Featured Post

NEWS: Coastal wetlands are unable to adapt to the rate of sea-level rise and are constrained by infrastructure

Posted by on
Wetlands, precious ecosystems that shield coastlines, safeguard drinking water from saltwater contamination, and nourish diverse wildlife, face a dire threat from the accelerating pace of sea-level rise, driven by global warming. Wetlands have historically adapted to rising sea levels by expanding upward and inland. However, predictions indicate that the waterline will soon shift far too rapidly for wetlands to keep pace. Consequently, future decades may witness the tragic loss of these vital wetland ecosystems. Wetlands along coastlines have historically played valuable roles for people and wildlife, but are now facing the threat of sea-level rise. As temperatures rise, sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate, and wetlands are unable to keep pace by building upward and migrating inland. This is due to human-induced climate change and the burning of fossil fuels, which has warmed the oceans and melted glaciers. Sea levels are now rising at about 10 millimeters per year, and are
0

Infrastructure Fund project pipeline worth R700bn

Posted by on
President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his State of the Nation Address (Sona2020) that the Infrastructure Fund has finalised a list of shovel-ready projects,and had begun work to expand private investment into public infrastructure sectors with revenue streams.


Infrastructure Fund project pipeline worth R700bn

The fund which was announced by Ramaphosa in 2019 and which is managed by the Development Bank of Southern Africa has finalised a list of shovel-ready projects, the president said, and had begun work to expand private investment into public infrastructure sectors with revenue streams.


These projects include both government and nongovernment contributions.



“These include areas like student accommodation, social housing, independent water production, rail freight branch lines, embedded electricity generation, municipal bulk infrastructure and broadband rollout.”


Ramaphosa said the social housing programme to build rental housing for low income families was at an implementation stage. It could leverage R9bn of private investment in the construction of 37,000 rental apartments.

The government planned to spend R64bn on student accommodation over the next few years and would leverage at least another R64bn in private investment.

The president said the government’s investment drive would be enhanced with the establishment of an integrated investment and promotion facilitation capability co-ordinated from the presidency.

A third investment conference would be held in November. At the second investment conference last year over 70 companies made investment commitments of R364bn.

“In the first two years of our ambitious investment drive we have raised a total of R664bn in investment commitments which is more than half of our five-year target of R1,2-trillion,” the president said.

“Already projects with an investment value of R9bn have been completed and 27 projects worth just over R250bn are in implementation phase with more coming on stream this year.”


To view original article click here


Comments

Post a Comment