ISS Seminar, Cape Town: Keeping the lights on! What are the best options to power South Africa in the shadow of a climate change crisis?

Date: 2010-12-08

Venue: , ISS Cape Town office, 2nd Floor the Armoury, Buchanan Square, 160 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock, Cape Town

RSVP:
Ms. Hopolang Selebalo
Tel: 021 461 7211
[email protected]

Representatives of over 190 nations are currently locked in negotiations that seek to develop a sustainable response to the global climate change crisis. However, there is little expectation that the Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will make much progress before the meeting concludes in Cancun on 10 December. This has set the scene for Durban to be the hopeful stage for progress in twelve months time.

In the absence of consensus on keys issues between countries in the South and North, national policy response to climate change remains crucial to mitigating the impact of climate change, while adapting to the consequences thereof.

In South Africa the debate on the future of clean energy remains alive as the South African government commits itself to seek alternatives to coal as part of the recently released Integrated Resource Plan (IRP2). This envisages amongst other the construction of six nuclear power plants to meet the countries future energy demands over the next twenty years. However, doubts remain if nuclear power is the most cost-effective sustainable alternative to coal.

Speaker:

Hans-Josef Fell is an international expert on renewable energy and representative of the Green Party in the German Parliament. Mr. Fell is spokesperson on energy for the Green Party Parliamentary Group and was one of the co-drafters of legislation which has forced Germany to shift towards greater reliance on renewable energy. He is the recipient of a number of international awards including the Energy Globe Award and the Nuclear Free Future Award

Discussant:

Trusha Reddy, Senior Researcher, ISS Corruption & Governance Programme.