Thought – IPCC

Consequences for the world and its people if nothing previously anticipated. By

increasing, or at times even meeting, their financial obligations to developing nations and islands.

The report found: “There is sufficient global capital and liquidity to close global investment gaps, given the size of the financial system, but there are barriers to redirect capital to climate action both within and outside the global financial sector and in the context of economic vulnerabilities and indebtedness facing developing countries.”

South Africa is fortunate among developing countries in having one of the biggest investments into its Just Energy Transition plan, as it seeks to decarbonise.

The $8.5-billion investment announced at COP26, the most recent UN Climate Change Conference, has allowed the country to begin its shift away from its coal-dependent energy mix to move towards renewable energy reliance.

However, this investment is not close to the R1.5-trillion that the country needs to achieve its full decarbonisation agenda.

South Africa’s geographical vulnerability forces the country to take steps towards decarbonising. The country’s water-scarce status is a vulnerability that will be further exacerbated by rising temperatures associated with the climate crisis, threatening food security.

As countries, corporations and individuals delay a shift to low-carbon solutions and living, the consequences associated with the climate crisis will worsen, and those most vulnerable in Sids regions will feel it most.

Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environmental Programme, said: “If there is one key takeaway from this synthesis report – for nations, businesses, investors, and every individual who contributes to climate change – it is this: we must move from climate procrastination to climate activation. And we must do it today.”

Almost half of the world’s population lives in regions that are highly vulnerable to climate change. In the last decade, deaths from floods, droughts

and storms were 15 times higher in highly

vulnerable regions

Vapour rises from cooling towers at the Sasol coal-to-liquid-fuels plant in Secunda, Mpumalanga. At 56.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gases a year, Secunda’s emissions exceed the individual totals of more than 100 countries, according to the Global Carbon