SA's evolutionary transition to green-infrastructure

Speaking at the recent Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) Knowledge Week, however, Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba stressed that, in light of the country's relatively energy-intensive economic reality, the transition to a greener economy would not be without trade-offs. "South Africa is one of the highest greenhouse-gas emitters globally - it is ranked among the top 30," he said. The move towards green infrastructure could only be achieved through a collaborative effort between domestic and international stakeholders, through schemes such as the South African Renewables Initiative (SARi).

Gigaba cautioned that a "big bang" approach to overhaul the current make-up of the economy could have serious employment and growth consequences. Therefore, he said, the transition would have to be evolutionary, pursuing a gradual integrated strategy and phasing-in new technologies over time. "Technology plays a significant role in moving towards the construction of green infrastructure across industries, such as power and transport, besides others," Gigaba said. "Hence, there is a call for a knowledge-based economy to be able to achieve a high level of technology integration in the built environment."

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