic Communities. Our office is in Newtown the Artistic Hub of Johannesburg.

For more details please contact the Art & Creative Director, Vivienne Abrahams-Aliveriotis on 076 340 0911 or 011 492 2081 email:awhafrica@gmail.com

1. Pollen from the ____________ plant is bad news for sufferers of _____________.

H B F B L T O N W G E Y R I R M L G S X

A E O Q C A R B O N 3. Creatures such as mosquitoes and ___________ T O M E P R O H Z X might affect our health even more.

W I M A L A R I A A 4. Mosquitoes carry a disease called ____________.

A Y C C L G R E G F 5. People in _____________ suffer especially from V B J K N W J L Z R malaria.

6. More _____________ dioxide makes plants grow E N U A S E R A N I faster.

(Solutions on next page) S H A Y F E V E R C B G E B O D T O M A 2. Global warming could make _____________ hotter and more frequent.

Something in the air

Spring is a bad time if you suffer from hayfever. Pollen from plants such as the ragweed bursting into bloom causes sniffles, sneezes, asthma and itchy eyes. And thanks to global warming, things are just going to get worse. The reason is the increase in carbon dioxide gas in our atmosphere, which is one of the main causes of global warming. Scientists have discovered the more carbon dioxide there is in the air, the faster the ragweed plant grows and the more pollen it makes. The more pollen that’s in the air, the more people will be affected by hayfever.

Allergies are on the increase due to global warming This is just one of the many ways that global warming may affect our health and comfort.

Global warming, as the name suggests, will make our planet hotter. While this might be good news for people living in really cold countries, Ragweed it is going to make life a lot more difficult for most people. Global warming may mean that we get heat waves that are not only hotter but that happen more often and for longer.

This could be bad news for elderly people and people who don’t have air-conditioning, swimming pools or any other way of cooling themselves down. There’s another way that global warming might affect our health, through creatures such as mosquitoes and ticks.

DECEMBER 2012

178

human health

179

As well as being extremely annoying during the warm summer months, mosquitoes can be deadly. Some types of mosquitoes carry a disease called malaria in their bodies. If an infected mosquito bites a human, the disease can infect the human too.

So what can we do about it?

Virus-carrying mosquitoes love the hot weather

What each of us can do

However, the mosquito and the disease it carries have one weakness - temperature. If it’s too hot or cold, the mosquito and its deadly passenger can’t survive. Scientists are now trying to work out how global warming will affect malaria around the world. People in Africa suffer especially from malaria. If global warming causes temperatures in Africa to increase, things might get a little too hot for the mosquito and malaria. However countries that used to be too cold for the mosquito to survive could warm up enough to make things just right for malaria to take hold.

1. RAGWEED, HAYFEVER 2. HEATWAVES 3. TICKS 4. MALARIA 5. AFRICA 6. CARBON

Many other diseases are transmitted (spread from an animal or person to another person) through mosquitoes and ticks. In countries like South Africa, these sorts of diseases haven’t really been a problem but because we don’t really know what global warming will do to our climate, we can’t predict what these diseases will do either. So, get ready with the mozzie repellent and watch this space!

Activity

Heatwaves are another health hazard on the rise

Classroom

As weather gets hotter, the ragweed plant will produce more pollens and allergies.

Climate change can affect children’s rights – like their right to health, water, nutritious food and even education. We all have a responsibility to take action!

Lots of the things we do – like drive cars, buy new things, fly on holiday – mean that fossil fuels like coal, oil or gas are burned and carbon is emitted. In our own lives we can all take action to reduce our carbon footprint.

We can make sure we turn off lights, don’t waste water, buy local produce and walk and cycle instead of using the car.

Community We can talk to our families, friends, teachers and community leaders about climate change and get them to think about how they can make a difference. You can use this peer education pack to run sessions to inform other young people and encourage them to take action.

World We can also make our voices heard to government, businesses and other decision makers. We can encourage them to work together to ensure communities already affected by climate change are given enough resources and support to adapt to it.

Solution to

We can also ask them to make sure they do everything they can at a national and international level to reduce greenhouse gasses.

Climate change

http://www.childreninachangingclimate.org/database/unicef/Publications/Peer%20Education%20Pack.pdf Temperature change

More frequent & severe drought

Extreme events happen more often

(cyclones, tornadoes, typhoons, forest and grassland fires, heat waves, cold waves)

More intense rainfall

Habitat change

(deserts increase, sealevels rise, inland flooding, upland warming, increased topsoil erosion

Water stress

Flooding

Ecosystem change (species extinction)

Agricultural yield changes (declines in tropical areas)

Forced population movement/migration Decline in food security & income Deaths caused by suidden disasters

Increase in illness Infectious disease and death caused patterns extend by chronic health and change (malaria, dengue fever, issues (circulation/ breathing, heatsroke,

Child deaths and illness increase

Loss of assets and livelyhoods

Increased resource conflict

water-borne infections, diarrrhoea, emerging diseases)

Child malnutrition increases

Child equality decreases

Child poverty increases

Reduction in child protection

More children out of school

How does climate change affect the world’s most vulnerable children?

Precipitation change

Child deaths and illness increase

Child malnutrition increases

Child equality decreases

Child poverty increases

Reduction in child protection

More children out of school

DECEMBER 2012

180

181

human health

Monday International Day for Persons with Disabilities

Thursday

Tuesday

Friday

3

6

4

7

Wednesday

Saturday

5

8

Sunday

9 WORLD HEALTH DAY In 1948, the First World Health Assembly called for the creation of a “World Health Day” to mark the founding of the World Health Organization.

Art with heArt Africa

Since 1950, World Health Day has been celebrated on the 7th of April annually.

Each year a theme is selected for World Health Day that highlights a priority area of concern for WHO. �

DECEMBER 2012

182

183

human health

Monday

Thursday

Tuesday International Mountain Day

Friday

10

13

11

14

Wednesday

Saturday

12

15

Day of Reconciliation Sunday

16

World Health Day is a worldwide opportunity to focus on key public health issues that affect the international community. World Health Day launches longer-term advocacy programmes that continue well beyond 7 April.

Art with heArt Africa

What is the WHO definition of health?

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

WORLD HEALTH DAY

DECEMBER 2012

184

185

human health

Monday Public Holiday

Thursday

Tuesday International Migrants Day

Friday

17

20

18

21

Wednesday

Saturday

19

22

Sunday

23 ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AND HUMAN HEALTH

Art with heArt Africa

The causal links between environmental change and human health are complex because often they are indirect, displaced in time and space, and dependent on a number of modifying forces.

For example, climate change can place stresses on agricultural production or the integrity of coral reefs and coastal ďż˝ fisheries.

DECEMBER 2012

186

187

human health

Monday

Thursday

Tuesday Christmas Day

Friday

24

27

25

Wednesday

26

28

Day of Goodwill

Saturday

29

Sunday

30

Art with heArt Africa

This can lead to malnutrition, stunted childhood growth, susceptibility to infectious disease patterns and other ailments.

Deforestation may alter infectious disease patterns, for example by affecting vector (e.g.mosquito) distributions over time.

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment identified key ecosystem services and their links to human health. For more info visit: www.millenniumassessment.org/en/index.html

186

189

191

weekly period planner Period

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Friday

192

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

climate change diary

Sat/Sun