Affairs and Tourism, at the Cape Times Environmental Awards
6 November 2007
Climate action is affordable
Thank you for the opportunity to address you at this prestigious event. The
Cape Times Environmental Awards ceremony has become a marker in our diaries. It
makes a significant contribution, not only by recognising outstanding
contributions to conserving our environment for future generations, but also by
raising awareness in a field that has historically been under appreciated, but
is day by day moving up on the national and international agenda. It is
daunting to consider the range of threats facing the environment on which we
depend.
Daunting, but not overwhelming, if we are able to draw on expertise
available, common sense, and flexibility, as we consider solutions. Tonight we
are gathering in a region of the country where we are acutely aware of our
vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. The current and projected
impacts on agriculture, biodiversity, water resources and fisheries, to name
but a few, are becoming increasingly well known. In two weeks' time the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), will finalise the overall
synthesis of its Fourth Assessment Report, and in four weeks' time we hope to
achieve a breakthrough in climate negotiations when 10 000 delegates from more
than 180 countries meet in Bali for the critical next round of talks under the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climale Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto
Protocol.
The rigorous scientific evaluations of the IPCC have already confirmed that
climate change is part of our changing reality and that it is almost without
doubt caused by human activities. The impacts and risks of climate change are
more imminent and severe than previously thought, a message from the IPCC which
has been confirmed by new science ever since their scientific reports were
finalised about a year ago. Thus we have heard that greenhouse gas emissions
are growing rapidly, they are currently above even the highest IPCC projections
and they will continue to grow unless we decisively change course.
If we do not tackle the root causes of the problem, that is increasing
emissions, a time will come when we will no longer be able to adapt our way out
of the problem. That is the bad news. The good news from the IPCC is that we
have the tools to address the problem in a way that will both reduce some
impacts, and avoid others that may be more extreme. But then we must choose to
act. A broad portfolio of technologies and policies does exist and can be
applied at a cost that is affordable. Failing to adopt these win-win
technologies and approaches is simply inexcusable, but it is the role of strong
leadership in government and business to facilitate this process.
With the scientific and economic cases so clear, it is now up to
policy-makers worldwide to respond. Together, we must address the huge
disjuncture between the pace of negotiations and the urgency of action required
by science. Fortunately, over the past year and more, the climate change issue
has moved to the top of the international agenda. Climate change has been
elevated to the Heads of State level in the United Nations General Assembly and
at the G8 Summit. The UN Secretary General has drawn the climate change issue
into his personal sphere of diplomacy; it was introduced in the UN Security
Council earlier this year and it is now also on the agenda of G20 Finance
Ministers.
This high level political activity gives new momentum to the process of
negotiating a more effective and inclusive multilateral framework for climate
change. I recall merely two years ago, when I referred in a speech at our
national Climate Change Conference in Midrand, to the implications of the
decline of sea ice in the Arctic, how many delegates frowned and chuckled.
Today hardly a week goes by without new reports on threatening disputes between
the USA and Canada over parts of the North-West Passage and the fossil fuel
deposits hitherto covered by ice, or about Russia staking its claim to the
North Pole, or about the new aspirations of Denmark and Norway. The link
between climate stability and geopolitical stability is becoming ever more
clear, as the global battle over these valuable trade routes and unextracted
oil and gas reserves, reported to represent about a quarter of the worldâs
undiscovered reserves, will continue to be a key driver of geopolitics in that
region, and beyond. Ships travelling between Copenhagen and Yokohama could in
future cut their travelling distance in half if they go along the north
Siberian coast rather than through the Suez Canal. The effects on shipping will
be felt all the way down to our own harbours here in South Africa.
Programme director, in South Africa the climate change issue has also moved
to the top of our agenda. Three to four years ago it was hardly on the radar
screen. When we received one of our first briefings on the latest science and
it implications in Cabinet three years ago, it was met with a sense of
disbelief. Today it is a key priority. It is a key issue for a range of
departments who are actively working on their sectoral response strategies and
who are integrating it with their day-today decision-making. In March 2006
Cabinet commissioned a process to examine the options available to mitigate our
greenhouse gas emissions.
The aim of the Long Term Mitigation Scenario (LTMS) study is to contribute
to setting the pathway for long-term climate policy for the country. Ultimately
this groundbreaking work which is now in its final stretch, together with our
work on sectoral strategies, the Greenhouse Gas Inventory, our national
communications to the United Nations and adaptation planning, will inform our
deliberations towards a legislative and policy package which will give effect
to our policy at a mandatory level.
This domestic process of policy making will also closely interact with the
international negotiations over the next two years. We are likely to decide in
December this year in Bali - and that is our mandate from Cabinet to accelerate
negotiations with a view to agreeing a strengthened framework for climate
protection by 2009, at the latest. Under the Kyoto Protocol, carbon
constraints, or caps, have thus far only been placed on industrialised or
so-called Annex I countries. South Africa, together with the developing or so
called non-Annex I nations of the world, has been exempt from taking mandatory
action to reduce our high level of relative emissions. South Africa has a
commitment to mitigate emissions within our means under the Convention, but
there is no legally binding, quantified target.
The current regime allows South Africa along with others such as Brazil,
China and India to continue to grow without a cap on emissions. However,
increasingly, developing countries like ourselves will be expected, and should
be expected, to take our fair share of responsibility and demonstrate our plans
to contribute to the global response, albeit in a differentiated way that
recognises our growth imperative and our small contribution thus far to the
current crisis. The concession to non-Annex I nations has seemingly prevented
the biggest emitter on the world stage, the United Stated of America (USA),
from agreeing to targets.
This deadlock must be broken, and thus it can be expected that we will have
greater responsibilities, but still of a different kind than developed
countries, after 2012. In moving forward we will face some tough decisions in
South Africa. Continuing to grow without a carbon constraint will not be
sustainable over the long term. It would also be a high-risk approach in the
face of rising oil prices and the threat that carbon constraints could be
introduced in international trade.
A massive effort by South Africa to achieve emissions reductions and
"de-carbonise" growth would therefore be required. Given that the energy sector
is the single largest source of emissions in South Africa, interventions will
have to be aimed in the short term at improving energy efficiency, and over the
longer haul diversifying energy sources away from coal, promoting energy
security and also research and development of new technologies that will lead
to a cleaner, low carbon energy future.
Key to success will be strong, committed and engaged South African
leadership in government, business and civil society, coupled with
international support. I can assure you tonight that the political will is
there and that South Africa will not stand back in the face of these
challenges. The world is changing, and we will respond to these new challenges.
Programme director, the negotiations in Bali in December will be a key point in
the increasingly urgent task facing us. If we want to reach agreement by the
end of 2009 on a strengthened climate regime, we must agree to a Bali Roadmap
for negotiations for the next two years.
Looking to the future, the message from a developing country perspective is
clear: We take our responsibilities seriously. We are already making a
meaningful contribution within our respective capabilities. We are willing to
do more. But the trigger to strengthen the regime must come from the North. It
is a two-part trigger: firstly, the full participation by the worldâs largest
historical and current emitter, the United States, is a requirement and
secondly, a more empowering technology and financing framework for adaptation
and mitigation is a precondition.
The full engagement of the United States in the multilateral process and
binding emission reductions is not negotiable. The 'road to nowhere' approach
of the current Administration in the Unites States (US) remains disappointing,
to say the least. Yes, the US has signalled some flexibility, and we are
constructively participating in engagements such as the US-initiated Major
Economies dialogue. But we need much greater leadership and immediate action
from the US. The US has risen before to seemingly impossible challenges and
succeeded even beyond their own dreams. The successes of the US in the hostile
reaches of space are legendary - surely success in ensuring a sustainable
future on a supportive earth is well within their grasp?
Programme director, in conclusion, achieving climate stability in an
equitable way requires individual nations to rise above short term
self-interest for the benefit of the long term common good. In South Africa we
have demonstrated that this is possible for the good of a nation. And though,
when it comes to climate change, we have responsibilities and constraints
unique to South Africa, we all have a common responsibility to act in
accordance with our national capabilities. South Africa realises that we must
all act with a greater sense of urgency. For our part, we stand ready to take
on our fair share of responsibility.
Enquiries:
Riaan Aucamp
Cell: 083 778 9923
Issued by: Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
6 November 2007
