CER turns seven! Seven highlights from the past seven years
31 March 2017 at 11:35 am
On 1 April 2017, it will be 7 years since the Centre for Environmental Rights first opened its doors. During the past seven years, CER has:
- Secured a victory for Earthlife Africa in South Africa’s first climate litigation, resulting in new jurisprudence confirming that climate change impacts must be considered for all new coal-fired power stations.
- Secured a victory for the Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance in their quest for access to the notorious Environmental Master Plan produced by steelmaker ArcelorMittal South Africa, resulting in new Supreme Court of Appeal jurisprudence on the transparency obligations of corporates, and the rights of fenceline communities.
- Achieved automatic access to licences from both the Departments of Environmental Affairs and Water & Sanitation.
- Exposed the failure of many prominent SA listed companies to disclose their non-compliance with environmental laws to investors.
- Successfully motivated for a new requirement in the King IV Report on Corporate GovernanceTM for more detailed environmental compliance reporting.
- Exposed the ongoing violation of environmental rights in Mpumalanga as a result of mining, and of pollution by Eskom’s coal-fired power stations.
- Secured the criminal conviction of the director of mining company to five years in prison for causing damage to the environment. The sentence was suspended for 5 years.
None of these victories would have been possible without the support and faith of our activist clients and partners, and our funders, small and large – thank you to all of you for your ongoing support for the CER. And even more importantly, thank you to our passionate and hardworking staff who live and breathe the CER every day, and many nights.
There is so much more to come! If you love the CER’s work as much as we do and wish to support the CER with a donation, visit our Support Us page, or contact Annette Gibbs on [email protected] or 021 447 1647.