Programme Director
Members of the Executive Council
Mayors
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development
Honorable Members of the Provincial Legislature
Councilors
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Molweni, sanibonani, dumelang, goeie more, good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
In June this year we celebrated environment month. What was significant in this year‘s celebration was the theme, “Save Tomorrow, Today.” The theme emphasises that all South Africans have a responsibility towards conserving the environment generally. This is especially critical now when Gauteng's environment is deteriorating and the potential climate change impacts cannot be ignored. Climate change is one of the most serious environmental issues facing the world today.
Ecosystem failure will seriously compromise our ability to address social and economic priorities even in the short term. Natural resources are national economic assets and the South African economy and our food security depends heavily on water, energy, mineral resources, biodiversity, agriculture, forestry, fishing and eco-tourism.
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa entrenches the the human right to a clean and safe environment, an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being ; and to an environment that is protected , 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 of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development.
For this reason, we must highlight the following critical elements essential to ensure a clean and protected environment:
- Currently much of our water is unsustainably used and the quality and quantity of water resources is in decline;
- Greenhouse gas emissions are high, and we must prepare strategies to cope with projected climate change impacts and reverse the rising trend in relation to the release of pollutants into the atmosphere;
- We must ensure proper and better management of our environment, especially in regards to reducing waste in order to ensure social and economic sustainability;and,
- We must protect our nation's invaluable biodiversity and ecosystems.
The manner by which the Constitution introduces the concept of sustainable development enunciates a similar approach to that of the Brandtland Commission. The Brundtland Commission, known informally by the name of its chairperson the former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, is formally the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). This commission was convened by the United Nations in 1983 and was created to address growing concern "about the accelerating deterioration of the human environment and natural resources and the consequences of that deterioration for economic and social development ." In establishing the commission, the UN General Assembly recognised that environmental problems were global in nature and it was in the common interest of all nations to establish policies for sustainable development .
Program director, the report of the Commission deals with sustainable development and the change of politics needed for achieving that. The report defines sustainable development quite clearly:
" Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs ".
This definition contains within it two key concepts:
- the concept of 'needs', in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and,
- the idea of ‘limitations' imposed by the state of technology and social organisation on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs.
This is what I call the economics of the environment. As in any study of economics, in environmental management there are unlimited needs and limited natural resources.
Today, Program Director, we host this Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) open day under the theme “Taking big steps to a smaller footprint”. Today's theme has two distinct yet interconnected parts as follows:
Firstly, it enjoins us to take big steps:
- To effectively address the inequalities of the past and the present realities of poverty;
- To improve the quality of learning and teaching across the schooling system;
- To reduce maternal and infant mortality and improve public health services;
- To create sustainable, well-located and compact human settlements and address the apartheid city structures;
- To the develop vibrant, equitable and sustainable rural communities contributing towards food security;
- To develop a responsive, accountable and efficient local government system;
- To strengthen the global competitiveness of our industries and commerce, grow regional economy and create decent jobs; and,
- To contribute to a vision of Gauteng that is Liveable; Equitable; Accessible; Sustainable; and Prosperous and Competitive.
Secondly, the theme enjoins us to take steps to reduce ecological footprints.
- Manage our natural resources, including the impact of global warming and climate change;
- Promote renewable energy generation;
- Promote energy efficiency;
- Seek and promote green funding mechanisms;
- Promote green technologies;
- Design for zero water balance; and,
- Entrench the concept of green buildings.
Economists argue that, as the world changes, crucial environmental and social factors will influence business and investments. Understanding how these realities interact with the financial markets and the various complexities of the challenges involved will help us transform to a truly sustainable economy.
Urban environments across the globe are on an unsustainable trajectory for several key reasons:
High levels of greenhouse gas emissions;
Pollution of air and surface and groundwater; and
Scarcity of water resources.
The Gauteng Spatial Development Framework which was approved by EXCO in January 2011 estimates that the population of Gauteng will grow from its current 10.53 million (Statistics South Africa, 2009) to 28.0 million by 2055. Will we have enough food and water to sustain such population growth?
Currently, South Africa faces three types of water pollution: radiological pollution, found downstream of gold mining; biological pollution, found downstream of sewage works; and,chemical pollution, found downstream of industrial and agricultural activity. The sources of the water challenge in South Africa are limited natural supply, problems with pollution and the high cost of alternative solutions.
The Nedbank Sustainable Outlook argues that as South Africa strives to grow its economy and provide its citizens with adequate basic services, the demand for water is expected to increase by about 32% over the next 25 years – under a business-as-usual scenario. This means that by 2035 demand for serviced water will exceed supply by 17%.
Industries will be affected in ways that may not seem obvious now. Aside from agricultural needs, the food and beverage, power-generation, mining, high-tech, and pulp and paper sectors all depend heavily on water and therefore are directly exposed to water scarcity. But water is vital to industry even when it is used indirectly for cooling or heating, transport and cleaning. Many industries are exposed to the risk of water scarcity through their supply chains, since they rely on energy and input from water-dependent agricultural and industrial sectors. In many cases companies' own water use might be as little as 1% of their total supply water footprint, making the vulnerabilities less obvious.
The Outlook Report further makes a business for water management by citing a US-based NGO, Ceres, which directs a group of institutional investors managing over $7 trillion in assets. A 2009 report highlighted things that investors should do regarding water: independently assess companies' water risk exposure; demand more meaningful corporate water disclosure; and, encourage companies to incorporate water issues into their climate change strategies.
James Mack of Stanford University argues in the Fortune 500 magazine of August 2011 that by 2050, three quarters of the world's predicted population will live in cities. Energy stakeholders are now tasked with creating energy solutions for this anticipated demand.
Currently solar and other alternative energy options are still more costly than conventional grid electricity generated from fossil fuels, but prices are expected to come down as the technology matures. To build up our capabilities for future adoption when it is cost-effective to do so, we must continue to research and test-bed such new technologies. The technological innovation that will have the biggest impact on urban sustainability are cost-competitive solar power, high market penetration of electric vehicles coupled with electricity generation from renewable sources and energy efficient desalination. Solar and other alternative energy options, that achieve cost parity with electricity available from the grid, have the potential to meet the world's energy demand five times over. The continued removal of total societal cost from the unsustainable energy equation is currently preventing market forces from selecting the most sustainable outcome.
But technological innovations alone will not create a sustainable urban environment. The economic and political climate must be such that sustainable practices are adopted. This will require innovative action by policymakers to incorporate the costs of unsustainable negative externalities into the economics of our energy decisions. Greenhouse gas emission, air and water pollution and low-efficiency building practices are critical externalities in which the developer/manufacturer does not incur the cost of unsustainable practices.
In the current trajectory, individual and businesses that use energy-intensive products and services do not pay for the cost of emitting greenhouses gases, encouraging unsustainable patterns of energy usage. In many parts of the developing world, air and water pollution have no cost to the polluter, effectively incentivising industry to harm public health through contaminated ground water and polluted air. To continue to internalise these externalities of unsustainable development will discourage investment in energy efficient infrastructure and technologies.This must change if the cities of the future will have any chance to exist.
Climate change is considered to be one of most serious threats to humanity with adverse impacts expected on food and water security, economic activity, human health, physical infrastructure and natural resources. In this regard, very soon, on the 28 November to 09 December 2011, South Africa and the African Continent will warmly welcome the rest of the world to the 17th Conference of Parties to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 7th meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP7) in Durban, eThekwini.
It is Gauteng's wish that this conference becomes a platform for the world to take a significant step towards a future climate change regime. We can be proud as Africans that Africa is the only continent that engages in climate negotiations in one voice, and we would like maintain that unity.
The climate negotiations that took place at COP16/CMP6 in Cancun last year resulted in a package of decisions, referred to as the Cancun Agreements. However, a number of key issues that include inter alia , the future legal form of a climate agreement, the second commitment of the Kyoto Protocol, and ways to raise and secure funds needed for long-term financing were left unresolved. These will form the basis of our work in Durban later this year.
Addressing the current and future generations' energy needs will require brave and innovative policy from the Gauteng government, technological options from industry and smart financing from financial institutions, but will have an enormous impact.
Gauteng, with its estimated population of 10.53 million people is estimated to be generating 42% of the total waste generated in the country (CSIR, 2003). Affluence has been linked with the increased generation of waste in the province. The relative affluence and population statistics of Gauteng, compared with the other eight provinces of South Africa, may explain why whilst Gauteng is the smallest of the nine provinces, it generates the highest amount of waste in the country.
Waste Management in the province is accompanied by numerous waste management challenges including:
- non-separation of waste at household level;
- economic constraints leading to insufficient budgeting for waste services;
- limited refuse removal services in poor areas;
- inadequate enforcement of national, provincial and municipal waste laws and regulations;
- inadequate minimization of waste and recycling; and,
- littering in residential areas and public areas (GDARD, 2010).
In order to address these challenges, the department, after extensive stakeholder engagement between 2007 and 2010, developed three waste management documents:
The Gauteng Waste Minimisation Plan – approved in March 2010;
The Gauteng Hazardous Waste Management Plan - approved in March 2010; and
The Gauteng Waste Collection Standards - approved in August 2010.
Today we are also launching these documents for use throughout Gauteng municipalities. Our officials are engaging with various municipalities in the province to facilitate implementation of these plans. Our industry partners will be pleased to know that we have also presented these plans to the Institute of Waste Management South Africa.
We request all our municipalities, as the coal-face for public waste service delivery, to include these plans in the drafting and review of their Integrated Waste Management Plans as part of their Integrated Development Plans (IDPs), to ensure that their implementation is funded. I also advise that each municipality starts incremental implementation of the plans so as to ensure that gaps are identified and addressed, best practice developed and replicated elsewhere in the province.
The department will continue to provide technical support through its quarterly Waste Forum, convened by the department and attended by the municipal and industry waste management officials.
Let me conclude by saying we have a shared responsibility to ensure sustainable development. Companies can develop and deploy technologies and products that are more environmentally friendly than today, and incorporate environmental considerations into their operations and procedures. Citizens must embrace a lifestyle that considers the environment and limits resource consumption in their daily lives. Government will promote sustainability through innovative policy and developing and discharging fiscal instruments as both incentive for sustainable development and disincentive for unsustainable ways of development and setting an example, demonstrating our commitment, and involving our people, industry and commerce.
Given the global downturn, the ability to grow the economy in a sustainable way has become more, not less, relevant. Continuing to achieve good growth while maintaining a good environment will require first, the prudent use of natural resources, and second, building capacity of the state to promote and reward sustainable development.
Sustainable development is a long-term process with long-term objectives. It means focusing on the horizon, rather than quick fixes; targeting prevention now, rather than putting right later; caring for the environment as part of our choices today, rather than dealing with the consequences of neglect down the line.
Working together we can do more!
