Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd, China's largest maker of solar panels, said on Thursday that it has signed a deal to develop solar plants in South Africa with up to 100 megawatts in capacity as the country looks to boost clean energy output.

The South African Weather Service has launched a new state-of-the-art weather radar system in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape, enhancing monitoring capability in an area of the country prone to natural disasters that often go unnoticed by the general public.

South Africa has launched the Africa Centre for Climate and Earth Systems Science, which will provide regional decision-makers with reliable climate information, enabling them to balance developmental needs with responses to threats posed by environmental change.

President Jacob Zuma has been requested to serve as co-chair of the United Nations Second Panel on Climate Change Sustainability.

At the beginning of August, South Africa’s new Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations came into effect.

A team of 100 women have undertaken to spend a year cleaning up the Luvuvhu River in Thohoyandou, Limpopo.

South Africa and the Swiss Confederation have signed an energy efficiency agreement which will bring a major boost to government's energy efficiency programmes.

Rangers assisted by a Weimeraner dog named Zingela successfully captured Panjo, South Africa's most famous missing tiger, at a farm on Wednesday after a two-day helicopter search that dominated news broadcasts.

South African banking group Nedbank announced this month that it has achieved carbon neutrality – becoming the first bank in Africa to do so.

The boat speeds out of Durban's port before dawn carrying men with a crucial job: checking the nets that keep sharks at bay each day before thousands of World Cup soccer fans hit the beach.

The Seasons in Africa tourism, marketing and management company is expanding its eco-friendly hotel options for travellers who want to decrease their carbon footprint and visit environmentally sustainable destinations. 

Zibi, the ‘rubbish eating ostrich’ affectionately remembered by many South Africans, has been given a new lease on life by the City of Cape Town’s Solid Waste Department.

A new collaboration between Norway and South Africa will collect oceanic data to help better understand and cope with the effects of climate change across Africa.

More than two decades after being brought to South Africa, a group of black rhinos returned home to Tanzania last week.

Endurance swimmer and environmental campaigner Lewis Pugh has become the first person to complete a long distance swim under the summit of Mount Everest, it was announced this weekend.

Solar boiler maker Areva Solar is ready to build a 100 megawatt concentrated solar plant in South Africa from next year, the Business Day newspaper reported on Friday.

Marine biologists are taking care of a baby loggerhead turtle which was driven thousands of kilometers from its home in the warm waters of Mozambique around the tip of Africa and into the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

 

 

The Department of Energy plans to offer a rebate for property developers who fit energy saving features in buildings.

South Africa’s environmental affairs department is to launch a new crack squad, known as the National Wildlife Reaction Unit, to tackle ongoing rhino poaching, and other matters relating to care of the environment.

South Africa is shoring up the security of its water supply by ensuring the completion of seven major new water projects around the country by 2014, Water Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said at a pre-budget briefing in Cape Town this week.

Durban’s King Shaka International Airport will welcome its first arrivals at the beginning of May, just in time for the World Cup. Besides taking care of passengers, airport management is also putting the safety of birds on its priority list.

According to South Africa’s power utility, the country saved 420 MW on Saturday evening due to the Earth Hour initiative.

Thousands of South African homes and institutions, and many more across the world, turned off their lights on Saturday night at 20h30 for an hour in support of Earth Hour 2010.

Earth Hour, a global World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) initiative to raise awareness about climate change, began in Australia in 2007 with two million people turning off their lights. In 2008, 50 million people participated in the event. This year, more than 4000 cities and towns across 125 countries, including 14 African countries, took part in what has become a truly global event.

All around the world, famous landmarks were engulfed in darkness for one hour. In South Africa, this included the Union Buildings in Pretoria, Table Mountain in Cape Town and the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.

The City of Cape Town today announced its imminent plans to sell Green Electricity Certificates, which will give Capetonians the opportunity to buy green electricity from the city.

The Isimangaliso Wetland Park, a World Heritage Site that spans 332 000 hectares along the north eastern coast of South Africa, on Wednesday received a US9 million grant (about R65.7 million) for empowerment projects in the area.