A weekly roundup of climate news and research from around the world.

New Working For Water Programme to create thousands of jobs

A five-year programme to clear alien invasive plant species could create over 38 000 work opportunities each year, said Forestry Fisheries and Environment Minister Barbara Creecy.

The minister on Friday launched the programme, which would see R2.67 billion spent over five years.

"Over the next five years, we aim to create 38 839 work opportunities every year primarily in rural communities throughout the country," the minister said. This is just under 200 000 jobs in those five years.

The programme will also help combat climate change impacts. "It clears alien invasive species responsible for sucking up as much as 7% of our water resources in what is already, as you know, a very dry country," said Creecy.

Alien invasive species take over the functioning of ecosystems, the minister highlighted. They are often found in wetlands, which need to absorb flood runoff and store water for droughts. They are also found along riverbeds and basins, which are important water sources for the country.

Apart from absorbing valuable water sources and impacting resilience to floods, they also contribute to "devastating fires," Creecy added. They burn at much higher temperatures than natural vegetation.

They also displace natural biodiversity like the fynbos in the Cape region - to thrive- which also has consequences for tourism.

READ | Cape Town residents 'hack' alien invasives so future generations can see the protea for themselves

For the programme, the department has contracted with small enterprises in rural areas to clear specific regions of these plants. In the past, short-term contracts were in place, and the alien invasives would return, she explained.

The programme will ensure that the enterprises have consistent revenue sources for five years-  enabling them to buy the equipment and infrastructure required for the contracts.

This is a nationwide programme to be implemented in every province. At the launch of the Gauteng programme, the minister explained that projects would be implemented in five municipalities – the City of Tshwane, Joburg, West Rand, Sedibeng and the City of Ekurhuleni.

In Gauteng, the Working for Water Programme will clear 74 781 hectares over a period of five years, starting from 2023/2024. During this five-year period, we are aiming to create 13 615 work opportunities…" Creecy said.

The full budget breakdown and work opportunities per province are indicated below:

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment's budget and projected impact for the Working for Water Programme over the next five years.

Supplied DFFE

A "big component" of the programme will take place in national parks, clearing more than 400 000 hectares over five years, said Creecy. The programme in the national parks will create over 90 000 jobs and has a budget of just under a million (R947 710).

Overall, the aim is to clear 1 200 00 hectare of alien species. 

Solar PV imports in SA reach an 'eye-watering' $900 million

Trade data tracked by Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies shows that South Africa imported $900 million (~R16.4 billion) worth of solar PV by September this year.

Imports had peaked at $450 million during the second quarter, noted TIPS economist Gaylor Montmasson-Clair. Imports then slowed to $250 million by the third quarter. "That's still about 1.5GW of panel capacity in one quarter," he said on social media platform X.

Ongoing load shedding is driving imports, along with tax breaks and feed-in tariffs that are incentivising solar PV installations.

See the impact below:

New class action launched against Exxaro

Richard Spoor Incorporated has filed a class action against Exxaro.

This is the third in a series of class actions launched against coal mining companies – and seeks recourse for the coal miners and the dependents of deceased workers who contracted coal mine dust lung disease while working.

The first case was filed in August against South32, BHP Billiton and Seriti and the second in October against Anglo American.

"The class action aims to represent coal miners who have suffered health complications directly linked to their work conditions," Rochard Spoor Incorporated said in a statement. "The legal action seeks compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, and the pain and suffering endured by affected coal miners."

This set of class actions follows a landmark agreement five years ago for workers who contracted silicosis from gold mines owned by Harmony Gold, Gold Fields, African Rainbow Minerals, Sibanye-Stillwater, AngloGold Ashanti and Anglo American.

Richard Spoor Incorporated had worked with US-based Motley Rice attorneys on the silicosis case. Motley Rice is also acting as a consultant on the coal class actions.

The class actions are also supported by the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference.

READ | Anglo American hit with class action from coal miners over lung disease

Nearly 50 grid-expansion projects are in development – Eskom

Eskom said it has made significant progress in rolling out projects to expand the grid.

Last year, the power utility launched its Transmission Development Plan (TDP 2022), which indicated that the country needs about 14 000km of new transmission lines as well as 170 additional transformers – by 2032.

We have made significant progress in advancing the critical enablers since we shared the TDP 2022 in October last year and are now focusing on scaling up project execution," Eskom's Transmission managing director Segomoco Scheppers said during a forum on Wednesday.

So far, 46 expansion projects are being executed.

"…Of which 26 projects will deliver 1 632km, 11 290MVA of transformation capacity, and over 15 000 MW enabled. Of these 26 projects, 50% (13) have commenced with construction, which will deliver 1 197km of transmission lines and 3 290MVA of transformation capacity, and enable over 10 000MW of generation," Scheppers added.

"The other 50% (13 projects) are in the various phases of the procurement process, which will deliver 435km and 8 000MVA and enable 4 975MW, mainly in the Northern Cape and Western Cape," he said.

Eskom also has two priority programmes that will accelerate the delivery of transmission infrastructure. These will involve 47 projects that can unlock 37GW of grid connection capacity between 2025 and 2033.

The expansion of grid infrastructure is important to connect new generation capacity. Last year, the government was unable to award 23 wind projects in round 6 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme due to a lack of grid capacity.

But, the problem is not unique to South Africa. Reuters reported this week that electricity grids in Europe are unable to keep up with the rapid expansion of renewable energy on the continent.

Battle to block TotalEnergies' Brulpadda finds, new exploration off West Coast

Civil society groups, The Green Connection and Natural Justice, have made submissions to block the development of TotalEnergies' gas finds off the southern coast.

Total in 2019, the Brulpadda discovery off the coast of Mossel Bay in the exploration block 11b/12b. TotalEnergies is the operator of the block with 45% of the rights, Qatar Petroleum holds 25%, CNR International 20%, with the remaining 10% held by the South African consortium Main Street.

TotalEnergies last year applied for a production right – to start drilling for the gas – Bloomberg previously reported.

But The Green Connection and Natural Justice are opposing this on the grounds that not all potential negative impacts of the project have been considered, nor has the potential of it contributing to climate change, nor the impact to "ecologically sensitive marine areas".

READ | Brulpadda, Luiperd wells: Price a sticky issue as TotalEnergies, PetroSA talks drag on

The groups are also making an attempt to block exploration in the Deep Water Orange Basin, off the West Coast. The block lies roughly between Saldanha Bay and Kleinzee. It falls within the Orange Basin where there have been recent oil finds off Namibia's coast.

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy had on 23 October granted environmental authorisation for the project. But the groups will appeal this.

"It is again a concern for ocean health and the consequences for small-scale fisher livelihoods, should this precious ocean be harmed or damaged. And again, climate change is central," they said in a statement.

"The next 20 years present a critical window for addressing the climate crisis, and it is therefore not desirable for the country to continue to invest in fossil fuel sources that will inevitably add to greenhouse gas emissions …" the statement read.

Environmental groups urge funding halt for TotalEnergies' Mozambique project.

Meanwhile, environmental lobby groups want banks and other financiers to withdraw their support of TotalEnergies' $20 billion liquefied natural gas terminal in Mozambique.

A letter communicating this was sent to more than two dozen project funders on Friday.

The letter, seen by Reuters, comes at a crucial juncture for the French energy company as it prepares to relaunch Africa's largest foreign direct investment project. TotalEnergies had implemented a "force majeure" in 2021 when Islamist militants threatened the project site.

Activists warn the project may worsen climate change and fuel human rights abuses in the impoverished southern African nation. "As a critical financial supporter of the project, you bear a direct and important responsibility in its dreadful impacts," the letter, supported by more than 100 organisations, including ActionAid International and Greenpeace France, said.

Financing agreements for the project were struck in 2020 with direct and covered loans from eight export credit agencies, 19 commercial banks and the African Development Bank (AfDB). Some $15 billion in financing is currently being reviewed as part of restarting procedures, a credit official with knowledge of current negotiations said.

South Africa's Export Credit Insurance Corporation planned to seek board approval early next year to support the project, acting CEO Ntshengedzeni Maphula told Reuters.

Climate plans will cut emissions by 2% by 2030 instead of 43%

A new UN report has shown that national climate plans are insufficient to meet goals in the Paris Agreement, namely limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Based on existing plans, emissions will only be reduced by 2% by 2030 – instead of the required 43% to limit temperature rise. Breaching 1.5°C the target would result in worsening impacts of climate change, such as more frequent and severe droughts, heatwaves, and rainfall.

Greenhouse gas emissions like carbon dioxide and methane cause global warming. Parties to the Paris Agreement, including South Africa, have set targets to limit their emissions. These targets are called Nationally Determined Contributions or NDC.

South Africa's NDC, which was recently updated, seeks to reduce emissions to a range between 350 and 420 megatonnes of carbon emissions by 2030. This is an improvement from the initial target of between 398 and 614 megatonnes.

However, the UN report highlights that globally, existing NDCs will not cut it.

"If the latest available NDCs are implemented, current commitments will increase emissions by about 8.8%, compared to 2010 levels," the UN said in a statement. It's still slightly better than an assessment from last year that found that emissions would increase 10.6% by 2030 (compared to 2010 levels).

"Governments combined are taking baby steps to avert the climate crisis. And it shows why governments must make bold strides forward at COP28 in Dubai, to get on track," says executive-secretary of UN Climate Change, Simon Stiell.

EU commits to put money in COP28 climate damage fund

The European Union will make a "substantial" financial contribution to a new international fund addressing the destruction caused by climate change, the European Commission said.

"The commissioner is ready to announce substantial financial contribution by the EU and its member states to the loss and damage fund at COP28," the commission said in a statement, referring to EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra.

The world-first climate "loss and damage" fund is set to be launched during the United Nations COP28 climate summit, which takes place from 30 November to 12 December in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. - Reuters.

New satellite will detect and share CO2 data from individual facilities

Canadian emissions monitoring company GHGSat last week launched a satellite aimed at detecting carbon dioxide emissions from individual facilities like coal plants and steel mills from space for the first time.

The satellite, named Vanguard, launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, GHGSat said.

Space-age technology is increasingly being used to hold polluting industries accountable for their contributions to climate change. GHGSat's data is available for sale to industrial emitters who want to reduce their emissions, as well as to governments and scientists.

The information will help bolster the accuracy of government emissions inventories and scientific modelling and will improve the quality of corporate greenhouse gas reporting for investors, GHGSat said. - Reuters

Brightest flash ever disturbed Earth's atmosphere last year

Last year the brightest flash of light ever seen in the night sky disturbed Earth's upper atmosphere in a way that has never before detected before, researchers said.

A massive burst of gamma rays from an enormous cosmic explosion around 2 billion light years away arrived at Earth on 9 October, 2022, lighting up telescopes around the world.

Quickly nicknamed the "BOAT" - for Brightest Of All Time - the flash lasted just seven minutes, but its afterglow was visible to amateur astronomers for seven hours.

Mirko Piersanti, a researcher at Italy's University of L'Aquila, told AFP the research would help scientists understand the potential threat that other gamma-ray bursts could pose in the future.

There has previously been speculation that past gamma-ray bursts could have caused ancient mass extinction events.

The worst-case scenario would be if such a powerful blast came from much closer to home - say, within our own Milky Way galaxy. That could "completely erase" Earth's ozone layer, he said. This would expose everything on the surface to the full might of the sun's ultraviolet radiation, potentially wiping out life on Earth.

It is also possible that the ionosphere would absorb all the gamma rays and "nothing would happen" to those of us on the ground, he explained. – AFP.

Rare strawberry leopard spotted

A strawberry leopard has been observed for the first time in the Welgevonden Game Reserve in Limpopo.

"The strawberry leopard was first spotted by our vigilant team during the aerial census, we believe that this extraordinary occurrence serves as a poignant reminder of the importance of continued conservation efforts," the research centre Welgevonden Biomonitoring said on Facebook.

"A strawberry leopard is a colour variant found in South Africa and exhibits a striking appearance, characterised by pale skin, faint spots, blue eyes, a pink nose, and pink paw pads, all resulting from a unique coat colour dilution," the post read.

A 2016 study described the leopard as rare, with the first sighting in South Africa being recorded in Madikwe Game Reserve in the North West in 2012. Sightings were subsequently recorded in Mpumalanga for the purposes of the study.

See the leopard below: