With just days to go before the South African delegate jets off to South East Asia, 25 year old Tamerin Jardine is ready to share her passion, views and environmental activism with the world. At a press conference hosted at the Tsogo Sun, Sandton Sun earlier this week, this young lawyer, environmentalist and passionate animal rights activist shared her hopes and dreams for the exciting journey she is about to embark on.
There is nothing that this young woman cannot do. This year’s international Miss Earth theme is Sustainable Energy and in light of this, the Miss Earth South Africa organisation’s light harvesting campaign alongside that of energy efficiency makes for a perfect offering as Jardine heads to Manila, Philippines. She is about to embark on a voyage to a new world of culture, experience and learning.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is leading a global initiative on Sustainable Energy to mobilize action from all sectors of society in support of three interlinked objectives to be achieved by 2030: providing universal access to modern energy services; doubling the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency; and doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix. Sustainable energy – energy that is accessible, cleaner and more efficient – powers opportunity.
It grows economies, it lights up homes, schools and hospitals, it empowers women and local communities and it paves a path out of poverty to greater prosperity for all. However, approximately one in five people around the world do not have access to modern energy services, with twice that number, 3 billion people, reliant on wood, coal, charcoal or animal waste for cooking and heating.
The Miss Earth South Africa in association with Consol strives to create a platform to empower young South African women to take on environmental and sustainability issues and build these young ladies to become Ambassadors for the extensive environmental, conservation and sustainable work done by the organisation. Recently having celebrated its 10th Anniversary, this leadership programme for young women has seen several Ambassadors come from the Johannesburg, the City of Gold, which is also home to Tamerin, the 2012 Miss Earth South Africa.
Having completed her LLB and BA Law degrees at the University of Johannesburg, Tamerin has always been
a passionate advocate of animal rights and an environmentalist who plans to go on to complete her Masters in Environmental Law. “I grew up on a farm surrounded by animals and the beauty of Mother Earth. Nature is thus so much a part of who I am. During my time as Miss Earth South Africa I have been actively involved in an extensive number of greening initiatives from tree planting, sustainable food gardens, to alien invasive clear outs and public area clean ups. As part of our South African programme I was also a part of the project that saw the Miss Earth South Africa organisation plant their 20,000th tree. An exciting milestone, which I was honoured to be a part of.” says Jardine.