A Platform for African Voices: Environmental Scientists Tackle Poverty, Inequality

IOL News

2 days ago

Activists stage a protest during the final days of the Plastics Treaty Negotiations at the United Nations Offices in Geneva on August 13, 2025.
Image: AFP
Professor Vetrimurugan Elumalai
The world faces a wave of climate crises, and time is slipping away.
No continent is safe. There is an unparalleled peak in climate-related crises. Weather patterns are extreme and dangerous. The fragile balance of biodiversity is in peril. Ecosystems are being eroded, and natural habitats are being destroyed. Pollution is an ever-increasing hazard as air, water, and soil are contaminated.
Our very life force is under threat. Without prompt and concerted action, the outcomes for future generations will be devastating. We will increasingly witness life-threatening heatwaves, floods, disappearing species, and the disappearance of water, as well as ecosystems.
It is within this context of impending hydrogeological calamity that the University of Zululand will be hosting the Third International Conference on Earth and Environmental Sciences (ICEES 17-24 August 2025).
This prestigious event, to be opened by Dr Blade Nzimande, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, brings together renowned scientists, policymakers, industry leaders, and civil society actors from across the world in the field of environmental science.
The conference will focus on interlinked concerns: climate change and water security; pollution and environmental degradation; and biodiversity loss.
This conference is more than an intellectual landmark — it is a vitally crucial strategic intervention which signals that African universities can be leaders, not followers, in the global environmental arena. The idea of science in the service of communities is at the heart of the university.
Rooted in the rural heartland of KwaZulu-Natal, the university is engaged in leading-edge analysis in water security, pollution control, and biodiversity protection. This is a kind of research that is grounded in the lived realities of communities encountering critical environmental stresses. The research interest is thus not limited to scholastic curiosity.
It also finds resonance with the strategic goal of ensuring rural community survival and resilience. "Our research is not abstract," says Vice-Chancellor of UNIZULU, Xoliswa Mtose, "It is grounded in the needs of communities. When we talk about groundwater protection or pollution control, it is because we see — daily — what happens when these systems fail."
Water security is our highest priority. In Southern Africa, increasing global temperatures, unpredictable rainfall, and lengthy droughts are weakening freshwater resources to the breaking point. Rural communities often endure the brunt of these pressures, yet they are infrequently given a voice in shaping water policy.
Through our Research Centre for Water Science and Technology, we are advancing groundwater management, hydro-geochemistry, and climate adaptation strategies that blend cutting-edge scientific methods with indigenous knowledge and community-led solutions.
Pollution, often a silent crisis, is a concern that should also be taken seriously. From the dangers of organic pollutants and acid mine drainage to the global scourge of plastic waste, our researchers are not only analysing the problems but vigorously developing remediation technologies.
Our work is performed in partnership with municipalities, government departments, and global institutions. This ensures that findings are not sealed away in scholarly journals but decoded into policy reforms and operational strategies. In doing so, we are assisting in shifting environmental governance from reactive crisis management to proactive, science-informed planning.South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, yet habitat loss, overexploitation, and climate disruption are accelerating.
For many living in rural settings, the very issue of biodiversity is the cornerstone of everyday survival. To address this challenge, the university cooperates with conservation agencies and international networks to devise community-based conservation measures that link ecological defence directly to sustainable livelihoods.
This is critical in the African context, where conservation cannot thrive without managing poverty, inequality, and the historical dispossession of land and resources. ICEES 2025 is not a sole initiative but the continuation of a decade of strategic, international collaboration. The conference series arose from a South Africa–China research partnership funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).
Since 2015, this partnership has delivered 13 peer-reviewed papers, a significant academic book, student exchanges, and specialist workshops. The 2023 conference, held in China under the theme of "Valuing Groundwater for the Future," attracted leading heavyweight practitioners in water science. Both technical research and policy frameworks for sustainable groundwater governance were conference outcomes.
Last year, UNIZULU hosted the International Conference on Water and Environmental Sustainability in Richards Bay, which was attended by over 200 delegates. The Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, David Mahlobo, was a keynote speaker. The conference highlighted the political and economic urgency of sustainable water management.
These events have bolstered South Africa's international profile in environmental science and reinforced the University of Zululand's role as a generator of actionable policy recommendations.In a post-pandemic world, debates over sustainable development, the just energy transition, and inclusive climate action have become more acute and more examined.
The global environmental agenda remains overwhelmed by voices from the Global North, even though the Global South endures the most devastating effects. ICEES 2025 is designed to change that dynamic.
By assembling international experts in KwaZulu-Natal, the University of Zululand is placing African science not as a secondary partner but as a driver of international solutions. This is not metaphorical. It is strategic.
We strive to ensure that conference discussions are grounded in both scientific evidence and the real-world needs of impacted communities. Sessions will be structured to yield concrete results — from policy briefs for government and multilateral agencies to technical approaches for industry and NGOs.