Programme director
Honourable Minister of Science and Technology, Minister Naledi Pandor
The Executive Mayor of Tshwane, Dr Gwen Ramokgopa
Speaker of Tshwane, Father Simangaliso Mkhatshwa (in absentia)
Siemens' President and Global Chief Executive Officer, Mr Peter Loscher
Siemens' Chief Executive Officer for Africa Cluster, Mr Dirk Hoke
The Chief Executive Officer of Siemens Southern Africa, Mr Stewart Clarkson
MMCs present today
Ladies and gentlemen
I should really start by congratulating Siemens on this wonderful milestone of being in South Africa for 150 years and still offering us thought-leadership in technological development.
Allow me, programme director, to commend Siemens for their innovation and more importantly to celebrate their pro-green technological development which is aligned to our government's commitment to a green economy path.
What is great about this event, however, is that it is not about the past. It is about the future! That stunning green electric sports car parked outside is testament to that. And it’s clear that our future must be green too!
It has been said on numerous occasions but let me reiterate and emphasise the incontrovertible fact that climate change is arguably the biggest challenge facing humanity in the 21st century. It is also the one that may undermine the realisation of the millennium development goals.
In the midst of the global economic crisis, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) called for a global green new deal, according to which governments of the world were encouraged to support economic transformation to a greener economy.
This means that recovery from the global financial crisis is to be based on the tenets of a green economy taking forward the concept of sustainable development beyond just talk by environmentalists to being central to economic growth.
The green economy path is not just about low carbon output; it is also about the reduction of un-renewable resource usage, waste and the valuing of the ecosystem goods and services.
This new deal is premised on three key objectives which are:
- to make a major contribution to reviving the world economy
- saving and creating jobs and
- protecting vulnerable groups.
The deal should promote sustainable and inclusive growth as well as the achievement of the millennium development goals (MDGs). It must also reduce carbon dependency and ecosystem degradation.
As President Jacob Zuma urged us all at the recent Green Economy Summit, there is a great opportunity that is being presented to us by climate change by responding to this lurking threat in a manner that ensures that industrial development must take a sustainable development path.
This car parked outside tells us that we can indeed respond to the clarion call by the president and that we could have trade-offs between faster economic growth and the preservation of our environment. This is what those of us arguing for sustainable development are calling for.
The transport sector represents about 13 to 15 percent of South Africa's greenhouse gas emissions with the emissions from this sector expected to reach 17 percent between 2007 and 2011.
Government is supporting research and development of an electric vehicle, with a view towards mass production by 2012. According to projections, the electric vehicle's potential size is estimated at R1 billion with the potential to create about 1 000 jobs in 2013.
The public transport system, both bus and rail, has the potential size estimated at R4.5 billion with the potential of 40 000 jobs in 2013. Finally, the high speed rail potential size is estimated at R5 billion with the potential of about 148 000 jobs.
The need for technological advancement is interlinked with rapid urbanisation, which should be an area of our interest in light of the fact that cities are home to more than 50 percent of the world's population today.
Consequently, they account for about 75 percent of the world's energy consumption and cause 80 percent of the world's green house gases. The ecological imbalance is clearly visible.
Technological innovations are the strongest levers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while at the same time a technology that embraces a pro-green approach to innovation responds to our challenge.
We believe quite strongly that government and business must work together to ensure that we collectively deal with climate change. A great example of where this is taking place is the African Green City Index that we are launching here today.
I am fully supportive of this great initiative that will help Africa's major cities, including South Africa's Johannesburg, Tshwane/Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town, better understand and tackle the environmental and city infrastructure challenges they are facing. It's clear that the battle against global warming will be decided in the cities.
In developing continents like Africa, the number of people living in cities increases by approximately one million each week on average. This should be a source for concern since Africa will be hardest hit by climate change. The very challenge of water will be exacerbated by climate change. By 2030, the majority of Africans will be urban residents.
As I said before, cities already account for 75 percent of global energy consumption and for 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions! This means that the supply of services like energy, water or transport, as well as buildings and healthcare need to be greatly improved in terms of capacity, quality and resource efficiency.
By being proactive and taking action today, with the African green city index being a good example of this, we can exploit the opportunities that urbanisation offers and thereby ensure a sustainable future for all South Africans and all people across the continent.
I am looking forward to seeing the results of the research study early next year. I am certain that all of us sitting here today won't be around in the next 150 years from now.
Unless of course Siemens is working on new healthcare technology that we don't know about yet, but I hope that the generations after us will be happy with the actions that we are taking today to protect the environment and secure a sustainable way of life for the South Africans living in this great country in the future.
I thank you.
