The Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 came into effect on 1 July 2021. As part of CER’s commitment to privacy and the protection of personal information, we would like to give you the opportunity to unsubscribe from our website mailing list. Should you wish to remain subscribed, you will continue to receive relevant content,… continued
This year marks the fifth edition of the Centre for Environmental Rights’ annual Environmental Rights & Remedies Course for environmental justice activists. The Environmental Rights & Remedies Course forms a key component of CER’s activist support and training work. Developed in response to demand from our community partners for rights training, the course builds on existing… continued
Approval for another new coal-fired power station has been set aside by the High Court. In an order dated 27 May 2021 handed down today, the Pretoria High Court declared that the environmental approval for the planned 600MW Khanyisa coal-fired power station has expired. Khanyisa would have been built on the outskirts of Emalahleni, already… continued
For the third year in a row, environmental justice activists demand accountability for environmental and climate impacts from steelmaker ArcelorMittal SA at its annual general meeting VANDERBIJLPARK, SOUTH AFRICA: At today’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) of steelmaker ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA), the Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance (VEJA) and the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) are once again demanding accountability… continued
Landmark #DeadlyAir air pollution case against South African government will be heard in the Pretoria High Court from 17 May 2021 Two environmental justice groups are asking the High Court to declare the poor ambient air quality in the Highveld Priority Area a violation of the Constitutional right to an environment not harmful to health… continued
Last week, the Mining Environmental Justice Community Network of South Africa (MEJCON-SA) participated in an application brought by the Minerals Council of South Africa (MINCOSA) to review and set aside particular provisions of the 2018 Mining Charter. MEJCON-SA is the Fifth Respondent and is represented by the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER). The matter was… continued
Life After Coal Campaign partners Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), groundWork and Earthlife Africa, along with several civil society groups, have submitted comments on South Africa’s draft updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) – the commitment to tackle climate change under the Paris Agreement. In written arguments submitted on 30 April 2021, ahead of Workers’ Day,… continued
Yesterday, March 23rd, the Pretoria High Court issued an interdict preventing a coal mining company from commencing mining and related activities in a Strategic Water Source Area. The interdict was issued to allow the legal challenges of its various permits to be decided first – before harm is done to strategic and important water sources…. continued
The Life After Coal Campaign welcomes the temporary halt called by the Limpopo provincial government on the controversial and harmful Musina Makhado Energy and Metallurgical Special Economic Zone (EMSEZ) project. According to a letter posted on appointed environmental consultants Deltabec’s website on 15 March 2021, the Limpopo Economic Development Environment and Tourism Department (LEDET) notified… continued
Community activists were shot, injured and arrested by the police while peacefully raising grievances against Ikwezi coal mine in Dannhauser, KwaZulu-Natal for poisoning their air, cracking their houses and killing their livestock with their mining activities. On the outskirts of Dannhauser, in KwaZulu-Natal, police used rubber bullets to shoot at a group of environmental justice… continued
How do we hold multilateral institutions like international financial institutions (IFIs) accountable for the kind of development they fund in countries? How can communities and women especially participate in international financial institution (IFI) funded development projects in meaningful ways for positive change when they can’t even access information related to IFI projects? The CER and… continued
Environmental justice groups groundWork and the Vukani Environmental Justice Movement in Action (VEJMA) have responded to papers filed by the Minister of Environment Forestry and Fisheries in the “Deadly Air” court case against government about the toxic and unsafe levels of air pollution that people living and working on the Mpumalanga Highveld are exposed to daily. In… continued
If you are thinking of making a donation to a worthy cause before the end of the tax year, please consider becoming part of the work of the Centre for Environmental Rights. Globally, the climate crisis and ecological breakdown are accelerating towards tipping points, and the devastating impacts of an at least 1.5 degree increase… continued
JOHANNESBURG: Over the past few days, unusual and persistent levels of sulphurous smells in the air have given residents of Gauteng a glimpse of what life is like for people who live in some of our country’s most polluted places on the Mpumalanga Highveld – one of the South Africa’s worst air pollution hotspots. On… continued
Statement by the Mabola Coalition* on the Mpumalanga MEC for Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs to revoke the protected area status for a large part of the Mabola Protected Environment “We, a coalition of eight non-profit public interest organisations, have been challenging the authorisation of a large new coal mine inside a declared… continued
Last month, the Mpumalanga Provincial MEC for Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs, MEC VR Shongwe, published his decision to revoke the protected area status for a large part of the Mabola Protected Environment in Mpumalanga in order to enable a controversial new coal mine to proceed. The Coalition of eight public interest organisations… continued
CAPE TOWN. On Tuesday, the South African High Court held that a series of defamation lawsuits brought by Australian mining company Mineral Commodities Ltd (MRC) and its local subsidiary, against six environmental activists, is an abuse of the legal process. MRC and its subsidiary sued the defendants for a total of ZAR14.25 million (approximately USD… continued
In 2020, the global Covid-19 pandemic amplified the way in which financial systems and institutions perpetuate the climate crisis, ecological breakdown and social inequality. At the close of the year, attorney Leanne Govindsamy, the head of CER’s Corporate Accountability programme, posed a challenge to development finance institutions to start prioritising environmental compliance for a better… continued
It is not easy to be a mining executive these days, faced with a global virus pandemic, an economy in recession, a climate crisis and a global energy transition juggernaut causing havoc with export markets. And yet this is really a reckoning, since the mining industry has in many ways contributed to the social, environmental… continued
CAPE TOWN: A coalition of community activists and civil society organisations working in the Eastern Cape are demanding that the Amathole District Municipality, the Amatola Water Board and the Mnquma Local Municipality work together to present a detailed plan for emergency water provision to communities in Ward 28, Centane by 15 December 2020, and a… continued