SA showcases climate change programmes

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“In the past seven years, more than R270bn has been invested in programmes that support the transition to a low carbon and climate resilient economy and society,” the Department of Environmental Affairs said in a statement on Monday, 10 December.

An additional investment of R18tn is needed over the next 30 years to scale up these programmes and thus ensure that South Africa reaches it climate action goals.

The department said the Climate Change Flagship Programmes respond to the three key challenges facing South Africa and other countries as global efforts to address climate change intensify.

“The first challenge is the need to ignite national-scale action at the speed required to respond to climate change by, for example, limiting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and/or enabling adaptation to the impacts of unavoidable climate change with the necessary urgency.

“Secondly, there is a need to demonstrate that the course of actions needed to respond to climate change effectively and efficiently is not only possible, but also highly beneficial, as it will unlock and realise significant social, economic and environmental benefits. Lastly, there is a need to attract resources at the scale required to enable meaningful climate transformation,” the department said.

Scaling up climate action in SA

Until 2030, programmes that address climate-resilient human settlements, energy efficiency, renewable energy, agriculture food systems, waste management and water management will be implemented.

“The Climate Change Flagship Programmes are scaling up climate action in South Africa, consolidating existing smaller climate change response measures into larger and higher impact programmes and implementing even more ambitious climate change responses across multiple sectors.

“International finance mechanisms such as the Global Environment Facility, the National Appropriate Mitigration Actions (NAMA) Facility and the Green Climate Fund will be used to complement fiscal contribution to, and private investment in, climate action. At present, these programmes constitute 95% of South Africa’s submissions to the Green Climate Fund,” the department said.

The 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ends on 14 December 2018.