South Africa showcases the Climate Change Near-Term Priority Flagship Programmes at UNFCCC COP24 in Katowice, Poland
South Africa on Monday, 10 December 2018, showcased the country’s Climate Change Near-Term Priority Flagship Programmes on the sidelines of the international climate change talks taking place in Katowice, Poland.
The 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ends on 14 December 2018.
Immediate and intensified climate action offers South Africa a compelling opportunity to, and clear pathway towards, a shared aim of a more prosperous, inclusive, and equitable future as envisioned by the National Development Plan Vision 2030. The country has a well-developed base for mitigating climate change and building climate resilience through its Climate Change Near-term Priority Flagship Programmes.
The National Climate Change Response Policy (NCCRP) identifies the climate change Flagship Programmes as the crucial mechanism to anchor immediate ambitious and practical action at an economy-wide scale. These national programmes are meant to trigger the investment needed for South Africa’s transition to a climate resilient future.
In the past seven year, more than R270 billion has been invested in programmes that support thetransition to a low carbon and climate resilient economy, and society. An additional investment of R18 trillion is needed over the next 30 years to scale up these programmes and thus ensure that South Africa reaches it climate action goals.
The Climate Change Flagship Programmes respond to the three key challenges facing South Africa and other countries as global efforts to address climate change intensify.
The first challenge is the need to ignite national-scale action at the speed required to respond to climate change by, for example, limiting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and/or enabling adaptation to the impacts of unavoidable climate change with the necessary urgency. Secondly, there is a need to demonstrate that the course of actions needed to respond to climate change effectively and efficiently is not only possible, but also highly beneficial, as it will unlock and realise significant social, economic and environmental benefits. Lastly, there is a need to attract resources at the scale required to enable meaningful climate transformation.
Until 2030 programmes that address climate-resilient human settlements, energy efficiency, renewable energy, agriculture food systems, , waste management and water management will be implemented.
The Climate Change Flagship Programmes are scaling-up climate action in South Africa, consolidating existing smaller climate change response measures into larger and higher impact programmes and implementing even more ambitious climate change responses across multiple sectors. International finance mechanisms such as the Global Environment Facility, the National Appropriate Mitigration Actions (NAMA) Facility and the Green Climate Fund will be used to compliment fiscal contribution to, and private investment in, climate action. At present, these programmes constitute 95% of South Africa’s submissions to the Green Climate Fund.
For media inquiries contact:
Albi Modise
Cell: 083 490 2871
For interviews contact:
Eleanor Momberg
Cell: +27 83 400 5741
E-mail: emomberg@environment.gov.za
