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.