While South Africa is caught in a bitterly cold grip, the North is trapped in a ruthless heat wave, parts of Europe are submerged due to devastating flash floods and in China, an industrial hub of 10 million people was paralysed by three days of heavy rains equivalent to a year’s average rainfall.
For a while the climate crisis has taken a back seat to Covid-19, but these weather extremes and predictions that global average temperatures will breach the 1.5°C tipping point in the next five years, the climate crisis has never been more prominent. What Covid-19 has shown is that globally we’re all connected and with that, we have a responsibility to uphold each other’s rights – our right to a healthy environment.
So, what can South Africa and its citizens do to honour this right? The Climate Justice Charter Movement believes a good start is for us to nudge government to adopt the Climate Justice Charter.
Meanwhile, Eskom’s latest round of load shedding and disruptions to the supply of LP gas have just made our winter of discontent a bit colder.
Here’s a roundup of the world’s top and most interesting headlines:
SA Business
Union urges action to protect Transnet after ‘cyberattack’ – TechCentral
Civil unrest death toll tops 330 while Zuma heads back to prison peacefully – Daily Maverick
Zuma must pay back R18m in legal fees – The Citizen
Global Business
Penthouse at Manhattan’s 432 Park listed at $169 million – Bloomberg
Why Walmart and 20 other companies are being sued in a fight over Crocs – Fin24
Elon Musk’s hyperloop concept could become fastest way to travel – Business Insider
Markets
Gold down, retreating US bond yields counter strengthening dollar – Investing.com
Top hedge fund gains 400% as China battles commodity prices – Bloomberg
Asian markets struggle to match Wall St gains as rally fades – AFP
In-depth
How the rollout of South Africa’s renewable energy plan is failing communities – The Conversation
Heat, floods, fires: Jet Stream is key link in climate disasters – Bloomberg
How to end tobacco use for good: What SA’s Covid-19 tobacco ban has taught us – News24
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