Chairperson, hon members and Ministers, it is indeed appropriate that we are debating the issue of climate change today. In Barcelona delegates from countries all around the world, including our own delegation, are working around the clock, trying to find common ground in order to reach an agreement that will allow us to establish a new international climate regime in Copenhagen in December. It is proper that we pay tribute to this South African team that is holding the flag high not only for this country, but also for Africa.
Before we deal with this and, in order to contextualise it, it would be important to go back and understand why this issue is so important for the world, for our continent and for our country. It is now understood that global warming that creates changes in our climate and in our weather patterns is caused by an accumulation of greenhouse gases, such as carbon and methane, released into the atmosphere. These gases are released through activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and the clearing of land for development and many other human activities. They remain in the atmosphere for many years and create a greenhouse effect in that they prevent gases from escaping and cause temperatures to rise and, in turn, icebergs to melt and weather patterns to become unpredictable. Under these circumstances, we get increased extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, hurricanes and tornadoes.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, was established as a global scientific body to research and report on climate change and its impact. The IPCC's fourth assessment report has identified a set of issues of key importance for us. In the first place, they identified the fact that, in order to avoid irreversible and dangerous climate change, global temperatures must not be allowed to rise above 2 degrees of preindustrial levels. This is equivalent to a concentration of about 450 parts per million of carbon concentration in the atmosphere.
They also identified that, in order to achieve this, the developed countries of the world would need to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by between 25% and 40% by 2020 and by 80% to 95% by 2050, while developing countries would need to reduce their greenhouse gases to below their business as usual path by 2050. I met with nongovernmental organisations on Tuesday, and they gave me a petition on the global target of 350 parts per million, which is quite ambitious. Furthermore, the IPCC has identified Africa as the continent that will suffer the most serious impacts of climate change.
This vulnerability is both at the level of the physical impact in relation to changing weather patterns and extreme weather events such as floods and droughts, as well as the capacity of Africa's people to build up resilience to withstand major changes in such factors as their access to water and changes in weather that would harm agricultural production and destroy livelihoods.
South Africa is no exception to this, and the work done by our scientists in taking forward the IPCC conclusions indicates that we will experience unpredictability of weather conditions, a rise in sea levels, serious impacts on our water resources and our agriculture, as well as changes in the distribution of pests with serious impacts on the health of our people.
Climate change is a global issue. In order to bring down the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, all the nations of the world must agree to work together and to take action. This is the Copenhagen challenge. We, as a country, are committed to playing our part in the global effort to address climate change, both in relation to ensuring that we are prepared to adapt to the negative impacts of climate change, as well as reducing our greenhouse gas emissions in the future.
We are working on a national climate change policy, and we look forward to tabling this in Parliament for national consultation during the course of 2010. This policy will include the programme and actions needed for both adaptation and mitigation and we will set out the roles, responsibilities and actions of all spheres of government and all key departments and sectors.
A central element of this national policy will be to build on the long-term mitigation scenarios. This work has identified a trajectory that would allow our emissions to rise from about 450 parts per million currently to about 550 parts per million in 2020 to 2025. We would then want them to stabilise at that level for about a decade on the basis of a range of low carbon interventions in the way we run our economy, and we would then want to see them decline in absolute terms from about 2035.
In order to do this and given the high levels of fossil fuel dependence at present, we would need substantial assistance from the international community, in relation to financing for low carbon initiatives in particular, as well as technology transfer and access to technology.
In this context, we are pleased to announce that South Africa has secured a concessional loan of $500 million, which will leverage another $1 billion, that will allow for major low carbon investments in a concentrated solar power plant, wind power and in enabling the private sector to invest in energy efficiency and build a solar water heating industry.
It is worth noting that South Africa is already doing a lot to reduce its dependence on coal. Renewable energy is part of our mixed energy policy. We have invested a lot of money to modernise our transport.
It is our hope that the negotiations currently under way in Copenhagen would further support the roll-out of such actions, as well as enable us to take early action to adapt to climate impacts. With finances made available, we have the potential to do more. We can enhance our technology capacity, we can co-operate with other countries to produce clean technology locally, in the process creating jobs and developing skills for our people.
These negotiations are taking place in two parallel tracks: the Bali Action Plan and the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol is an instrument of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that provides for developed countries to take legally binding actions while, on the other hand, it ensures bolder actions from developing countries.
For Africa, we have a serious concern. Weak emission reduction targets from the developed world will mean that the two percent centigrade rise in temperatures will happen with potentially devastating consequences. For Africa and South Africa, our continued development and survival requires the developed world to play its part. It is in this context that the Africa walkout of the negotiations earlier this week took place. It resulted in a renewed focus on targets and numbers for a mission to clear reductions.
In the Bali Action Plan negotiations, countries are trying to find agreement on how to enhance implementation of the convention in five key respects. Agreement is needed on a shared vision and long-term global goal for missions. Developed countries are not signatories to the Kyoto Protocol. Those that are not, like the United States, must take on a mission reduction that is comparable to other developed countries.
Developing countries have agreed to take voluntary and nationally appropriate mitigation actions, a programme that will ensure that adaptation is given equal priority. At this stage in the negotiations, there is a substantial way to go to find an acceptable agreement. In particular, the developed world is trying to shift the burden of emission reductions to developing countries, and it is also not putting adequate financial commitments on the table.
Chairperson, we need to be clear that a developing country, such as South Africa with its challenges regarding the need to develop in order to achieve growth and poverty eradication, insists on its carbon space. While agreeing on the need for us to take action on climate change and reduce our emissions, we cannot enter into an agreement that will not allow us to move forward as a nation. We also cannot sign up to an agreement that does not recognise the priority of adaptation. I thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Chairperson before I start with my very short speech, I would like to tell the Minister that she has put South Africa on the map. We have just arrived as a joint portfolio committee from three countries: Washington, Copenhagen and Swaziland. In all these countries, we were told that you are one of the best negotiators in Africa. [Applause.]
Climate change is a major threat to sustainable growth and development in Africa and the achievement of Millennium Development Goals, MDGs. Therefore urgent action is needed. Although Africa is the continent least responsible for climate change, it is particularly vulnerable to the effects, including reduced agricultural production, worsening food insecurity, the increased incidence of both flooding and drought, spreading diseases, and an increased risk of conflict over scarce land and water resources.
Sis Pam, i-climate change ke kukujika-jika kwemozulu xa kumana kubakho iimvula, izikhukula iinkanyamba phaya eMpumakoloni nalapha eNtshona Koloni, kunjalo nje iNtshona Koloni iza kuba lixhoba lezo zikhukula kwixesha elizayo. Yiclimate change ke leyo mhlobo wam. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.) [Sis Pam, climate change is a change in weather patterns, such as rainfall, floods, tornados which occur in the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape. The Western Cape will be a victim of those floods in future. That is climate change, my friend.]
More efforts will be needed to work out the costs of the impact of climate change and to inform and sensitise domestic audiences. Support from development partners is needed to assist Africa to cope with these effects. Action on a broader range of issues is also needed by the wider international community, by multilateral, bilateral development agencies and by African governments themselves.
Although South Africa is not an Annex 1 country, that is ... ... into ethetha ukuthi ...[which means ...]
... we are not legally required to commit to emissions reduction under the Kyoto Protocol, it acceded to the Kyoto Protocol in June 2001.
South Africa's noble intention to mitigate climate change derives from its unique position in the climate change regime. For example, South Africa is Africa's greatest emitter of greenhouse gases, as it depends on coal for power production, despite the fact that emissions from the African continent are low and expected to remain so in the immediate future. South Africa's high emission profile on the African continent is attributable to the overall large size of its economy as well as the coal dependency of its energy economy. South Africa is the most industrialised country in Africa.
Baza kusinceda nabo batshaya kakhulu babengathi batshaya kancinci ukuze sincedisane. Amalahle la siwasebenzisa kakhulu necuba nalo silithathe kancinci kuba kaloku umsi nawo uyasenzakalisa. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[The chain smokers will also help us by reducing their rate of smoking. Our coal and tobacco usage must be reduced because the smoke endangers us.]
To this end, the ANC's position on environmental issues is reflected in the Reconstruction and Development Programme, RDP. It is this vision that has informed the various policies, programmes and actions of the ANC-led government since 1994.
During the apartheid years, the vast majority of our people bore the brunt of poor sanitation, were located in the areas where the most polluting industries existed, and were denied the basic right to defend themselves against harmful activities. The ANC's vision has, therefore, sought to embrace a transformative environmentalism based on the ideas of sustainable development, which is built on the interconnection of environmental, social and economic justice. In this regard, and acting in concert with governments, international bodies, Pan-African structures and international environmental bodies, the ANC has played a leading role in shaping global debates. This has been through our - albeit limited - participation in the Rio Earth Summit, followed by our country's hosting of the momentous World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002.
At these historic forums, the ANC has consistently championed a progressive response to the environmental dimensions of development, particularly climate change, facing Africa and the countries of the South.
There will be massive socioeconomic consequences that will impact greatly on Africa. These include increased poverty, diseases, water scarcity, food insecurity and agricultural losses. Hon Phumzile Bhengu will mention the impact on the poorest of the poor, especially women in rural areas.
Significantly, there is now general scientific agreement that the African continent has, in recent years, been showing all the signs of climate change. These are increasing frequency of floods, the rise in sea levels, increasing frequency of droughts, water scarcity, loss of biodiversity, and irregular frequency and severity of climatic conditions.
Many African regions and countries will, therefore, lack the capacity to generate effective adaptive responses to changes that climate change will bring. In South Africa itself, the impacts of climate change are predicted to include a reduction in rainfall and an increase in droughts on the western side of the country.
It is, therefore, critical that the SA government and Parliament - as Parliament also has a role to play in this regard - factor these aspects into their planning. The key elements of future international frameworks should include initiatives on emissions trading, technology co-operation, actions to reduce deforestation and adapt to climate change.
Co-operation between and amongst SADC countries include, among others: renewable energy resources, information and communication technology, transport and fisheries and the fight against HIV/Aids and malaria.
There are a number of protocols in the region that can guide the development of African positions on Africa's problems. African countries' heads of state can begin to use existing mechanisms to deepen and enhance its adaptation and mitigation strategies in the region.
While South Africa contributes to climate change, its historical contributions are minimal compared to those of developed countries. South Africa needs to provide hospitals, schools, roads and other infrastructure and social development to its previously disadvantaged communities.
The role of legislatures is critical, as was stipulated in the December 2009 Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, in that international agreements are the base documents that define national policies and pieces of domestic legislation. South Africa is fortunate in that, unlike other countries on the continent, the committee has a good communication relationship with its Ministries. This then allows the legislatures to make inputs and undertake oversight over the relevant treaties and conventions that will guide committees' work on climate change.
The reason for us coming up with this statement is because, when we visited some of these countries, we discovered that most of their members of parliament don't have a clue about the agreements that exist between their and other countries because of the lack of communication between their ministries and parliament. In some instances they would claim that their country is not part of something. However, when one does some research and retrieves the minutes of those agreements, one discovers that that specific country is part of the agreements. It would seem that their parliament is not aware of those agreements because of lack of communication between the ministries and the parliamentarians. Therefore, parliaments have an important role to play in enacting sound legislation that can protect the environment, lead to the attainment of sustainable food security and reduce poverty.
As I have said to hon Frolick, these are some of the proposals which we, as Members of this Parliament, drafted: Firstly, parliamentarians must ensure the strengthening of government institutions through better integration of legislation and policies to build long-term adaptive capacity and resilience against food shortages. This should include the mainstreaming of climate change into all government departments that contribute to or are impacted on by climate change.
Secondly, we must ensure that climate change considerations inform all policy decision-making across government. Thirdly, we must ensure that disaster management mechanisms are fully operational. Lastly, parliamentarians should play an information and advocacy role on climate change issues within their own legislatures. The SA Parliament has, to date, made inputs into national pieces of environmental and energy legislation, but international agreements need further engagement by our Parliament.
Whilst Copenhagen negotiations by South Africa are quite advanced in terms of growth without limits scenarios and are required by science scenarios, there is still a need for legislatures to play a role in this process. For legislatures, the importance of assessing the outcome of the deal in Copenhagen and making recommendations in undertaking oversight over the new deal is critical. Like the parliament of the United Kingdom with the promulgation of the Climate Change Act, one needs to begin to look at legislatures' role in providing information to government on mitigation and sustainable development.
On 7 September the portfolio committee held a video conference with the parliament of the UK regarding issues of climate change, in order to learn from other countries on how to deal with issues of climate change in a country.
As representatives of the citizenry and through their oversight functions and constituency offices, parliaments are in a better position to identify and respond to societal needs. Parliamentarians are also responsible for holding the executive and government to account by overseeing their work and ensuring that they do not infringe on the rights of citizens and waste state resources. The oversight work also affords parliamentarians an opportunity to make informed decisions on issues of national importance.
As Parliament, we are responsible for approving the national budget and, therefore, have a major say in how state resources are allocated. This gives Parliament the authority to ensure that substantial resources are allocated to the sectors that are of importance and of relevance.
Through their involvement in the budgetary process, parliamentarians must advocate for an increase in government funding for research on and implementation of adaptation and mitigation studies. They must ensure that Parliament allocates more resources to public education and awareness at all levels, and integrate environmental education across government departments.
They must explore the use of innovative mechanisms to increase funding for adaptation and mitigation at the national level. They must encourage development partners to ensure that their development assistance does not create negative environmental impacts. In addition, development assistance programmes should be reformed to support mitigation, disaster risk reduction, and adaptation measures.
From theory to practice, the following initiatives are guiding the work of the lead portfolio committee, the Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs, to devise a 5-year plan which will incorporate the following aspects relating to climate change: The portfolio committee will set up a multi-party, inter-sectoral committee on climate change and sustainable development in the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa; it will undertake public hearings, debates, seminars, set up video conferences like the one I have just mentioned; it will hold joint public hearings with other select and portfolio committees.
These public hearings are going to be held in South Africa on 17 to 18 November 2009, and we have invited university students who are specialists on issues of climate change to come and participate in these hearings; and a mini conference will be held on 16 to 17 February 2010 to address the outcome of the December 2009 Copenhagen negotiations.
The portfolio committee is to have a dialogue with the relevant select and portfolio committees on the formation of the committee on climate change and sustainable development, in order to forge a programme from these discussions. We have learnt that, in most countries, there is a unit or a commission or a select committee - call it what you will - that exists in their parliaments which deals specifically with issues of climate change and energy. I think we just need to sit down and plan the composition of the committee or unit that we would like to have in our Parliament.
In conclusion, I believe that this Parliament will have a delegation of all committees that are affected, starting from environment, agriculture, science and technology, through to energy. Actually, every committee has a role to play in issues of climate change, right up to the committees on health and social development. Every one of them has a responsibility when it comes to issues of climate change.
Then, I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our Speaker who delivered a keynote address at Copenhagen in which he committed South Africa to leading Africa. [Time expired.] Thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, our democracy has emerged from a long period of injustice, inequality and discrimination. We know more than most countries what it is like to fight for justice, but there is another battle that now needs to be fought, and that is for climate justice. The climate change challenge that confronts us today, and which at its current trajectory will lead to, most probably, a climatic disaster, is also characterised by the need to simultaneously overcome inequality and discrimination.
Legislators in this Parliament at the end of the 21st century will judge us here today on how successful we were in simultaneously addressing climate change and reducing poverty. While the majority of the focus of the Copenhagen climate negotiations will be on getting the developed countries to commit to ambitious, binding emissions reduction targets, let us not forget that we too have to adapt to climate change and play our role in mitigating it.
It must be noted that 75% to 80% of the costs of the damage from climate change will be carried by the developing world. Climate change will most acutely be felt in Africa, where 95% of agriculture is rainfall dependent. The other likely effects, including the higher incidents and frequency of extreme weather events, will be equally devastating. I trust, therefore, that everyone in this House will take climate change seriously. Whether we like it or not, it is going to force its way high onto the agenda of both government and Parliament.
As Graeme Wheeler, the Managing Director of Operations at the World Bank noted, the financial crisis originated in the developed world and contaminated developing countries, and so too did the concentration of greenhouse gases.
The climate negotiations now under way are particularly complex because they involve at the same time serious equity and moral considerations as well as difficult issues of sequencing and competitiveness.
We are confronted with forging a post 2012-climate deal at the same time as the world is in recession. Public sector debt to gross domestic product, GDP, ratios is on a dangerous path in many countries and politicians in the developed world worry whether mitigation measures will weaken the economic recoveries of their countries. They are also worried about the domestic fiscal impact of large financial transfers to developing countries for the purposes of adaptation.
Investment in transforming the world's energy systems will be substantial if we are to prevent global warming beyond two degrees Celsius. What do we need out of the Copenhagen process this year? We need ambitious quantified emission reduction commitments from developed countries and nationally appropriate actions by developing countries such as South Africa that meet the scale and urgency of the challenge.
We need delivery, at the scale required, of financial and technological support from developed to developing countries, through public finance and market mechanisms, to help developing countries adapt to the impacts of climate change and to mitigate emissions in a way that is consistent with development goals.
We need an improved review and enforcement mechanism that will strengthen delivery and allow commitments and actions to be enhanced in response to the latest scientific and socioeconomic information, in accordance with the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities.
It is important to look at how South Africa is doing in response to the climate change challenge. It is a general belief that our government is performing admirably at the international negotiations. The domestic front is less impressive.
While we, through the long-term mitigation scenarios, have an understanding of what South Africa needs to do to ultimately reduce its own emissions in the period after 2030, how we are going to get there remains unclear. No doubt after the climate negotiations are complete government will begin to table its plans in more detail, but let me sound a warning, and that is, the longer we take to respond to reducing our emissions the more difficult it will become.
The investments we make today- and I am thinking here particularly about the love affair that Eskom has with building new coal power stations - will lock us into a particular emissions trajectory for years and years to come. Therefore, even if we only plan to reduce actual emissions many years from now, we need to make our investments now in a way that allows those reductions to happen later.
There are, however, many initiatives that legislators in this House must drive as soon as possible. We need to insist on higher industrial efficiency standards; we need to strengthen the building of appliance energy standards; we need stricter vehicle fuel standards; and we need to unblock the blockages that are preventing a massive private sector uptake of renewable energy. In this regard, Eskom must be tackled head-on.
Just because Eskom has had a monopoly on producing and distributing electricity in the past we must not accept that this situation should continue into the future. If we want to guarantee our energy security in the future and diversify and decarbonise our energy supply in accordance with what scientists tell us to do, then Eskom is not the solution. How can we trust an entity that has planned so poorly in the past to secure our energy security today, with our energy security in the future?
Cabinet is due to release its integrated resource plan for electricity any day now. There will be significant comments around this document, but we need to look at it critically through the climate change lens. Responding to climate change in the electricity sector will be best achieved by a combination of both public and private sector players.
This House is not yet ready to provide the type of oversight on climate change that is required. Climate change is crosscutting. The response must not only come from individuals and the private sector, but from various government departments, including energy, water and environmental affairs, trade and industry, transport, science and technology, and agriculture, forestry and fisheries.
There is, in my opinion, therefore a need to create a special climate change committee in the National Assembly. Its members should come from all the critical portfolio committees, and they must be capacitated to understand the science and the economics of the challenge.
As Sir Nicholas Stern has said "inaction is more costly than action". We must confront the climate change challenge. When legislators at the end of the century look back at this Parliament, we should be known as a Parliament that built a foundation for a country that is sustainable, climate proof and prosperous. Thank you. [Applause.]
Mr Speaker, I think that the only thing the chairperson of our portfolio committee omitted in her report was to say that in the absence of the hon Komphela we were able to play host to 2010 and we sang Shosholoza.
To worry about painting a house when a mighty boulder on the peak is just about to take a tumble in its direction, is to confuse one's priorities horribly. That is precisely what is happening with us. We are arguing about clinging to untenable technologies to preserve our ailing economy. Yet we are about to lose our very climate, our biodiversity, our natural capital, our low-lying coastal regions, our agriculture and our future. The rock is about to tumble.
Global warming, through the emission of greenhouse gases, is acidifying our oceans. The livelihood of our fishermen is at stake. Fish on our tables might be a thing of the past. Scientists have been projecting that within 20 to 50 years the western parts of South Africa will become progressively drier. It is already happening now. Drought in parts of the Western and Eastern Cape has been intensifying for the past few years.
However, what we are seeing now is only the tip of the iceberg. We will experience prolonged and more damaging droughts in the western parts of South Africa with greater regularity. Life, as we know it, is about to change in a terrible way.
So too is the landscape. The deserts in South Africa are annually encroaching onto our arable land at an alarming rate. It will come as a shock to our nation to know that the United Nations Environment Programme classifies more than 90% of South Africa as arid, semi-arid or sub humid. That leaves us with only 10% of our territory for major economic activity. And we are even stressing that small portion of our common inheritance. It's a shame.
Equally alarming is a report by South Africa's National Botanical Institute suggesting that land in 25% of all magisterial districts in South Africa is already severely degraded. Tiny climatic changes in such areas will cause the total collapse of agriculture. As the increasing desertification continues, it will reduce the ability of such land to support life, human beings, wild species, flora, domestic animals, and agricultural crops. It is crunch time. If our biodiversity suffers, and our biodiversity is worth billions, our present and future prosperity will be imperilled.
To have a successful economy a country has to have natural resources, its natural capital. The greatest resource in this period of climate change is water, yet water in our country is wasted. Water is polluted. Water is overused. Sadly, many agricultural, industrial and commercial concerns are simply not bothering to implement environmentally sustainable strategies. Yet, as everyone knows, ecology is everything. Ecology, however, is very fragile. To destroy ecology requires neither knowledge, nor time, nor effort. Once destroyed, it is difficult to re-engineer.
In a survey conducted by Terra Nova Research, more than 40% of the 200 companies surveyed in South Africa did not have any plans to incorporate ways to measure their impact on the environment. Our entire economy is in jeopardy because this government is not giving centrality to climate change in our economy. Climate change is not peripheral to economic planning. It is pivotal.
Cope is very clear about what needs to be done. Cope recognises that water is the basis of life and of all activities. We also recognise that climate change is already here. We would, therefore, as part of the activist state that we are, promote, support and develop desalination plants all along our shorelines.
As Cope, we will make the use of solar geysers mandatory throughout South Africa. Poor households, however, will be assisted with solar geysers. A million solar geysers, at a cost of about R20 billion, would help to do away with a new coal burning power station costing R40 billion or more. This can be done immediately. Besides, each household will be able to slash 50% of its electricity bill. Heads or tails, the consumer wins.
Another priority will be to give considerable support for the Joule, the new all South African electrical car. Cope will also immediately standardise battery packs so that it will be possible for manufacturers to achieve cost-effective volume production of standard packs. If the cost of battery packs comes down through volume, so will the cost of the car. This is critical. Maybe one of the things we need to do is to encourage lift clubs so that we can minimise the number of cars emitting gas on the roads. This requires no more than political will.
Also, one of our priorities will be to invigorate the production of photovoltaic systems. This can be done through achieving economies of scale and the use of manufacturing infrastructure that is already in place. Bringing down the price of photovoltaic systems will be a great boost to our economy seeing that we have so much solar radiation in our country. The only inhibiting factor is the cost. Achieving economies of scale will alter that scenario instantly and induce more people to go the photovoltaic route.
Another priority will be to press ahead with wind turbines. Tardy members of our government may be interested to know that 365 wind turbines are in the process of being installed. [Time expired.]
Hon Speaker, just like poverty, Aids and international conflicts, global warming and climate change is threatening human existence on an unprecedented scale. Whatever the outcome, South Africa and its leadership should be seen to be among the nations that are waging a war to minimise the effects and impact of global warming and climate change on human and planet life.
The question is: What are we doing to keep this issue on the public agenda and ensure that a global sustainable agreement is forged? South Africa is responsible for about 60% of the African continent's carbon dioxide emissions and almost 1,5% of the amount produced globally. Though we can claim that this amount is small, this is a significant contribution and requires our national government to take the lead in ensuring that the provisions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol are implemented.
The responsibility for co-ordination and implementation has been delegated to the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs. In addition, the government has established the Department of Minerals the as designated authority for the clean development mechanism under Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol.
Communication and public education about climate change must be improved, especially to the poor rural farmers whose lives and livelihood will be harshly affected by its impact.
On the other hand, owing to its ugly past of apartheid and gross inequalities, South Africa needs to provide houses, hospitals, schools, roads and other infrastructural developments in many working class communities. Our country cannot afford to abandon its developmental commitments while countries of the North primarily benefited from decades of development based on fossil fuels.
President Jacob Zuma, at the recent UN General Assembly, correctly stated that there needs to be an agreement on new, additional, sustainable and predictable financing for adaptation. This should be for programmes that reduce the vulnerability of developing countries to the effects of climate change.
Industrialised countries, therefore, face the biggest responsibility and burden for action to address climate change. They, therefore, must support developing nations to adapt through financing and technology transfer, for example.
Without additional measures to mitigate climate change, global greenhouse gas emissions will continue to grow over the coming decades and beyond. Most of this increase would come from developing countries where, per capita, emissions are still considerably lower than those in developed countries.
In December 2009, world leaders will meet in Copenhagen with a view to coming up with a solution to the problem of climate change. Its success will be measured by whether China and the United States of America come to the table and agree to reduce their emissions. [Time expired.] I thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Speaker, it is clear that the world is currently confronted with a number of complex and urgent challenges. An economic crisis, intractable conflicts, resource depletion and lifting 2 billion people out of poverty are all challenges we have to face head-on. Unfortunately, however, climate change will exacerbate all of these problems and will put to waste all of our efforts at resolving them.
The reality that the international community has to accept is that, unlike our global economy, the climate will not respond to short-term stimulus packages, nor will it take notice of positive market sentiment. Once a certain level of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere is crossed, runaway climate change will kick in and there will be nothing any of us can do to stop it. All of our noble sentiments, international negotiations and inspiring speeches will be disregarded by our changing climate and it will show no mercy, nor morality, in its devastation. Poor and vulnerable communities are already starting to feel its impacts regardless of the fact that it is wealthy countries that bear primary responsibility for causing climate change.
But now is not the time for blame. The climate simply cannot afford a global stalemate in the Copenhagen negotiations with both sides using each other's inaction as an excuse to do nothing. Industrialised countries must take on reduction targets of nothing less than 25% to 40% by 2012, and the electorates of those countries must demand this of their negotiators.
In addition, financial and technical resources must be provided for developing countries to employ clean technologies. High emitting developing countries - and South Africa unfortunately falls into this group - must also live up to their end of the bargain by agreeing to put in place low carbon action plans in time for the new treaty to be put in place. The ID, therefore, calls upon President Zuma to lead a delegation of African heads of state to Copenhagen to ensure that such an agreement is reached.
A global agreement, however, will not be enough. It must be followed by strong actions at national, local and personal level. As hon Manuel said on Tuesday, all of us in this House are part of the elite and we need to show solidarity with the poor in the world by making changes to our own consumption habits. We are all part of the problem, but now is the time for us to become part of the solution.
Hon Speaker, I know that my time has expired; I just hope it hasn't for humanity. I thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Speaker and hon members of this august House, today is my first day to stand here and speak. [Applause.] I am very thankful to God my Maker for having spared me throughout the years of apartheid. My siblings did not survive this, and it is my hope that their children will understand that it is their duty to make sure that the national democratic revolution is on course. [Applause.]
The ANC has, prior to coming into power in 1994, spelt out our principles of environmental policy as contained in the broad policy statement. The ANC believes that all citizens of South Africa, present and future, have the right to a safe and healthy environment and to a life of wellbeing. The broad objective of our environmental policy will be to fulfil this right.
In this context, growth and development within South Africa will be based on the principles of sustainability. As such, we are guided by the following principles: sustainable development; equitable access to resources; public participation in development planning and management of resources; an integrated approach to environmental issues that relate to all sectors of society; and the public right of access to information and courts on issues of environmental concern. This is and was our readiness to govern as the ANC. [Applause.]
In this House today, my Minister spelt out that we were indeed serious about what we said in 1994 and before. She laid the foundation for the plan of action that we are going to implement as the ruling party in this country. We are serious about this issue that is threatening society.
You will remember that in Copenhagen as guest speaker, the Speaker of our National Assembly, hon Max Sisulu, had this to say:
The commitments that Africa seeks from the international community are based on the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities for global warming and climate change. In the context of environmental justice, the continent seeks to be equitably compensated for environmental, social and economic losses.
In closing his speech, he quoted the President of the Republic of South Africa, Comrade Jacob Zuma, when speaking at the UN General Assembly in September where he explicitly stated as follows:
For Africa, the impact of climate change is devastating and will severely undermine development and poverty eradication efforts. We need to act now to ensure that there is an inclusive, fair and effective global agreement on this critical challenge. The agreement must recognise that solving the climate problem cannot be separated from the struggle to eradicate poverty. Developed countries bear the greatest responsibility for climate change and its impact. We must therefore strike a balance between adaptation and mitigation. Our goal should be to significantly reduce emissions across the globe without constraining development in the countries of the South.
Developed countries must make ambitious, quantified and legally binding emission reduction commitments that are in line with science and that address their historic responsibilities. At Copenhagen there needs to be an agreement on new, additional, sustainable and predictable financing for adaptation. This should be for programmes that reduce the vulnerability of developing countries.
Xipikara, mhaka ya ku cinca ka tlilayimeti i mhaka ya nkoka ngopfu. Tanihi swirho swa Yindlu leyi, hi fanele ku tiyimisela, hi tiyisisa leswaku eka matirhele ya hina eka tihofisi ta swifundza swa vakheti hi endla leswaku vanhu va swi twisisa leswaku mhaka ya ku cinca ka tlilayimeti i mhaka leyi munhu un'wana na un'wana a faneleka ku va a yi langutisisa swinene. Hi fanele ku langutisa leswaku ndzawulo yin'wana na yin'wana yi nghenisa mhaka ya mbangu eka madyondzisele ya yona. Hi fanele hi langutisa swinene leswaku loko ku endliwa mimpimanyeto ya tindzawulo, mhaka ya mbangu yi pimanyeteriwa ku ringana. Hi fanele hi langutisa na le swikolweni leswaku silabasi na kharikhulamu swi fanele ku dyondzisa vana leswaku va tiva hi mbangu, hikuva a swi nga eneli leswaku ku va hina ntsena lava hi tivaka kambe vana lava va hi landzelaka va tlhelela endzhaku va nga ha hlayisi mbangu. Khanimamba. [Mavoko.] (Translation of Xitsonga paragraphs follows.)
[Speaker, the issue of climate change is a very serious one. As members of this House, we have to commit ourselves to ensuring that the way we operate in our constituency offices makes the people understand that climate change is an issue that everybody has to consider seriously.
We must ensure that every department includes environmental education in their policy. We must ensure that environmental issues are adequately budgeted for during budget allocation to the departments. We must also ensure that the school syllabus and curriculum impart knowledge to children about the environment, because it will not be enough that we are the only ones who know about it, whilst the next generations revert to not conserving the environment. Thank you. [Applause.]]
Speaker, I am glad that this debate had been granted as this was one of the recommendations during a dialogue with the Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs and the parliament of the UK via video link-up on 7 October. As you heard my colleague say earlier, climate change is one of the biggest challenges ever to confront humanity, both currently and in the coming years.
The effect of global climate change is becoming more evident with frequent occurrences of drought, flooding, melting glaciers and a rise in the incidences of malaria being a few of the phenomena attributed to climate change. Some of the most serious effects of climate change are taking place in countries least prepared to counter them; and many African countries are among the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
Women in the developing world will suffer the most from the effects of climate change. Why do I say that? Women in rural areas have the major responsibility for household water supply and energy for cooking and heating.
Drought means less water. She may not have the skill to dig wells as the men are in the urban areas. She has to go further to look for water and she needs more time to do this, this increases her workload. Because of deforestation, she may have to walk further to look for firewood. Again, human energy is used, there are more demands on her time and also sometimes her safety is at risk.
Secondly, women are the main producers of the world's staple crops, producing between 60% and 80% of the food. In most developing countries in extreme climate change, production could drop by 20% to 50%. One example is that insect outbreaks mean either the crop is spoilt or the woman has to spend more time on pest control and less on production.
Climate change can affect human health in a variety of ways, including the spread of vector- and water-borne diseases and reduced drinking water. Women in rural areas have less access to medical services than men who work outside the home and their workload may also increase if they have to care for the sick at home and still be productive in the field.
In the 2004 tsunami, 70% to 80% of the deaths were women and in the 1991 cyclone disaster of Bangladesh, 90% were women. The disparity in disaster mortality rates link directly to social and economic factors. In many societies, boys and men are more likely to hear warning signals in the public spaces where they work; they may receive preferential treatment in rescue efforts and have priority access to food aid. In Sri Lanka, more boys learn to swim and climb trees, which helped them survive the 2004 tsunami.
A defining moment in the global battle against climate change will be reached in December 2009, when negotiators from around the world will convene in Copenhagen to develop a post-2012 climate framework. There is intense pressure on all negotiators to reconcile the international protocol on climate change that will replace the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012. Our delegates should aim to involve women and gender experts when they prepare their contributions and also ensure women's participation at these meetings.
The 15th Conference of the Parties, COP15, must adopt the principles of gender equity and equality at all stages of research, analysis, design and implementation of both mitigation and adaptation strategies. The COP15 should develop a gender strategy which encompasses women representatives as official focal points and invest in gender specific climate change research.
Women represent an immense source of knowledge and they can be effective agents of change in relation to both mitigation and adaptation. Women in rural areas will tell you which herbs and animals are in abundance or scarce and by using this knowledge patterns and trends of climate change can be determined.
Furthermore, national and local governments should develop strategies to improve and guarantee women's access to and control over natural resources and create opportunities for education and training in climate change. Parliamentary leadership on climate change in terms of legislation and oversight is now more critical than ever before.
As a member of the Pan-African Parliament, PAP, I moved a motion to establish a PAP interest group on climate change and I am delighted that the motion was unanimously approved. [Applause.]
The UK is the first parliament to have a dedicated committee on climate change and to come up with climate change specific legislation. The committee is an independent body and advises government on budget and reviews 2025 targets. I am certain South Africa can follow suit as we have both the capacity and the expertise to do so.
In conclusion, I would like to wish Parliament's delegation to COP15 well in their deliberations. [Applause.]
Speaker, today in my very short time, I am going to dare to touch on what may have become a "scared cow." Remember Y2K - just a thought. Our tendency as humans to be over-confident is often quite astounding and no matter how many Y2K, second coming of Jesus predictions and sinking the invincible Titanic we go through, we still tend to think we absolutely know, when in fact we only know in part.
The melting of glaciers and erratic, severe weather do bear testimony to the warming of the earth's atmosphere, but the cause of this is far from certain with scientists at odds with each other, and with many politicians.
Dr Roy Spencer, a National Aeronautics and Space Administration meteorological scientist who received NASA's Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal for his global temperature monitoring work warns that skilful storytelling has elevated the danger of global warming from a theoretical one to one of near certainty.
There is no scientific consensus on the primary cause of global warming and, if anything, man appears to be the least likely to have an effect on it. Any geo-engineering on our part could have unintended consequences.
Climate warming is not necessarily apocalyptic, nor is it new. The temperature anomaly graph over the past 2 000 years shows that when the Vikings colonised Greenland, they were in a 500-years warmer period, and for about 200 years from about 1400 AD there was a Little Ice Age, so fluctuations happen!
Before jumping on the bandwagon of global agreement to cut fossil fuel use, we should at least consider all available information. Inflicting on South Africa international demands that may not suit us and which could lead to massive, unnecessary expense is a big commitment. How sure are we?
Developing renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power makes sense on so many levels. But we cannot ignore the fact that exorbitant energy costs have the potential to halt development and cripple an economy with devastating consequences for the most vulnerable in society. A considered and balanced approach makes the most sense. Thank you.
Speaker, given its long history of oppression and the state of poverty that most of its citizens live in, South Africa needs to provide hospitals, schools, roads and other infrastructure and social development to its previously disadvantaged communities.
To achieve this, the country needs a stable growing economy. This might be threatened by greenhouse emissions. It would be grossly unfair to expect South Africa to abandon its current economic drive while other countries have benefited from decades of development based on fossil fuels.
While sustainable development is the answer, South Africa and other developing countries need skills and a transfer of technology that will allow them to deviate from a development path followed by developed countries, and, thus, mitigate climate change. It is, therefore, true that South Africa and other developing countries have common but differentiated responsibilities.
Agriculture and its role in food security and combating poverty make it the most important sector in the less developed countries, particularly in sub- Saharan Africa. Food security has a function of several interacting factors including food production, as well as food purchasing power. Climate change could worsen hunger in Africa in general through a direct and negative effect on production and indirect impact on purchasing power.
Climate change has a long impact on food production, access and distribution as a consequence of droughts, floods and shorter growing seasons. Increased drought frequency and flooding, as a result of climate change, will damage agricultural systems, threaten the food security of millions of people and adversely affect the existing food security of millions of others.
The National Climate Change Response Strategy, NCCRS, for South Africa not only perceives energy-induced climate change as a threat to sustainable development, but also as an opportunity for realising sustainable development, especially when activities for climate change mitigation are linked to poverty eradication and human capital development. In fact, the collaborative approaches proposed for mitigating and/or managing the impacts of climate change in the NCCRS for South Africa reflect such a perception in government. The investment opportunities created by the Clean Development Mechanism, CDM, projects and the associated skills development initiatives and recruitment offers provided by these projects demonstrate the strategic opportunities that South Africa has for harnessing sustainable development through appropriate climate change interventions. There are signs that the approach to climate change is shifting from one based on environment to one cast more broadly in terms of sustainable development, particularly at international level. The outcome of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, WSSD, strengthened the concept of sustainable development by addressing its three dimensions, namely economic, social and environmental dimensions. The Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, JPOI, addresses climate change and its adverse effects and clearly links it with poverty and other development concerns such as land degradation, access to water, food, and human health.
On international agreements, the Delhi Ministerial Declaration adopted at the eighth Conference of the Parties, COP8, in the wake of the WSSD underlined development concerns in the context of climate change, reaffirming that economic and social development and poverty eradication are overriding priorities of parties to the convention, particularly developing countries. The declaration also highlighted the importance of adaptation for all countries.
The 2005 World Summit outcome document links climate change with energy issues in the context of sustainable development. It notes the challenges faced in tackling climate change, promoting clean energy, meeting energy needs and achieving sustainable development.
Viewing climate change in the context of sustainable development has a number of implications. Such an approach means that poverty eradication and socioeconomic development are necessary for combating climate change. The critical effort of developing and diffusing clean energy technologies is being stepped up. At the same time, enhanced access for the poor to modern services also needs to be vigorously pursued. Concrete initiatives for technology co-operation between North and South and South-South could help realise the promise of technology transfers.
Incorporating climate change response measures into the development planning, including National Sustainable Development Strategies, NSDS, could contribute to achieving the objective of sustainable development goals. Integrating adaptation measures into development planning could simultaneously contribute to poverty eradication and the reduction of the vulnerability of the poorest communities to climate variability and climate change. Therefore, the NCCRS for South Africa was developed with a full understanding of the need for an integrated approach to tackling the impact of climate change.
South Africa recognises that global climate change is a formidable threat to sustainable development, and could undermine global poverty alleviation efforts and have severe implications for food security, clean water, energy supply, environmental health and human settlement. The SA Country Studies on Climate Change, SACSCC, programme has, in fact, identified the health sector, maize production, plant and animal biodiversity, water resources and rangelands as areas of highest vulnerability to climate change. These are, therefore, the areas that need to be targeted for adaptation measures.
It is indisputable that women in developing countries, including those in Africa, are already on the frontline of adapting to climate change with increasing floods and droughts impacting on their livelihoods. As pivotal managers of natural and environmental resources and key frontline implementers of development, women have the experience and knowledge to build the resilience of their communities to the intensifying natural hazards to come.
It is therefore clear that, without the full participation and contribution of women in decision-making and leadership, real community resilience to climate change and disaster simply cannot be achieved. In too many places and even within countries, women are still marginalised from community discussions about development planning. Thus, real community-based development must involve the knowledge and energy of women. The ANC-led government specifically states that it will promote integration between the programmes of the various government departments involved to maximise the benefits of managing climate change to the country as a whole, while minimising negative impacts. It sees climate change response action as a significant factor in boosting sustainable economic and social development.
It is, thus, fitting that South Africa's approach to climate change is consistent with the concerns expressed in the international arena. Climate change is specifically predicted to reduce crop yields and food production in some regions, particularly the tropics. Traditional food sources may become more unpredictable and scarce as the climate changes.
There are legitimate concerns that climate change is arguably the gravest threat ever faced by humanity. It is a serious and long-term challenge, posing a serious threat to development and poverty reduction in the poorest and most vulnerable parts of the world. Climate change impacts, in many ways, are about changes in resource flows which are critical for local people's sustainable livelihood.
As rising concerns over the climate prompt the search for solutions, it is increasingly being recognised that, in order to be effective, efforts to combat climate change will have to be integrated into the broader context of social and economic development. There has, indeed, been international consensus that there is a linkage between climate change and development, as reflected in the outcome of the COP8 to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC, as well as the WSSD in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2002.
Thus, the sustainable development dimension of climate change is being better understood. The implementation of sustainable development goals can lead to a development trajectory that combines economic growth with climate change mitigation. Existing synergies between climate change and sustainable development could be further exploited through policies and actions promoting cleaner energy technologies, more sustainable transport and better land-use policies.
The ANC's 52nd National Conference held in Polokwane came out very clearly on this matter when it unambiguously stated that climate change considerations must be further integrated with sustainable development strategies, the science and technology agenda, integrated energy planning, transport policy and the evolving industry policy.
This realisation is already apparent in the NCCRS for South Africa, as well as in the National Framework for Sustainable Development, NFDS, in South Africa. The fact that South Africa hosts the largest number of CDM projects in Africa, is a clear indication of its comparative progress in integrating sustainable development into climate change initiatives. I thank you. [Applause.]
Speaker, I would like to start by warning the House or mentioning to the House the danger of the viewpoints tabled by the ACDP on climate change. I would, therefore, like to draw your attention to the fact that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, reports make it quite clear that climate change is due to human emissions as far back as 1700, and that more than 90% of the world's scientists agree with this standpoint.
I would like to focus on agriculture in a post-2010 Kyoto Agreement, today, while the agricultural sector is very vulnerable to being significantly impacted on by climate change. At the same time, it plays a major role in contributing solutions to climate change. In order for this potential to be realised the DA recommends that agriculture must be included in any post- 2012 Kyoto Protocol Agreement. Farmers interact daily with the environment and they are thus well-placed to implement sustainable agricultural practices that can help to adapt and mitigate climate change.
The specific nature of agriculture has to be recognised and must be differentiated from other sectors. The origin, monitoring and reporting of an emission from agricultural land is inherently different from that associated with fossil fuels and farmers should not be penalised for natural emissions that are beyond human control. As a result of its low profitability, agriculture cannot compete with other sectors in terms of cost-efficiency in reducing greenhouse gas, GHG, emissions, unless its carbon sequestration and displacement potential is recognised.
Let me quickly look at agriculture and the four pillars of a post-2010 Kyoto Agreement: Firstly, agriculture has the potential to mitigate. Many studies have acknowledged that the GHG sequestration by agriculture is a quick and cost-effective means to mitigate emissions.
Secondly, to optimise the mitigation potential in agriculture, it is crucial to take into account that the biggest mitigation potential of agriculture should be expected in terms of improvements and efficiency of agricultural productivity. Rewarding farmers for carbon sequestration will enhance the carbon storage potential of the sector and there is a need to establish a voluntary carbon credit system to reward farmers for their contributions to climate mitigation.
Agriculture, however, needs support to adapt to the effects of climate change. It is the DA's view that government should be actively involved in developing and enhancing strategies to support farmers in their daily adaptation to climate variations, including the following: Shifting from crisis management to risk management systems, which must include early warning systems; awareness raising campaigns and crop insurance schemes; ensuring adaptation at farms to maintain food security, as climate change has severe effects on biological and hydrological cycles, in particular on water availability; policy decisions should be scientifically based, available and developed; the generation and the dissemination of farm- specific climate change information must be enhanced; and there needs to be an increase in the profitability of farmers to enhance their adaptation capacity.
An ambitious financing framework is required. The following financial mechanism should be distinguished: Firstly, a financing mechanism to provide positive incentives for the implementation of climate-friendly agricultural practices and technologies which must include the following: Rewarding farmers for using sustainable agricultural practices which reduce the impact of agriculture on the climate; rewarding farmers for providing ecosystem services; and creating a fair international voluntary carbon market, giving farmers access to fair prices for carbon dioxide, CO2, emissions mitigation through Clean Development Mechanism, CDM, projects.
With regard to the funding mechanism for small-scale farmers they should be given assistance to adapt to climate change by supporting aggregate agencies to cluster individual farmers to get access to financial mechanisms, funding carbon markets and mainstreaming climate changes relating to efforts into development projects.
Lastly, make technology cheaper, more efficient and accessible to farmers. In order to reach this goal, improved technologies along with appropriate education and extension services for farmers are needed. Appropriate incentives are needed to support the implementation of existing climate- friendly technology and specific actions in this can be included.
To conclude, agriculture has the potential to provide significant change in climate solutions. Therefore, the role of agriculture in combating climate change is of the utmost importance and must be recognised as such within a post-2010 Kyoto Agreement. I thank you.
Hon Speaker, the ANC's vision on environmental issues after the 1994 democratic breakthrough has informed various policies, programmes and actions of government since 1995. At the 52nd national conference of the ANC, in December 2007, it was resolved that climate change is recognised as a new threat on a global scale which places an enormous burden on South Africans and Africans as a whole, because we are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and because the risk to the poor is the greatest.
Climate change was once a marginal issue, today it is moving to centre stage as governments, businesses and individuals assess its implications. It is in fact one of humanity's most pressing and difficult challenges. Its effects are already being felt and will only worsen over time, affecting current and future generations. Without urgent and concerted action, climate change will seriously affect the way of life in all countries, damage fragile ecosystems and threaten global security through migration and resource use conflicts.
Global warming and climate change are considered a major threat to sustainable growth and development in Africa and to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. The African continent contributes the least to global emissions of greenhouse gases, yet it is the most vulnerable to its effects, particularly due to its high dependence on biologically based natural resources and rain-fed agriculture, widespread poverty and weak capacity. The effects of climate change are acutely felt in terms of diminished natural resources, reduced agricultural production, worsening food security, increased flooding and drought and spreading diseases.
Climate change lies behind much of the prevailing poverty, food insecurity and weak economic growth in Africa and affects approximately 2 million of the poorest people in Africa, who predominantly depend on climate-sensitive agricultural production. The vulnerability of these people is expected to escalate over the years due to climate change and its associated impacts, like droughts and floods which are so familiar to us in the Southern African region.
Southern Africa, like developing regions elsewhere, has not been spared from the severe impacts of climate change. In the last two decades or so, the region has experienced a number of adverse climate hazards. The most serious ones have been dry spells, seasonal droughts, intense rainfall and floods. Droughts and floods have increased in frequency, intensity and magnitude over the past two or three decades. They have impacted adversely on food and water security, water quality, energy and sustainable livelihoods of the most rural communities. In South Africa and elsewhere, there's a strong link between energy consumption and climate change. The type of energy used, whether it is renewable or non-renewable, defines to a great extent each country's emission profile and its contribution to the greenhouse gases. South Africa's total greenhouse gas emission equalled 1,6% of global emissions in 1999. In that year, the energy and cement sectors produced 94 million tons of carbon which was 2,3 tons per capita and nearly ten times the African average and twice the world average.
Figures from the International Energy Agency, IEA, revealed that in 2003 coal-dependent South Africa released some 318 million tons of carbon dioxide, which is the major greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. The total carbon dioxide emission from the energy sector alone was estimated at a staggering 429 million tons in 2004. This makes South Africa one of the highest emitters after major developing countries like China and India. South Africa's emission intensity is comparatively higher that many other major developing countries. While coal use in electricity production is the main reason for this emission profile, other reasons include the production of synthetic liquid fuels from coal, a high proportion of energy-intensive industries and mining, and inefficient use of energy. South Africa has, however, made some commendable progress in its response to the threats of global climate change and variability. It has, for example, acknowledged its role in the emission of greenhouse gases through its excessive dependence on coal and has noted the immediate need for the country to move from being an energy- intensive economy to a low carbon growth economy.
Current and proposed interventions on the ground for mitigating climate change are mainly focused on the energy sector, due to the increasing realisation that energy production is the primary and major source of greenhouse gases in South Africa. This has culminated in the formation and adoption of various interventions, including the White Paper on Renewable Energy Policy for South Africa, which aims to realise energy security through a progressive switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy resources such as bioenergy, hydro, solar and wind energy.
Bioenergy is a term used to describe energy produced from any fuel that is derived from biomass, which are recently living organisms or their metabolic by-products. Biomass can include matter such as compost, other organic materials, living plants and plant components. Unlike other natural resources such as petroleum, coal and nuclear fuels, bioenergy is a renewable energy source.
The production of bioenergy is gathering more and more attention as a feasible way of reducing dependency on imported oil and gas, and is even being hailed as one of the potential key weapons in the battle against global warming. If managed sustainably, the use of biomass, biogas and biofuels could help us to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The great appeal of bioenergy is that it is theoretically a renewable source of energy. Crops can be converted into energy, either by being processed into liquid fuel for the transport sector in the form of biofuels, or by being burnt in power plants as biomass. Effectively producing energy from biofuels or biomass could be seen as recycling carbon dioxide.
Research conducted by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR, indicates that large-scale bioenergy projects could impact positively on socioeconomic and environmental areas for current and future generations, including making a significant contribution to international energy demands and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.
The University of Stellenbosch recently held a conference with some of the world's leading experts in the field to discuss issues relating to sustainable production of bioenergy. Although the project is apparently still in its early days, preliminary discussions have outlined Africa as having the greatest potential for bioenergy production. With its large land masses that are fairly unpopulated and its historically highly productive landscape, Africa could very well be the epicentre of the global bioenergy market. Africa can provide enough bioenergy without impacting on the continent's food security.
According to Prof August Temu of the World Agroforestry Centre, this project will turn away from previously western-based bioenergy plants and ensure, instead, that ownership of any bioenergy production is by the very people whose land will grow the crops, namely Africans.
Two years ago in Polokwane, the ANC conference resolved that South Africa's economy must benefit from the global growth potential of the renewable energy centre, including through the provision of incentives for investment in renewable energy infrastructure and in human resources, to ensure that institutions and companies are ready to take full advantage of renewable energy opportunities.
In this connection, it was also resolved that the realignment of institutional mechanisms, which will fast-track the utilisation of renewable energy to mitigate the effects of climate change, must be promoted. We, in South Africa, cannot wait any longer; we must start taking decisive actions now.
In conclusion, the ANC appreciates and encourages both the Speaker of this House, the Minister of this department and of course our chairperson in the Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs, for their stewardship in ensuring that South Africa is as prompt as it is expected to be in Africa. Thank you very much.
Mr Speaker, I want to express appreciation, firstly to the chairperson and then to the director- general for their leadership in driving this programme, which is very complex. I must express appreciation to all of the members who participated in this very mature and very vibrant debate, which really highlighted the vulnerability of humankind to the implications of climate change. I really want to applaud you, hon members. [Applause.]
You are real South African patriots. You have enriched us, and this is how it should be. You were unanimous on the need for us to act and to act urgently with regard to mitigation and adaptation.
I particularly want to make mention of the people who said that solving the climate change problem cannot be separated from poverty alleviation, because this is what is driving us as we pursue your interest - the national interest. When we talk about the national interest, our overriding priority is poverty alleviation. So, I do want to make the point that this is really what is driving us.
That is why, when we are talking about the deal, we are not being academic. We are saying that the climate change deal must balance climate change imperatives with development imperatives. Climate change should not take over from development; these two must go together.
I also want to make the point that you all highlighted the impact of climate change on humanity. And, to a certain extent, all of us were saying that we were right when we said that adaptation is important. You also reminded us that as this country, we have a contribution to make in terms of mitigation.
I just wish to make the point again, that for us mitigation is also a long- term strategy for adapting. So, while we have to act urgently in terms of ensuring that our early warning systems and our agricultural technology are okay, we need to ensure that mitigation does not lag behind.
I also want to say that we have good policies, hon Ndude, even on issues of water. What this House needs to do is really to monitor the implementation of these policies. If you are talking about the vulnerability of our water resources, you're quite right, they are quite vulnerable. However, this applies not only to South Africa, but to the whole of the continent.
Within our policies on water in South Africa, we have a water resource management strategy which, within itself, has a climate change strategy to deal with water, but the devil is in the implementation thereof. What we really need to do in earnest is to implement these policies.
Regarding fossil fuels, Ms Dudley, surprise, surprise! We are not going to drop fossil fuel use, because nobody is dropping it. As we speak, the United States of America generates 50% and the United Kingdom 40% of its electricity from coal. They have not been vocal by saying, "we are going to drop our use of coal". So, why should South Africa, being a developing country, do so? I think we would be doing an injustice to the poor people of this country, because energy is central to economic growth. So, for us, an energy mix is the way to go.
Whereas we are reducing our dependence on coal, we are still going to use it; that is a fact. Everybody uses coal. After all, we are even better endowed with coal than most countries. We need the space to develop and to deal with the socioeconomic conditions that confront us.
I would agree with the point that, domestically, we have not done very well. I said this long ago and I still believe so. I think we have left behind the majority of our people, who are very vulnerable.
I want to hear someone saying that planting an indigenous tree ...
... eBulembu kuza kwenza ukuba abantu abangama-40 bafumane umongo-moya, ikhabon dayokhsaydi itsalwe ngumthi. [ ... in Bulembu will result in 40 people getting oxygen, whilst carbon dioxide is being absorbed by the tree.]
As long as that education does not filter down to our people, we still have a long way to go. That's where you come in as Parliament; you carry out oversight.
I believe that climate change is not something for government only. All of us as society need to participate in this programme.
We will be establishing a website very soon, because we want to make information available to you. I've spoken to NGOs, because we think that civil society has a very important role to play.
I appreciate the chairperson's views on involving universities, not only for awareness or education, but also for skills development. This matter is relatively new. The first report on climate change was received by the United Nations in 1987. It's a fairly new phenomenon. So, we do need those skills.
Most of the people on this side were toyi-toying at the time. My point is that it's a fairly new phenomenon and it's only now that we really need to work hard to develop the capacity and the skills to deal with this.
From this side as well, Madam Minister!
From that side as well? Okay. [Laughter.]
As much as we have all these challenges, what is important is that there are great opportunities that will come with our mitigating and adapting to climate change in the form of green jobs. We have already begun talking about green jobs, for example, and those are the opportunities that we look forward to.
Hon Kalyan, I cannot agree with you more and I want to congratulate you on that initiative. I think you did it for South Africa as well as for Africa. So, I want to concede that you are quite right.
Recently, I went to address women from around the world at the international trade union centre, and there was an agreement that maybe women need a women's movement on climate change. Our Deputy Minister is involved in a programme under the United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP. It's an international programme for women ministers on the environment. She will be chairing one of the sessions in Copenhagen. I think we need to find a way of linking up, as South Africans, especially those who will be here.
The issue of common but differentiated responsibilities that was raised is important. In the context of that issue, we will continue to be bold in terms of taking action to mitigate against climate change. However, we will be bolder if finance and technology is made available to us.
I really want to thank all of you and to say to all those who will be going there, that we will meet in Copenhagen. Regarding the deal, the Minister is cautiously optimistic. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.