Programme Director,
Members of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) led by the Co-chair of Working Group 2, Dr. Christopher Field,
Members of the Norwegian Environment Agency led by Øyvind Christophersen,
Members and Delegates of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs led by Arman Aardal,
Delegates from different countries, especially from the region and sub-region,
Academics, researchers and scientists from various institutions, and in particular our organising partners in Prof. Coleen Vogel from the University of Pretoria, and Prof. Mary Scholes and Dr Ute Schwaibold, both from Wits University;
Officials from various departments and organizations,
Members of the community,
The media,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen
Good morning to you all.
Allow me to send my warm greetings to each one of you gathered here today. I would like to acknowledge the IPCC WG 2, the University of Pretoria, the University of Witwatersrand, the Norwegian Government, and the Department of Environmental Affairs, for their close collaboration in organizing this historic meeting.
This may be the first time that the country is hosting a regional meeting of this nature aimed at reflecting and sharing knowledge and experience on climate-related extreme events, and their implications to society and sustainable development.
The meeting takes place at an opportune time following the recent release of the 5th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the Physical Science Basis for Climate Change. This report confirms that warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as evidenced by increases in global average temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising sea levels.
It provides strengthened evidence that human influence is the dominant factor in the observed global scale changes in the climate system. These changes are already impacting on, and are likely to continue impacting on human societies through extreme events, as well as through slow onset events such as drought and shifting rain patterns. These impacts have the potential of affecting the social and economic viability of a country, and compromising hard earned socio economic gains.
Programme Director, the Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (IPCC SREX) emphasizes the importance of integrating expertise in climate science, disaster risk management, and adaptation. This integrated approach must inform responses aimed at reducing and managing the risks of extreme events and disasters, and adapting to the impacts of a changing climate.
The report concludes that changes in extreme weather and climate events are already happening. Economic losses from climate extremes have increased, and, alarmingly, 95% of lives lost from natural disasters have been in developing countries. The report also provides an assessment of a wide range of response options to reduce exposure and vulnerability, and improve resilience to climate extremes. Among these are early-warning systems, innovations in insurance coverage, climate proofing of infrastructure, sustainable land management and ecosystem management, as well as the expansion of social safety nets.
It is clear that the only choice for humanity is to take practical action, through reducing emissions, preparing for extreme events, and adapting to the impacts of climate change. We need to plan for the changes that are expected to occur. We need to adjust our ecological, social, and economic systems and change the way we do things. Our processes, our practices, and our structures must be properly aligned to reduce the impacts of, and vulnerability to climate change NOW as well as increasing the social, economic and environmental resilience to FUTURE impacts.
Africa, which accounts for the majority of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in the world, is highly vulnerable to climate change and variability. This continent is projected to experience increased warming, decreased rainfall, increased intensity of droughts and floods, as well as sea level rise that is expected to contribute to extreme coastal high water levels.
The impact on people, particularly the most vulnerable, will be extensive, including increased water stress, increased food insecurity, and increased economic losses from weather and climate related disasters. In addition, the transmission of disease is likely to be altered, with malaria, diarrhoea and dengue expected to be more prevalent in many countries. In summary, where there is economic and social vulnerability, the impacts of climate change and extreme events are exacerbated.
This is not a new message. What is new is our growing understanding of what the potential implications are and our increasing recognition of the need to take action. The IPCC report calls for actions ranging from incremental improvements in governance and technology to more transformational changes that are essential for reducing risk from climate extremes.
And indeed, incremental steps as well as transformational changes are underway. Last week, the African Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCEN) launched a flagship programme on Sustainable Land Management, Desertification, Biodiversity and Ecosystems-based Adaptation to Climate Change.
Three weeks ago, at the Southern African Development Countries’ (SADC) Summit, Ministers approved a 5 year SADC Regional Climate Change Programme. The programme seeks to promote regional co-operation, through enhancing institutional and technical capacity of the region to address climate change, promoting research and development, and disseminating climate compatible technologies and best practices.
Ministers also approved a five-year programme in the Eastern and Southern African Regions, to address the impacts of climate change through innovative adaptation and mitigation actions. In particular the programme focusses on providing support for climate vulnerability assessments and building capacity for the development of climate change response strategies.
In South Africa, our efforts at promoting sustainable development focus on ensuring access to housing, water, sanitation, food security, energy, transport, education and public health services, as well as creating employment opportunities and nurturing our ecosystem services. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that if we don’t take early action to adapt, our ability to deliver on these fundamental developmental priorities, at all levels, may be undermined by short, medium and long term climate impacts.
South Africa has therefore endorsed the National Climate Change Response Policy as a vision and a framework for an effective climate change response, and the long-term, just transition to a climate-resilient economy and society. The policy is the product of an extensive consultation process. It sets 2 high-level objectives:
- Firstly, to effectively manage the inevitable climate change impacts through interventions that build and sustain South Africa’s social, economic and environmental resilience and emergency response capacity
- Secondly, to make a fair contribution to the global effort to stabilise greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations within a timeframe that enables economic, social and environmental development to proceed in a sustainable manner.
Our approach is both developmental and transformational. It is developmental in that we are prioritising climate change responses that have significant mitigation or adaptation benefits, AND have significant economic growth, job creation, public health, risk management and poverty alleviation benefits. It is transformational in that we are seeking to address climate change at a scale of economy that supports the required innovation and finance flows needed for a transition to a lower carbon, efficient, job creating, equitable and competitive economy. In essence, it is about sustainable development.
Work is well advanced in implementing this National Climate Change Response Policy. A set of Long Term Adaptation Scenarios (LTAS) are being developed, under plausible future climate conditions and development pathways. This is a complex task which requires the projection of climate change impacts for key sectors and an evaluation of their socio-economic implications. So far this work has focussed on water, agriculture, human health, marine fisheries, and biodiversity sectors.
We are also working hard on reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. We have done extensive work to analyse the emission reduction potential in key economic sectors, and to understand the social and economic opportunities and impacts of reducing emissions.
This work will lead to the establishment of desired emission reduction outcomes per sector. Again, South Africa’s approach is one of promoting sustainable development by prioritising climate change responses that have significant mitigation benefits, AND have significant economic growth, job creation and poverty alleviation benefits.
Of course, a key element of any climate change response is a country-wide monitoring and evaluation system that tracks South Africa’s transition to a lower carbon and climate resilient economy and society. We are making progress on this, and on crafting a national framework on climate services, in partnership with the South African Weather Services, and the World Meteorological Organisation, to enable researchers and the producers and users of climate information to join forces in order to improve the quality, quantity and accessibility of this information.
Ladies and Gentlemen, it is clear that by reducing vulnerability, and improving resilience to climate variability, we are increasing resilience to long term climate change. In Southern Africa, we share water resources, energy resources, and ecosystem services. We often share droughts and floods. We also share socio-economic circumstances and vulnerabilities. It is therefore critical to learn from each other and to partner in our efforts of responding to climate variability and climate change. There is vast potential for co-operation in building disaster risk management and early warning systems and in collaborating in adaptation programmes that reduce risk to our water security, food security, health, infrastructure and ecosystem services.
We also note and acknowledge that measures for managing current and future risks have additional benefits that will improve peoples’ livelihoods, conserve biodiversity, and improve human well-being. We believe that by working together; we can save our tomorrow today. I wish you fruitful deliberations.
I thank you!
