Conference of the Parties

The 183 Parties were discussing 120 documents and 62 proposals at the 17th Conference of the Parties (CoP17) to the Convention on International Trade...

The lions are once again kings of Timbavati in Limpopo. But their numbers in the wild remain small. CITES CoP17 is opening on 24...

It's all systems go as South Africa signs the host country agreement for the CITES CoP17 World Wildlife Conference to be held in Johannesburg this year. The logo for the conference, featuring a white rhino, has also been unveiled. The conference will focus on the illegal trade in endangered species.

The 17th Conference of the Parties, bringing together all 181 members states of Cites, will be held in Joburg in 2016. South Africa is a well-chosen host. The country is battling the illegal trade in rhino horn and elephants tusks, and trying to stop the voracious poachers.

The South African government has appointed a panel of experts to advise it on the likely effects of legalising the global rhino horn trade on the levels of rhino poaching in the country, but has made no final decision or proposal on the issue, says the Department of Environmental Affairs.

Linzi Lewis wears many hats; she describes herself as an urban geographer and ethno-botanist. Fiercely protective of her Mother Earth, she says she is constantly mindful of her relationship between herself and the planet.

US independent power provider Hydro Alternative Energy is in talks with the City of Durban on plans to develop a world-first project that would harvest hydrokinetic energy from the fast-flowing Agulhas current off South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal coastline.

Representatives from the 32 countries in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, meeting in Bonn, Germany this weekend, expressed their determination to build on the strong momentum of the UN climate talks in Durban.

The 17th Conference of the Parties ended on a high note in Durban, with the announcement that governments have agreed to a second term of the Kyoto Protocol.
• Call to action for a green economy

It went far into overtime, but the UN climate summit hosted and steered by South Africa finally delivered the deal the world has been waiting for - a clear pathway to a legally binding instrument that will compel all countries, including the biggest polluters, to take action to slow the pace of global warming.