Green capital – a contradiction in terms?
Is capitalism and its drive for profi t the fundamental problem in the global ecological crisis? Or is there a way for capitalist business to use new technology to save us?
Green capital – a contradiction in terms?
Is capitalism and its drive for profi t the fundamental problem in the global ecological crisis? Or is there a way for capitalist business to use new technology to save us?
These questions were posed last Wednesday in a provocative and packed Rhodes University seminar delivered by Jacklyn Cock, professor of sociology at Wits and author of the book, The War Against Ourselves.
Prof Cock is frankly sceptical about the capacity for capitalism in its present form to deliver sustainable business and consumer practices.
This is especially the case in South Africa, which has now overtaken Brazil as the country with the widest gap between the rich and poor.
South Africa is also on the brink of becoming the world’s highest per capita emitter of greenhouse gases. A quarter of the population lacks electricity, access to safe water or sanitation.
As a key anomaly, she targeted Eskom, which is increasing carbon emissions from new coalfi red plants and increasing prices, both of which are likely to make it less, not more possible for the poor to access clean energy.
So they will continue to suffer shackland fi res started by candles or paraffi n stoves, for example.
Cock also noted our general subjection to “greenwashing” advertising by globalised multinationals who have made the term “sustainable” a mockery.
An example is the so-called ecoestates and golf-courses: each of South Africa’s 81 golf estates consumes a million or more litres of water per day, while their workers typically live in informal townships with no running water.
If there is a solution, as Cock suggests, it will have to involve a massive change of mentality, something like an eco-socialism which will avoid the failures of past socialist experiments, and embrace a real commitment to social and ecological justice working together. There is no blueprint, but there is also little alternative.
Green leadership
Conservation International, working from Arlington, Virginia in the United States, is offering year-long fellowships for indigenous leadership in environmental health and improvement.
Two fellowships will be awarded within the fi eld of biodiversity, and two within climate change. They state: “The Indigenous Leaders Conservation Fellowship is sponsored by Conservation International to create opportunities for leaders and scholars from indigenous and traditional peoples’ communities and organisations to exploresolutions to the impacts of climate change and the threats to ecosystems and biodiversity that are affecting their lands, communities and livelihoods.
The fellows will design research projects and produce reports about the potential contributions of their communities/organisations to biodiversity conservation plans and policies and strategies for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Each research project must incorporate the contribution of traditional knowledge and practices. To accomplish this research project, each fellow will work directly with her/his own community or local indigenous/traditional organisation.” The deadline is 10 June 2010. Contact http://www.conservation.org/discover/centers_ programs/itpp /pages/indigenous_fellowship. aspx
Green running
It is a pleasure to report that the Albany Road Runners have given a substantial donation to the Kowie Catchment Campaign, which is probably the most active and effective of Makana’s civic organisations working to create a better environment for us all.
The proceeds came from the Makana Brick 8km Nite Race, and was donated to the KCC for its work helping to protect the Fair View Spring, which many of our citizens, suspicious of municipal water, continue to use a great deal. Thanks and congratulations are due all round!
Green Drops
That suspicion is not unwarranted, according to the recent Green Drop report issued by the Departmentof Water Affairs and Forestry.
Makana received the miserable score of 7% for waste water treatment which, as the report states, is the “fi rst barrier in a multi-barrier process of ensuring safe drinking water.”
The DWAF report is readily available on their website, www.dwaf.gov.za. And according to the related Blue Drop survey, which assesses all our water monitoring systems, Makana scored a lowly 36% well down on the 2009 fi gure of 58%.
The good thing is that this kind of comprehensive review is happening: now it’s up to municipalities to make the vital improvements, and communities to keep holding their local municipalities accountable.
Upcoming events
20 May: Talk on recycling domestic waste water – using micro-fi ltration (MF), ultra-fi ltration (UF) and reverse osmosis (RO) to create a new source of potable water, “New Water”.
Stephen Fick of P&S Consulting Engineers will cover the following issues, drawing on the town of Alexandria as an example: Evaluation of bulk water resources (BWS) and waste water treatment works (WWTW); analysis of the water needs; modelling of the town’s BWS, usage and WWTW; a typical waste water recycle; technologies employed, particularly MF, UF and RO and their effi cacy; process control and product security; environmental issues including scenarios for effl uent (“brine”) disposal and byproduct potential. At 12pm in the Rhodes University Council Chamber.
