Climate change – the biggest environmental threat
Government has measures in place to protect against the impact of climate change
Climate change in the form of global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions is the most serious environmental danger facing the human race.
Despite being caused mainly by the world’s largest economies, no country is immune to this threat. It therefore becomes essential for all levels of government to investigate ways to prepare and safeguard against the impacts of climate change.
The effects of global warming are already being felt in South Africa. Parts of the country are in the grip of drought, while other areas have to contend with extreme weather events such as flooding and heat waves.
Cape Town is going to run out of water in April 2018,
the first large city in the world to do so.
“Slow onset climate change will have severe impacts on Southern Africa, with shifting rainfall patterns, more frequent droughts and flooding causing devastating health, water, food and energy security impacts,” said Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa in a recent statement to the High Level Segment at the 23rd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
So what plans does government have in place to protect the communities of South Africa?
National government’s policy
Government recognised that climate change was a significant threat to our development many years ago and this fact was formally acknowledged during the National Climate Change Conference in 2005.
In the years that followed the country finalised the National Climate Change Response Policy (NCCRP) which outlines the transition to a climate change-resilient, lowcarbon
economy and society. This policy was adopted by Cabinet in 2011, well before the Paris Agreement which commits all countries to contribute to a global greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal and was signed by 195 countries in 2015.
Since the agreement, some of the actions taken by government include:
• Developing long-term adaptation scenarios to guide planning.
This involves analysing the potential socioeconomic and environmental impacts of climate change, especially for key sectors such as agriculture, water, health, forestry and fisheries and human settlements.
A review of current and future greenhouse gas emission trends of key sectors and identifying ways to reduce emissions. Ongoing countrywide monitoring and evaluation that tracks South Africa’s transition to a low-carbon society. Youth awareness and the forming of youth climate change activist organisations.
South Africa’s progress on climate change strategies is outlined every year in the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) Annual Climate Change Report.
The Climate Change Flagship Programmes tell the story of how South Africa’s climate change response continues to mature over time. Current programmes include:
• Creating energy efficiency in public buildings.
Rainwater harvesting. Renewable energy generation. Sustainable urban transport.
Hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Assessments of all key sectors affected by climate change. “South Africa’s implementation capability has grown tremendously, characterised by more effective systems and processes, and a more capable workforce that is better able to achieve strong, well-coordinated progress in responding to climate change. Over the past five years, extensive work has been done to translate the NCCRP into practical action,” stated the 2016 Climate Change Report.
The DEA has also developed a Let’s Respond Toolkit, which guides the actions that local municipalities can take to respond to climate change.
National government’s plans to combat climate change require the
The Paris Agreement brings all nations into a common cause to under-take ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, with enhanced support for developing countries. It charts a new course in the global climate effort. The central aim of the agreement is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below two degrees Celsius above pre- industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The agreement also aims to strengthen the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change.
willingness and ability of local government to implement them. Proactive on-the-ground action is crucial and several municipalities across the country are setting good examples.
eThekwini leading the way
The eThekwini Municipality has led the charge by developing a city-wide climate change adaptation and mitigation strategy which was approved by the municipal council in 2015. Development of the strategy followed the successful hosting of the 17th UN Climate Change Conference in Durban in 2011, although a Municipal Climate Protection Programme (MCPP) had already been developed by 2004.
“An important intervention included in the MCPP is the mainstreaming of climate change considerations into all aspects of the work undertaken by the municipality. This structure has ensured that climate change issues are not just linked to environmental matters but even in fields such as supply chain, marketing and many more,” explained Dr Mankolo Lethoko. She is a senior lecturer at the University of Limpopo and has conducted extensive research on municipal climate change strategies as laid out in her 2016 paper,“Inclusion of climate change strategies in municipal Integrated Development Plans”.
eThekwini’s strategy covers a broad spectrum, with seven priority areas namely water, health, biodiversity, food security, sustainable energy, transport and waste and pollution.
The municipality has also been particularly good at recognising the seriousness of climate change and the various risks it poses, such as stressed water availability, damage to infrastructure, impacts on agriculture, spread of disease, and economic impacts.The poor will be the ones most affected by these threats.
Mbombela setting an example for smaller municipalities
The Mbombela Local Municipality in Mpumalanga is showing that less developed, rural provinces can also take measures to protect against the impact of climate change.
Having realised the increasing impact of global warming, the
municipality approached environmental management consultants SRK Consulting.
“The municipality appointed SRK Consulting to develop a climate change strategy and implementation plan.
The strategy is meant to guide and equip the city to build climate resilience and improve the community’s ability to adapt,” said Khethiwe Malaza, Head of the City of Mbombela’s Environmental Management Unit.
SRK Consulting applied its rapid vulnerability assessment (RVA) tool, a pioneering method which has huge potential to assist local governments in responding to climate change.The tool is guided by the DEA’s Let’s Respond Toolkit.
“The development of a comprehensive policy and strategy will enable the municipality, business and civil society to effectively respond to climate change pressures, risks and opportunities. This will allow us to make green investments and provide guidance on future development,” Malaza said.
SRK Consulting environmental scientist Warrick Stewart said that the tool takes various factors into account, including exposure (how exposed the area is to climate change), sensitivity (how sensitive the area is to climate change) and adaptive capacity (how well the area would be able to cope and adapt to climate changes).
“The process involved analysing the municipality’s development zones and breaking them down into economic sectors. We also considered the social resilience of the communities in the study area, the resilience of the environment, and the relationship between them. We believe this is a new approach within South African local municipalities,” said Stewart.
According to Malaza, the tool will assist the municipality with the biggest climate change threats to the area – floods and drought. Amongst the assessment’s findings, it was found that children, the sick and the elderly are most vulnerable to climate change.
“We are already using the findings to inform actions we should take in our climate change response strategy,” said Malaza.