Open letter to Minister Creecy
DEAR Honourable Barbara Creecy, the minister of the environment, forestry and fisheries,
This week, you will be participating in COP25, the UN summit on climate change, to listen and speak for South Africa, its needs and responsibility in our dramatically changing world of anthropogenic climate change.
We remind you of the dire environmental realities, which require wholehearted actions from our leaders. At a time when our global environment is at risk of collapse, you, together with your international counterparts, hold the most pivotal role and responsibility. This is the time for you to act.
South Africa’s environment, our communities’ health and livelihood are under threat. We are witnessing the worst droughts, floods and storms our region has seen in 100 years. Certain areas in the Karoo are disaster zones. Despairing communities are praying to God to save them because no one else seems to care, and the government does nothing to assist.
In South Africa, 37.44% of rural communities are affected by the drought, the 2019/2020 Drought Report by AgriSA states. This affects the livelihood of communities and poses a major threat to food security. The impact on our economy and job security is dramatic. The Western Cape fresh produce export volume decreased by 25%. In the Northern Cape and the Free State 27 000 agriculture jobs were lost in a year.
A recent report from the Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Water and Sanitation raises urgent concerns over the lack of an adaptation strategy to tackle the drought. Research by the African Climate and Development Initiative at UCT underlines how drought can be expected once every 15 years – rather than every 50 years as previously assumed.
Climate change impacts, and will continue to impact, the poor hardest.
South Africa is the world’s 14th largest emitter of carbon dioxide.Its commitment to reduce GHG emissions has been internationally benchmarked as “highly insufficient”.
If all governments did as little as we do, global warming would result in a temperature increase between 3ºC and 4ºC, with the consequence of immeasurable catastrophe with unprecedented human suffering. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s latest report estimates an ultimatum of a little more than a decade to take massive action to reach the Paris climate goals.
Yet South Africa’s leaders don’t give it the necessary urgency. On the contrary: more plans for fossil fuel investments and new coal-fired power stations are on the table.
Even you, honourable minister, seem to be ducking behind the inconsistent and flawed argument that GHG mitigation conflicts with economic growth. In fact, expensive and unsustainable polluters like coal, oil and gas have become more expensive than renewables, irrespective of the external costs. The correlation between climate change and negative economic growth should become obvious when reviewing the reports referenced above.
In a stakeholder meeting in October in preparation for COP25, you highlighted the need for educational measures to achieve increased public awareness. We agree and conclude that such measures need to start with you.
We demand that you take a stance for your sector and the people of South Africa suffering from climate change and declare a climate emergency.