A lot of preparation was put into this conference, and ultimately the conference was held on 25 and 26 June 1955. Two thousand, eight hundred and eighty-four delegates from all over South Africa assembled, debated and ratified the Freedom Charter. Life was not easy for the ANC thereafter as it was the ANC that led that process, as it is today leading the country.
The process of implementing the Freedom Charter was barred by the activities of the then government, from the early 60s up until 1994. In 1990, after their unbanning, the ANC consulted broadly to ensure that South Africans were able to say through their organisations how the Freedom Charter must be implemented.
These consultations brought about the Reconstruction and Development Programme, which we started in this government in 1994, and which led to a White Paper. From there we moved on to the Growth, Employment and Redistribution plan, Gear, and today we talk about the New Growth Path. This is the history that brought about these policies. We are on the way to making history in South Africa.
I am tasked with talking about issues of climate change and the green economy. The major challenges facing South Africa in this regard include the creation of decent jobs and green jobs as a response to climate change. Climate change poses one of the greatest challenges to South Africa, especially in terms of adaptation to it and efforts to arrest it by reducing emissions. This is because adaptation to, and mitigation of, climate change have far-reaching implications for economic and social development, production and consumption patterns, and thus for employment, income and poverty reduction.
These implications have both major risks and opportunities for working people in all countries, but particularly for the most vulnerable in developing countries like South Africa, considering South Africa's high emissions profile. Remember, South Africa is regarded as the 13th major greenhouse gas emitter globally and ranks 10th in terms of per capita emissions. South Africa is Africa's greatest emitter of greenhouse gases as it depends on coal for its power production. This high greenhouse gas emissions profile has forced the South African government to take necessary measures both domestically and internationally.
Achievements in the domestic arena have been the release of the national climate change response strategy for South Africa in 2004; completion of the long-term mitigation scenario study and its release in 2008; the hosting of the Climate Change Summit to discuss the climate change response policy for South Africa at the Gallagher Convention Centre, Midrand, in March 2009; and convening the Green Economy Summit in May 2010, and the 2010 Green Paper, on which the Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs held public hearings here in Parliament in March 2011. That was very recently.
The need to mitigate energy-related greenhouse gas emissions is a major theme of the Green Paper. The green economy includes green-energy generation based on renewable energy to substitute for polluting fossil fuels, and energy conservation for efficient energy use. The green economy is considered viable in terms of creating green jobs, ensuring real sustainable economic growth and preventing environmental pollution, source depletion and environmental degradation.
In fact, a green economy is based on six main sectors. Firstly, there is renewable energy, in terms of which you will find solar, wind ... Oh! [Laughter.] Thank you, Chairperson. [Time expired.] [Applause.]