Deputy Speaker, hon Deputy President, Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Members of Parliament, traditionally climate change and pollution were managed separately in different spatial scales. However, in recent years there has been a considerable advancement in the understanding of the links and interaction between climate change and air quality. A warmer, evolving climate is likely to have severe consequences for air quality due to the impact from all pollution sources and meteorology.
Climate-induced changes are likely to lead to changes in both the concentration and the dispensation of near surface ozone that could offset improvement in air quality. The control of air pollution through air quality management is also likely to have an impact on climate change.
Improved understanding of the relationship between air quality and climate change provides a scientific basis for policy intervention. South Africa's approved National Climate Change Response Policy is intended to effectively manage inevitable climate change impact through an intervention that will build up and sustain our social, economic and environmental resilience and emergency response capacity, ensuring that the country makes a fair contribution to the globe.
Air pollution is a serious environmental health threat to human beings. Adverse effects range from nausea, difficulty in breathing, skin irritation, birth defects and immunosuppression to cancer. Moreover, the severity of health outcomes that are associated with air pollution exposure is not uniform within the population.
In South Africa the problem is exacerbated, since vulnerable communities reside on land that is in close proximity to the pollution sources or polluted areas. It is estimated that air pollution costs the public health system over R3 billion each year to address air quality-related respiratory infections. This pollution includes greenhouse gas emission, which is the cause of human-induced global warming and climate change.
It is necessary to address air pollution in the dense low-income communities in such a way that all interventions are carried out in an effective and co-ordinated manner to ensure that the overall goal of ambient air that complies fully with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards in South Africa and in communities is achieved. In this regard, the ANC-led government has developed and continues to fine-tune the legislative framework for air quality management.
Continuous air quality monitoring is conducted to measure and report on compliance with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, which places more emphasis on the protection of human health, especially in the national priority areas where there are challenges in regard to meeting the standard, and the implementation of the Air Quality Management Plan to address the problem.
The purpose of the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act of 2004 was to replace the outdated Atmospheric Pollution Prevention Act of 1965, and it brought air quality management in line with the constitutional allocation of functions between the three spheres of government. The Act provides for the establishment of national norms and standards; a Framework for Air quality Management; a planning and reporting regime; and numerous regulatory instruments for the control of air pollution, compliance and enforcement.
While certain sections of the Air Quality Act of 2004 have become obsolete, South Africa has advanced its effort to provide a vision for climate change. As is encapsulated in the National Climate Change Response White Paper, the amending Bill identifies certain provisions of the Air Quality Act that have become obsolete.
Of importance, though, in the amending Bill, is the strong emphasis on strengthening institutional aspects pertaining to air quality, which in the long term will fit into all the actions that are relevant to the mitigation of climate change.
One of the critical components of the amending Bill is to ensure that plans, procedures, regulations and other administrative issues are strengthened. As some of the members have already mentioned, it will strengthen the entire sphere - provincially, locally and at national level.
In conclusion, one should not lose sight of the fact that the ANC's National Policy Conference in June 2012 reaffirmed its pursuance of the environmental protection agenda as an important element of a sustainable development agenda. It recognises that the country has to effectively adapt, and manage unavoidable and potentially damaging climate change impact through interventions that build and sustain South Africa's social, economic and environmental resilience.
The ANC supports the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Amendment Bill, as amended by the Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs. I thank you. [Applause.]