Speaker
Minister of Environmental Affairs
Portfolio Chairperson of Environmental Affairs
Honourable Members of Parliament
Ladies and gentlemen
We rise up to support the Report and its recommendations. We do so not as a matter of rhetoric or fashion trend of talking about climate change.
We support this Report because, as a ruling party, we have played a leading role in influencing global debates and deliberations on climate change and its related challenges since 1994.
Reminding the Members in this House that, the Resolution on climate change adopted in Polokwane in 2007 by the ruling party, was a critical resolve to urgently and effectively address the climate change in form of Government policy.
With this resolution, the ANC-led Government has now been enabled to articulate principles and action plans to protect the environment and promote sustainable development.
Speaker, South African’s astonishing leadership on global issues has been witnessed during COP15, which proved to be the most challenging conference on United Nations climate change which was held in Denmark in 2009.
Again, at COP16, a challenge rose when parties could not agree on whether the developing countries should have binding emissions reductions or whether rich countries would have to reduce emissions first.
But, still South Africa has taken the leadership baton to host COP17 in the quest to fulfil the non-binding Cancun Agreements of COP16 in its entirety.
Speaker, despite setbacks of non-binding agreements, at least the COP16 produced five critical elements that could serve as starting foundation for positive talks in Durban. These elements are:
- Green Climate Fund: financing climate change projects
- Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+)
- Increasing transparency through monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV)
- Formalising the emissions reduction pledges made at COP15 in Copenhagen, Denmark
- Creating a new Adaptation Framework to assist least developed countries to create national adaptation plans and climate change strategies.
Speaker, importantly, though, as a host country, South Africa must take cognisance that, for COP17 to be a success, all Parties of the Conference must come with concrete strategies and time-framed plans to show how the Global Climate Fund will be raised to realise the R100billion per year to assist poorer countries in financing emission reductions and adaptation.
COP17 must also strive to plan for accountability, monitoring and sustainability, so that developing countries such as ours are enabled to implement effectively the agreements on climate change.
In these two instances, recommendation three of the Report becomes critical, where the Parliamentary Climate Change Forum will be expected to coordinate, synergise and manage Parliamentary work on climate change.
Speaker, in the words of the incoming COP President, Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, she vows that “Durban is clearly the end of the line for the postponement of key political issues”.
With the BRICS community, (Brazil, India, China) South Africa calls on the industrialised nations such as the US and Western European countries to step up their commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the COP 17.
The establishment of a South African GLOBE International Chapter in the South African Parliament will help bring the BRICS Parliamentarians together for an impactful collective effort to strengthen legislative action on climate change, going forward.
Speaker, we support our ANC-led Government when it says that there must be a balanced and realistic negotiation when developing countries such as South Africa will be required to shift their approach when addressing climate change towards building low-carbon cities.
Because, convincing the least developed countries (LDCs), other developing countries, and their population to shift towards building a low-carbon society will surely not be easy.
Otherwise, how do you justify a resolution that binds a poor country not to use more energy to develop their economies, when they know and had witnessed that already industrialised and developed countries are rich because of high emissions of pollution?
For instance, it is no coincidence to see that the developing countries’ pollution emissions, such as us, China, India, Indonesia and Brazil, have rocketed. We cannot eliminate poverty without increasing the use of energy.
In addition, how do you convince a poor country and its population to pay for the reduction of carbon when they know they exert the least of pollution?
Speaker, this ANC-led Government will make sure that it balances its mandate of delivering on our top five priorities of poverty reduction, creation of employment, quality education, access to health care, and safety and anti-corruption, with that of addressing climate change.
Our communities must be shown that climate change, if not prioritised as well, could as well disturb the drive to eradicate poverty.
One way of creating jobs in climate change projects is through renewable energy technologies, and South African has an abundance of untapped renewable energies. This should be an industry that provides opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and at the same time creating new jobs.
The other way of responding to climate change within our South African context is to explore, plan and implement concretely, ways to assist our communities who rely on agriculture as a means of income and sustainability.
Speaker, here we are specifically talking about the small-scale farmers, of who most are poor women in the rural areas. The issues of climate change, poverty, environment, and gender are intrinsically interwoven, and cannot be separated.
As we are processing our National Policy through the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), this ANC-led Government is cognisant that women farmers are particularly affected by climate change, and we have to continuously drive gender equality and decrease women’s vulnerability in the agricultural sector.
We must empower our small-scale farmers with alternative strategies such as switching crops or livestock with those that are more tolerant to droughts.
Speaker, a University of Cape Town scientific research has already predicted that South Africa will experience increasing temperatures and fewer rainfalls. Western Cape is set to lose 35% of its current winter rainfall.
This means then that there will be more frequent occurrences of drought, flooding, hurricanes, forest fires, rising sea levels, damage to agricultural systems which lead to famine, and rises in diseases, as already seen during 2010.
For instance, the world has already since experienced severe weather related events such as earthquakes in Japan, severe droughts in Somalia, mudslides in China and heat-waves in Russia.
Climate change policy begins and ends with people, therefore, visible advocacy on climate change matters must be strengthened to build a just and sustainable policy for South Africa.
We will always remind members here that South African black townships and informal settlements are the direct products of apartheid and the manifest of urban desertification. These areas offer the ultimate challenge in the advocacy for greening the environment.
Speaker, we are then encouraging Parliament to take to the streets of Khayelitsha, Soweto, Mitchell’s Plain, Mongaung, Umlazi, Mdantsane, etc to mobilise our communities for awareness campaign on climate change, and against hazardous climate disasters.
As members of Parliament, we must rekindle the zealous and advocating spirit which was shown during the organisation of the World Cup in 2010.
Practical projects such as One Home One Garden can go a long way. For instance, in our Department of Police, we also have embarked on a Programme of One Police Station One Garden.
Linking greening with education, in particular with the school syllabus to introduce our children to science and ecology (food chains, adaptations, seasons) and mathematics (growth/graphs, shapes and function), is also fundamental.
From the experiences of non-binding Copenhagen Accord at COP15, to the mistrust between “developing-and-developed” countries at COP16, South Africa is obligating all Parties to discuss and deliberate positively and in a collective spirit for a successful climate change outcome in Durban.
Speaker, befittingly then, as a host country, South Africa has themed the COP17: “Working together: Saving Tomorrow Today”.
Parliament must indeed lobby all relevant stakeholders to work together and to promote a common position for the upcoming COP17.
For instance, African countries like Tanzania, Kenya, have established parliamentary forums dedicated to address climate change. These forums though are not only comprised of members of Parliament.
They are multi-sectorial forums, which are composed of diverse people with skills and expertise on the management of climate change. Perhaps, our Parliament needs to seriously consider this approach, as already recommended in our COP15 Report.
Speaker, as a Deputy Minister of Police, I can also say that safety and security operational plans are in place and being executed by our Joint Operational and Intelligence Structures at National (NATJOINTS) and Provincial (PROVJOINTS).
The KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government has also established Priority Committees in order to coordinate and finalise the planning process of safety and security related issues in terms of Article 9(1) of the Host Country Agreement.
It then should come as no surprise to sceptics when we are yet again given an honour to host the United Nations’ 17th Conference of Parties (COP17) from 28 November – 9 December 2011, on the heels of a very successful hosting of the FIFA World Cup in 2010.
Speaker, in conclusion, I want to say, as all roads go to Durban on 29th November 2011, we as a country must strive and hope for a positive spirit and honest articulation of climate change as the world seeks to negotiate for a global agreed comprehensive deal on climate change.
We support the Report.
I thank you.
