President Cyril Ramaphosa: Special session of Presidential Climate Commission

Ministers,
Deputy Chairperson of the Commission, Mr Dipak Patel,
Members of the Presidential Climate Commission,
Executive Director, Ms Dorah Modise,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
Climate change is an existential threat to the future of humanity and the planet. 
 
We must act with others across the globe to ensure that we do not breach the 1.5 degree warming above pre-industrial levels.
 
We must reduce carbon emissions at a pace and scale that is appropriate to our national circumstances. We must simultaneously climate-proof our development and infrastructure while strengthening resilience and disaster management capabilities. 
 
Climate action and development must be aligned and support our growth and prosperity.
 
South Africa is already experiencing the effects of climate change, and these are predicted to increase rapidly as we approach the end of this decade and beyond.
 
This could significantly impede our growth and our collective prosperity.
 
It is likely to undermine our efforts to address inequality, poverty and unemployment.
 
Addressing climate change must therefore go hand in hand with improving living conditions for all.
 
Those most vulnerable to climate change – including women, children, people with disabilities, the poor and the unemployed – need to be protected.
 
We also need to protect workers’ jobs and livelihoods.
 
South Africa has set ambitious goals for climate action, aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
 
As the Commission, our work is to ensure a just transition to a low-carbon economy while helping South Africa become more resilient, strengthening our global competitiveness, and reducing poverty, inequality and unemployment. 
 
To do this, we need to build consensus through social dialogue.
 
The birth of the Presidential Climate Commission in December 2020 marked a turning point in South Africa’s climate agenda.
 
For the first time, the country created a permanent, independent, multi-stakeholder body to advise on its response to climate change.
 
South Africa needed an independent, credible body that could convene diverse voices, provide sound evidence and help the country navigate one of the most complex policy challenges in its democratic history.
 
The Presidential Climate Commission was established to ensure that South Africa’s climate transition is just, inclusive and responsive to the needs of vulnerable communities – and that it is based on the best available scientific evidence.
 
At the last session of this Commission’s first term, in December last year, I received a report outlining what the Commission had done in its first five years.
 
That report lays a basis for a broad scope of what our priorities should be for the next five years until 2030.
 
Since its inception, the PCC has played a central role in South Africa’s climate policy landscape.
 
Most importantly, the PCC has emerged as an important platform for consensus-building in South Africa’s just transition journey.
 
By bringing together government, business, labour, civil society, youth and academia, the PCC has fostered inclusive dialogue and solutions to some of the country’s most complex and contested climate and development challenges.
 
It has helped to align diverse interests around common goals such as the phase-down of coal, investment in renewables and the protection of livelihoods.
 
It has sought to ensure that policy decisions are both evidence-based and also socially legitimate and widely supported.
 
The just transition is an opportunity to rebuild trust with communities and to deal with practical issues relating to jobs, local economies, skills, social support and governance, among others.
 
We gather at a pivotal moment in South Africa’s energy transition.
 
Energy security and climate action must be mutually reinforcing.
 
A stable, diversified electricity system is the foundation of growth, investment and job creation, especially as we propel the country towards green industrialisation.
 
The Just Energy Transition Partnership must now move from commitment to delivery.
 
We must translate pledges into visible progress on the ground.
 
Among other things, we need to accelerate renewable energy deployment, strengthen and expand transmission infrastructure, enable storage solutions and create space for greater private sector participation.
 
We look to this Commission for guidance on how to ensure that our energy transition advances energy security, while reducing emissions and maximising the opportunities for our economy from a low carbon transition.
 
At the same time, we look to this commission for guidance on how our communities can adapt and be more resilient to the ever-increasing effects of climate change.
 
Our pathway to the targets set out in our Nationally Determined Contribution must reinforce growth, inclusion and job creation.
 
As we continue to seek sufficient financial investment to reduce our carbon emissions, we must increase the share of funding for adaptation.
 
This is essential to secure the development gains the country has achieved.
 
As the country works to reduce its carbon footprint, we must ensure that this shift does not disproportionately affect the most vulnerable, such as those who depend on industries like coal mining for their livelihoods.
 
This will require inclusive social dialogue and unprecedented levels of cooperation between government, business, labour and communities.
 
By bringing together voices from all sectors of society, the PCC will promote consensus on the implementation of economic, social and environmental policies needed to achieve our decarbonisation targets.
 
As this new Commission begins its work, we should not leave important tasks unfinished.
 
For example, we need to attend to the redevelopment of the community of Komati in Mpumalanga who, in the aftermath of the decommissioning of the power station, were left with no economic recovery plan.
 
We expect all government departments at all levels to continue to be cooperative, supportive and receptive to the views of the Commission.
 
We expect all parts of government to take the PCC’s recommendations forward and work collaboratively on awareness and social dialogue, enabling local action and adjusting policy measures where necessary.
 
For the transition to be just, it must be redistributive, restorative and procedurally just.
 
All citizens should be empowered to participate in this transition, not as passive beneficiaries of government services and corporate social responsibility grants, but as economic actors.
 
This must be a transition to a transformed, inclusive and more equal economy.
 
I call on you as Commissioners to work in close partnership with our key Ministers and their departments to ensure that climate action is fully integrated into our national priorities, from energy and finance to trade, labour and cooperative governance.
 
Through coordinated leadership and shared accountability, we can undertake climate action in a manner that advances development, protects livelihoods and unlocks new opportunities for our people.
 
Thank you for taking on this responsibility and for your commitment to this work.
 
I look forward to our continued efforts to contribute meaningfully to global climate action and build a sustainable and prosperous future for all South Africans.
 
I thank you.

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