CAN Rio+20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, genuinely improve environmental protection of such assets as clean air, fresh water, oceans, plants and animals - in a sense common global goods?
Other than glib promises about job creation, we have heard very little about the social consequences of starting a fracking industry in South Africa.
Despite the much celebrated second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol, there is a mood of despondency sweeping global carbon markets.
Much to the horror of greenie friends, I've always been a pragmatist when it comes to the use of nuclear technology.
After many years of putting it off, I have finally committed to riding the Argus Cycle Tour. This means I am doing some serious huffing and puffing up hills as I try to get fit enough for the race. But the upside is that I am seeing a whole new side to Johannesburg city and the roads that I take for granted in my car. I am also acutely aware of how bicycle-unfriendly our city is.
It irritates me that I often shop "blind" - when prices indicated on supermarket shelves are not easy to link to the products.
South African maize prices are reaching record highs, and we may need to start importing maize due to existing export commitments.
While the rest of us were celebrating New Year, 18 contestants from seven countries were preparing to set off on the most extreme endurance race in the world.
Predictably after the recent climate negotiations the usual contingent of climate-change sceptics voiced their opinions.
Overall hosting of the COP
At the risk of alienating some of you, here is my two cents' worth on the tolling of our roads.
Everything we've experienced about the traffic situation in Johannesburg has been confirmed.
Cruising around Johannesburg, you can clearly see that more and more people have opted for an alternative to the traditional house on a large piece of land with a white palisade fence.
Once in my biology class I watched in wonder as yeast in a grape juice-filled Petri dish multiplied uncontrollably.
It was a shock to arrive at Zoo Lake on a Sunday afternoon, with a picnic basket in hand, to find usually picturesque open spaces of the park swamped in rubbish.
