SA showcases its new green initiatives
Climate Change Near-term Priority Flagship Programmes create mechanism to foster a better environment
SOUTH AFRICA’S Climate Change Near-Term Priority Flagship Programmes were showcased on the sidelines of the international climate change talks, taking place in Katowice, Poland.
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, according to the Department of Environmental Affairs.
These programmes are meant to trigger the investment needed for South Africa’s transition to a climate-resilient future.
“South Africa has a well-developed base for mitigating climate change and building climate resilience through its Climate Change Near-term Priority Flagship Programmes,” said the department.
In the past seven years, more than R270 billion has been invested in programmes that support the transition 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 its 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.
“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 climate transformation,” said the department.
Programmes that address climate-resilient human settlements, energy efficiency, renewable energy, agriculture food systems, waste management and water management will be implemented until 2030.
“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 complement 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.”
The 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ends on Friday.