Science for sustainability..

The younger me used to roll
my eyes a little at the word
“sustainability”. I thought it was just a buzz word for politicians to sound electable and for researchers to get funding. But that misconception changed pretty quickly when I started my career as a science journalist. It became abundantly clear that sustainability is, in fact, crucial. The older I get, the more I find myself thinking about how we relate to our planet, to each other, and what we are leaving behind. Sustainability is survival. It applies to ecosystems and energy systems, to all the
plants and animals, to fishing communities in the Cape, farming families in the north, and to city dwellers as well – to everyone, and every living thing. And here is something worth saying: South Africa has often been ahead of the curve on this.