Stalwarts of green economic revolution shift the needle
This column has given much coverage to the challenges facing the SA economy, with a concomitant amount of constructive criticism of the state over its responses to them.
From time to time, however, it behoves me to give credit where credit is due and tip my cap to some of the statesponsored organisations that are shifting the needle on driving sustainable innovation across the country.
The last week has seen two stalwarts of the green economic revolution release impact reports that give testament to just how far we have come down the road towards a future that is distinct from the environmental degradation of the past. The first release, which was actually more of a compendium of releases, belongs to GreenCape, which announced its annual market intelligence reports on renewable energy & energy services, electric vehicles, water, sustainable agriculture and waste for 2021.
Originally established by the Western Cape government, GreenCape is a nonprofit organisation working across the government, business and academia, where it has facilitated private sector investment in green business, technologies and manufacturing. In the decade since its inception it has channelled about R42bn in investment towards SA businesses across the country and generated about 19,000 jobs in the process.
Now the organisation is expanding its footprint into the rest of the country with a youth climate change mobilisation programme in communities in the Western Cape, the Eastern Cape and the Northern Cape ahead of the COP26 climate negotiations at the end of the year. It is also supporting the Just Transition process in Mpumalanga by working with the provincial government there to establish a new regional green economy cluster in support of its green industrial sector development work.
Even the EU is sitting up and taking notice. The bloc has now partnered a Covid-19 response project seeking ways to support green trade recovery aligned with GreenCape’s Green Outcomes Fund, which is looking for green small, medium-sized and micro businesses to apply for funding.
The other success story is that of the National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC). One of the lesser-known national triumphs of the past 20 years, the NCPC focuses on plant-level technical implementation of water, energy efficiency and industrial symbiosis interventions.
Originally established after a commitment by then president Thabo Mbeki at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002, it has grown from a small focus area within the manufacturing division of the Council for Scientific & Industrial Research to become the leading centre of its sort in Africa and one of the most successful in the world. Today, the NCPC is a designated national industry support programme with a mandate to support the national green economy transition through resource efficient and cleaner production (RECP).
In the past 18 years, the NCPC has assisted more than 1,500 companies with RECP implementation, helping them to realise tangible savings in energy, water, waste management and materials. The most recent report focused on its activities over the past five years, during which it recorded a string of successes amounting to R1.4bn in savings at 739 business premises. In the same five years, energy and waste minimisation interventions have mitigated 2.6-million tonnes of green house gas emissions, not to mention saving 1,900Ml of water and 45,600 tonnes of materials.
One of its focus areas in the near future is building on the concept of geographical nodes of green industry. In December last year, the NCPC and the UN Industrial Development Organisation launched the ecoindustrial parks programme, and they are now also working with the department of trade, industry & competition on its plans to revitalise parks and special economic zones through circular economy practices.
The reality is that controversy and scandals grab headlines, so the valiant efforts of the likes of GreenCape and the NCPC tend to go unheralded, when, in fact, we would all benefit from greater awareness of their programmes and activities. Both organisations deserve our collective thanks.
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