The Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism hosted a one day seminar on environmental issues in celebration of World Environment Day under the theme "unite to reduce climate change." The objectives of the seminar, which took place in Lephalale formerly known as Ellisras were to educate and create awareness on the impact of climate change to the environment, raise awareness on matters of environment authorisations, educate communities on better ways of managing waste, to raise awareness on environment conservation and emphasise sustainable development.
In her keynote address, Municipal Mayor Councillor Rosina Mogotlane said that she was very much humbled by the theme of the day. She added that there should be a collective responsibility and leadership in the reduction of global warming. Acting Head of Department Mr Charles Maluleke when explaining the reason for the gathering said, "we all have the right to a clean environment." This is enshrined in the Constitution's Bill of Rights.
Section 24 further states, "everyone has the right to a protected environment for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that prevent pollution and ecological degradation; promote conservation and secure ecologically sustainable development and use while promoting justifiable economic and social development."
Mr Charles Maluleke added that it was the responsibility of government to come up with programmes and legislation that ensure that the community and the environment live harmoniously. He also said that “as government we should share with the community the programmes that we are involved in and also raise awareness on environmental issues. We are all in this together.”
MEC Pitsi Moloto when addressing the community of Lephalale said that there is a serious and urgent need to raise a broader awareness and embark on public education campaigns to reduce the negative impact on the environment. “We need to find innovative ways to communicate our messages to the communities, this seminar is one way of laying the foundation to a better way of interacting with the environment,” said MEC Moloto.
The five topics that were under discussion at the seminar were; climate change, environmental authorisations, air quality, waste management and environmental compliance. Dr Antoaneta Letsoalo in her closing remarks after her climate change presentation said that there are two ways of responding to climate change, which are adaptation and mitigation and both require leadership by government to drive behaviour change.
Issued by: Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism, Limpopo Provincial Government
4 June 2009
Source: Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism, Limpopo Provincial Government (http://www.ledet.gov.za/)
