Christy van der Merwe
Christy van der Merwe is a former contributing editor for Engineering News Online and Mining Weekly Online. She graduated from Rhodes University.
SA’s latest climate study to reveal severe weather risks
26th September 2011 South Africa would soon submit its second National Communication to the United Nations reflecting the country’s greenhouse gas emissions profile,... →
ICT and telecoms seen as key to socioeconomic growth in Africa
26th September 2011 Internet usage in Africa grew by 2 527% between 2000 and 2011, compared with a world average of 480%, highlighted Standard Bank’s Africa Macro... →
Greenpeace calls on SA to abandon nuclear energy plans
21st September 2011 Nongovernmental organisation (NGO) Greenpeace Africa on Wednesday morning held a protest outside the Department of Energy (DoE), urging the... →
SA could lose out on carbon financing if EU moves ahead with LDC plan
19th September 2011 South Africa risks losing carbon financing flowing from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) as the European Union (EU) – the largest buyer of... →
African Ministers to compile list of priority energy projects
15th September 2011 African Energy Ministers are meeting in Johannesburg this week to draw up a list of priority sustainable energy projects, which would be taken to a... →
Nuclear plans to go before Cabinet soon, bidding to start in 2012
15th September 2011 South Africa will announce a decision on its nuclear energy plans before the end of the year, Energy Minister Dipuo Peters said on Thursday, adding... →
Businesses urged to get involved in climate negotiating process
15th September 2011 South African companies should be aware that business is being given an opportunity to engage in global climate change negotiations not only as an... →
Concerns grow over common position for Africa at climate negotiations
14th September 2011 As African environmental Ministers converged in Mali to update the Africa common position on climate change before COP 17 in Durban, certain... →
COP 17 key for decision on carbon capture’s inclusion under CDM
13th September 2011 The seventeenth conference of the parties (COP 17) negotiations on climate change in Durban were viewed as key for making decisions on whether or... →
EU wants firm decisions on legally binding climate agreement
12th September 2011 While much of the focus for the Durban climate change conference was on getting the institutions under the Cancun Agreements up and running and... →
Sanbi accredited as UN Adaptation Fund implementing entity
12th September 2011 The recently established Adaptation Fund Board (AFB) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has accredited the South... →
Funding shortfall will not impact COP 17 quality – Minister
9th September 2011 International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said she was confident that South Africa would host an adequate seventeenth... →
Level of ambition in climate talks a ‘serious concern’ − Zuma
9th September 2011 The low level of ambition in climate change negotiations is a “serious concern”, President Jacob Zuma said on Friday, addressing 21 Environmental... →
Climate technology mechanism team concludes first meeting
5th September 2011 The technology executive committee (TEC), the policy arm of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC’s) Technology... →
Zuma’s Norway visit to focus on trade, climate change
29th August 2011 South African President Jacob Zuma’s State visit to Norway this week would largely focus on trade, development and climate change issues, the... →
Nkoana-Mashabane urges labour to support govt’s ambitions for COP 17
29th August 2011 International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane urged organised labour representatives to work in partnership with... →
SA to benefit should climate funding target be met, Manuel says
25th August 2011 If the proposed Green Climate Fund committee were able to raise the $100-billion-a-year targeted for disbursement among developing countries by... →
Durban unveils low-carbon road map ahead of climate gathering
23rd August 2011 The Academy of Science of South Africa has produced a report highlighting climate change mitigation and adaptation opportunities for the city of... →
Set-top box tender to flow once Cabinet approves policy in Sept
19th August 2011 Delays in finalising the set-top box (STB) manufacturing policy, meant that the initial delivery date of August was missed. However, Communications... →
Cabinet notes document on national climate change position
11th August 2011 Cabinet has noted the national position for the negotiations on climate change under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change... →
Lamy says Doha failure threatens WTO’s negotiating function
26th July 2011 World Trade Organisation (WTO) director general Pascal Lamy has called on members to think about ‘what’s next’ for the Doha round and the global... →
Negotiators should resolve political issues ahead of Durban climate talks
19th July 2011 As the host of the 17th conference of the parties (COP 17) on climate change in Durban in November and December, the South African government would... →
Retailers, mobile operators contravening Rica will be prosecuted – Deputy Minister
6th July 2011 Retailers undermining the Regulation of Interception of Communications Act (Rica) and jeopardising its aims and objectives were guilty of an... →
Mobile operators satisfied with Rica progress
1st July 2011 As the deadline for Rica Sim card registration passed at midnight on Thursday, mobile operators MTN and Vodacom reported that they were satisfied... →
Logistical arrangements for COP17 meeting in Durban on track − Zuma
30th June 2011 As the African continent prepared to “open its arms to the rest of the world in Durban”, President Jacob Zuma assured African leaders that the... →
Mobile industry spent more than R500m on Rica process
29th June 2011 The Rica process was said to have cost the mobile telecoms industry in excess of R500-million, as mobile operators worked to ensure that... →
Treasury sets aside R200m for hosting of climate change meeting
22nd June 2011 South Africa’s National Treasury has contributed R200-million towards the hosting of the 17th conference of the parties (COP 17) on climate change,... →
South Korea keen to boost business relations with Africa
13th June 2011 South Korea aims to increase bilateral trade flows with South Africa from about $4-billion a year at present, to $10-billion a year within five... →
US, SA agree to more regular trade, investment interactions
7th June 2011 Deputy US Trade Representative Demetrious Marantis has described his recent discussions with South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry as... →
Shabangu withdraws Xolobeni mining licence
7th June 2011 South African Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu has withdrawn the mining licence granted to Transworld Energy and Minerals (TEM) in 2008,... →
Value of trade up 22% in first quarter – WTO
2nd June 2011 The World Trade Organisation (WTO) reported that the value of world merchandise trade for the first quarter of 2011 was up 22% when compared with... →
DoC and Icasa to conduct spectrum audit – Minister
31st May 2011 The Department of Communications (DoC) in partnership with the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) would conduct a radio... →
Davies says time for ‘plan B’ as Doha won’t be concluded this year
30th May 2011 Although members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) were reluctant to label the Doha development round of multilateral trade negotiations... →
Brazil, SA, India and China want Kyoto Protocol extended
30th May 2011 As Ministers of the Brazil, South Africa, India, China (Basic) grouping met to firm their position before further global climate change negotiating... →
Brazil, SA, India and China climate meeting under way in Durban
26th May 2011 Climate change experts and negotiators from Brazil, South Africa, India and China, the ‘Basic’ grouping, are meeting in Durban over the next two... →
Greenpeace pushes for nuclear-free power mix, big renewable scale-up
25th May 2011 Nongovernmental organisation (NGO) Greenpeace has called on the government to make “bold and courageous” energy choices, to ensure a cleaner energy... →
Manuel urges Africa to start identifying Climate Fund projects
23rd May 2011 The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC’s) Green Climate Fund would likely present African countries with opportunities... →
Property developers want Joburg inner-city renewal incentive extended
11th May 2011 Property developers in the inner city of Johannesburg have urged government to extend the urban development zone (UDZ) tax incentive to more areas... →
Renewable energy developers say new tariffs could halt investments
5th May 2011 Wind, solar, biomass and landfill gas project developers speaking at the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa’s) public hearings into... →
Joburg refurbishes Tambo, Mandela's Chancellor House
4th May 2011 Former President Nelson Mandela’s legal office at Chancellor House, which he occupied with Oliver Tambo in the 1950s, was saved from being... →
Corruption could undermine climate remedy actions, TI report states
3rd May 2011 Global anti-corruption coalition Transparency International (TI) has released the ‘Global Corruption Report: Climate Change’, which presented... →
