South Africa | Environment Minister upholds that power company must comply with air pollution regulations

South Africa | Environment Minister upholds that power company must comply with air pollution regulations
Post Date May 18, 2020
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Photo: © Mujahid Safodien-Greenpeace

Health Care Without Harm’s partner in South Africa, groundWork, as part of a coalition of community and civil society organizations, achieved an incremental victory for public health in the highly polluted Mpumalanga Highveld region when South Africa’s Environment Minister rejected the public power company Eskom’s objection to complying with air pollution regulations and upheld the enforcement action against the utility’s Kendal power station.

In her decision, Environment Minister Barbara Creecy stated that she is “mindful of the fact that failure to …

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South Africa | groundWork releases report on Just Transition, highlights health vulnerabilities and opportunities

South Africa | groundWork releases report on Just Transition, highlights health vulnerabilities and opportunities
Post Date March 6, 2020
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In March Health Care Without Harm’s partner in South Africa, groundWork, together with its Life After Coal partners the Centre for Environmental Rights and EarthLife Africa JHB, launched their 2019 report titled Down to Zero: The politics of just transition.

The Down to Zero report examines the urgent need to respond to climate change, create a truly democratic and participatory order, and share our work and the wealth of the land.

Health is discussed throughout the report, including the range of health risks arising from climate change and air pollution, which …

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South Africa | An Open Letter to New Energy Minister Jeff Radebe

South Africa | An Open Letter to New Energy Minister Jeff Radebe
Post Date March 5, 2018
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South Africa’s energy future at stake: Life After Coal writes to new Energy Minister Jeff Radebe

 
The Healthy Energy Initiative’s partner in South Africa, groundWork, as part of the Life After Coal Campaign, has written an open letter to South Africa’s new Energy Minister Jeff Radebe. In the letter they state that “the Energy Ministry is of critical importance in determining future energy security for all the people in our country, and supporting the just transition to a low-carbon future; specifically how South Africa meets the need to …

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South Africa | New Report Shows How Coal Power Is Turning Mpumalanga Highveld into Wasteland

South Africa | New Report Shows How Coal Power Is Turning Mpumalanga Highveld into Wasteland
Post Date November 22, 2017
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At the launch of a new groundWork (Healthy Energy Initiative partner in South Africa) report entitled Destruction of the Highveld: Part 2 – Burning Coal in eMalahleni, “the place of coal”, yesterday, community members* confirmed the study’s findings that Eskom’s coal addiction is causing serious health problems and killing people in the Highveld. They also called for a community and worker-led process to drive a just transition, and end the way in which coal power is turning the Mpumalanga Highveld into a wasteland.

Furthermore, the report finds that people are already …

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South Africa | Report: Coal Plants Cause 2,200 Premature Deaths and Cost $2 Billion Annually

South Africa | Report: Coal Plants Cause 2,200 Premature Deaths and Cost $2 Billion Annually
Post Date September 13, 2017
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Air pollution from coal-fired power stations kills more than 2,200 South Africans every year, and causes thousands of cases of bronchitis and asthma in adults and children annually. This costs the country more than R30 billion annually, through hospital admissions and lost working days.

These findings were presented by UK-based air quality and health expert Dr. Mike Holland to the Department of Environmental Affairs, members of the Environmental Affairs and Health Portfolio Committees, and to the Public Health Association of South Africa in September 2017.

Dr. Holland told decision-makers that …

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Global | Health organization leaders launch global campaign on air pollution

Global | Health organization leaders launch global campaign on air pollution
Post Date May 2, 2017
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Unmask My City is global initiative by doctors, nurses, public health practitioners, and allied healthcare professionals dedicated to improving air quality and reducing emissions in our cities.

Launching today on World Asthma Day, Unmask My City, a global initiative in 10 cities on five continents, aims to promote practical solutions and create tangible policy changes that drive a clear, downward global trend in urban air pollution by 2030.

This will result in significant reductions in illnesses and deaths as well as greenhouse gas emissions. Through Unmask My …

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South Africa | Death and destruction: What’s left out of energy planning

South Africa | Death and destruction: What’s left out of energy planning
Post Date April 25, 2017
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The South African Department of Energy’s released Integrated Resource Plan does not seriously factor in the pollution impact of its current and planned energy mix and appears to have distorted the data to favour coal and nuclear, writes David Hallowes, researcher for groundWork (Healthy Energy Initiative’s partner in South Africa):

Pollution from Eskom’s [coal-fired] power plants result in 2,240 attributable deaths each year. And every day, some 11,000 people are physically restricted in what they can do while 2,700 lose the day’s work. The economic impact is …

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Global | New Solutions Article on Global Campaign for Healthy Energy

Global | New Solutions Article on Global Campaign for Healthy Energy
Post Date January 4, 2016
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“From Extraction to Renewal: A Global Campaign for Healthy Energy”

The Healthy Energy Initiative team is pleased to share a new article published in the peer-reviewed journal New Solutions: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy. The article appears in a special issue on “Health, Environmental Policy and the Extractive Industries.”

To download the full text of the article (authors’ accepted manuscript), click here.
For additional information from New Solutions, and to download the version published in the journal, click here (subscription required; DOI: 10.1177/1048291115610433).
For additional resources from the Healthy Energy Initiative, …

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Global | Film Festival to Shine Spotlight on Health Costs of Coal

Global | Film Festival to Shine Spotlight on Health Costs of Coal
Post Date November 23, 2015
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International health and environmental advocates will host a mini festival of award-winning short films that highlight the health and social effects of coal. As part of the festival, the Healthy Energy Initiative will be presenting three short films produced by its partners in Australia, the Philippines, and South Africa. Other films will explore coal development in Russia and China. Together, these are some of the largest coal-producing countries in the world.

The December 7th Paris event coincides with the second week of the United Nations Climate Conference (COP21). As world …

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South Africa | Spotlight on Climate, Energy, and Air Pollution at Public Health Conference

South Africa | Spotlight on Climate, Energy, and Air Pollution at Public Health Conference
Post Date October 23, 2015
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Facilitated by Health Care Without Harm’s Strategic Partner in South Africa, groundWork, climate change, energy choices, and air pollution were prominently featured at the Public Health Association of South Africa (PHASA) Conference held in Durban on October 7-9, 2015.

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