Nicola Mawson
The inaugural South African State of Climate Action Report, developed by the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC), was officially handed over to Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment Minister (DFFE), Dr Dion George.
The report found that, even with South Africa’s commitments to addressing climate change, it must “accelerate implementation efforts, particularly in areas of governance, financing, and market reform”.
Among the issues the PCC found to be hindering a move towards Net Zero – the United Nation’s 2050 target for a climate-free world – were incoherent policies, weak governance structures, insufficient finance, and inconsistent actions by the government and other stakeholders.
“Our country continues to face significant climatic risks and impacts. Floods and droughts have ravaged different parts of our country in recent months, with the impacts affecting the poorest and most vulnerable communities the most,” wrote Valli Moosa, the deputy chairperson of the PCC.
“These events reflect a worrying and increasing trend of climatic incidents, harming people, their homes, their communities, and impacting their livelihoods.”
Established by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2020, the PCC is a multi-stakeholder body that produces recommendations to government, based on research, on South Africa’s country’s climate change response.
The report released yesterday calls for measures to be put place to reduce emissions and improve resilience.
It pointed to four sectors in particular where urgent intervention is needed: water, agriculture, energy, and transport.
It said a focus on these sectors would aid in South Africa achieving a low-carbon economy that is more resilient and strengthen the country’s global competitiveness, while also aiding in addressing the triple challenges of poverty, inequality, and unemployment.
The PCC noted that South Africa was often seen as doing well when it comes to developing policies, but its ability to implement these policies was lacking.
When it comes to contradictory public policies and positions in the context of the future of the energy sector, it said government was grappling with “immediate trade-offs between energy security, economic growth, the health impacts of pollution from fossil fuels, and climate commitments”.
It especially said the fact that there was no consensus when it comes to the timing of phasing out coal – which accounts for the bulk of South Africa’s electricity generation – was delaying the implementation of vital policy measures, not only to get ready for, but also enable the energy transition.
At the same time, there was not enough technical capability, while finances are also an issue in local municipalities, 60% of which are classified as dysfunctional.
The PCC said municipalities were meant to be front-end responders in the move towards Net Zero. However, it noted that there had also been limited investments in the just transition, from public, private, international, and domestic sources.
The report’s release followed the signing into law of the Climate Change Act, which directed MECs and Mayors of metropolitan or district municipalities to undertake climate change needs and response assessments for their provinces and metropolitan or district municipalities.
Ernst Muller, director of environment, social and governance at Herbert Smith Freehills, explained that metros and district municipalities must develop, implement and publish climate change response implementation plans, with assessments having to be repeated every five years and the related plans reviewed and amended at the same time.
Moreover, the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, alongside other members of Cabinet, must “develop plans aimed at reducing the vulnerability of society, the economy, specific sectors and the environment to the effects of climate change, while also strengthening the resilience of the socio-economic and environmental system and enhancing the adaptive capacity of society, the environment, specific sectors and economy to the impacts of climate change,” Muller explained.
Commenting on the report, Melissa Fourie, civil society commissioner on the PCC, said “our lofty goals in the National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy remain neglected and underfunded, with the consequences painfully evident as our municipalities are now regularly battered by rainfall events, floods, and drought – with little support towards recovery or resilience.”
BUSINESS REPORT