CHAMPIONING CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION, MITIGATION AND GREEN FUNDING
The late Minister of Environmental Affairs, Dr Edna Molewa, was internationally recognised and respected for her role in bringing about a climate-friendly world, most notably her role in securing the Paris Agreement on climate change at the 17th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2015.
The Paris Agreement was the culmination of a four-year negotiation and commitment arising from the international climate change talks hosted by South Africa in Durban in 2011. The conclusion to the Durban Mandate, which was to develop a protocol, legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force, under the Convention, by no later than 2015, will see the new agreement come into effect from 2020.
“Minister Molewa played an instrumental role especially related to deal breaking on issues of international governance where parties would not see eye to eye,” said South Africa’s chief climate change negotiator, Maesela Kekana.
As a result, the political parity between mitigation and adaptation is now inscribed in the Paris Agreement. In addition, Loss and Damage – which Dr Molewa chaired, is now recognised as an independent article in the Paris Agreement.
It was in honour of her negotiating acumen and the role she played in the signing of the Paris Agreement that Dr Molewa was bestowed with the Officier de l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur (or Officer in the French Legion of Honour) by the French Government in August 2018. The Legion of Honour also acknowledged her commitment to the struggle for freedom and democracy, for women’s rights.
Beyond COP17, the Minister had worked tirelessly to ensure that the Paris Agreement on Climate Change was adopted, concluding the work started in Durban. The Paris Agreement decided on means of implementation for all Parties, and is an important achievement for developing countries, particularly in terms of the provision of finance for capacity building and the interventions needed to adapt to extreme weather events, and climate change in general.
During 2016, South Africa launched Adaptation Fund projects being implemented in the Northern Cape, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal directly benefiting approximately 2 931 beneficiaries. The projects covered raising climate resilient livestock, producing climate-resilient rooibos tea, climate smart vegetable production, investments in water security and in saving schemes, as well as investments in climate proof infrastructure. The projects also cover early warning systems that support local communities and small scale farmers and climate-proofing settlements through built and ecological infrastructure, and informing settlement planning.
The Green Fund’s portfolio of projects address a wide variety of aspects related to the green economy. These pertain to inter alia industry development, environmental resource management, skills development and transfer, job creation, institutional capacity building and research interventions.
As of September 2018, the Green Fund’s portfolio of investment projects with signed contracts stood at 22. The majority of projects have been finalised. One project worth noting is the Hammarsdale Recycling Centre which has recently been completed and was proposed to the Ministry for consideration of an official launch by the Minister.
The Hammarsdale Waste Beneficiation Centre project is owned by Use-It which is a non-profit organisation (NPO) based in eThekwini Municipality, South Africa. Use-its mandate is to promote sustainable waste management in the eThekwini Municipal Area.
In February 2013, the Green Fund approved a grant amount to the value of R29.6 million under the Smart Cities and Towns funding window. The project aims to divert waste from landfill which has become a major challenge in pursuit of creating sustainable cities and employment in the green economy on behalf of the Metro.
This project would be an ideal opportunity to celebrate Minister’s contribution to the sector as it highlights inclusivity, social upliftment and the recently approved Thuma Mina Green Deeds initiative, regarded as Minister’s brain child.
In January 2019, South Africa will host the 3rd Partnership for Action on the Greed Economy (PAGE) Ministerial Conference in Cape Town. Minister had shown keen interest in the preparations being made for the Conference, expected to be attended by 500 delegates from around the world. The Conference provides a platform whereby Minister’s support and drive to stimulate the Green Economy in South Africa and, indeed, the southern African region, can be showcased and celebrated.
When she became a Minister of Environmental Affairs in 2010, she pushed for, and ensured, the approval of the National Climate Change Response Policy for South Africa in 2011.
In 2014 the Minister published a major revision to the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations reducing the administrative burden on applicants through the removal of many unnecessary steps within the process.
Minister Molewa’s role in international climate change negotiations will be sorely missed as South Africa prepared for the 24th Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC in Poland in December 2018. It was in the run-up to these talks, where the work programme for the implementation of the Paris Agreement from 2020 is expected to be adopted, that world leaders were continuing to lobby Dr Molewa to play a special role to unblock the processes where there would be challenges.