Chairperson and hon members, I rise on this occasion on behalf of the Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs, to seek your approval and adoption of this report. For the Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs and the Environmental sector family, the year 2011 will always be remembered as the year of climate change.
Firstly, this is the year that a six-year long policy formulating process relating to all aspects of our response to climate change culminated in the Green Paper, then a White Paper on Climate Change being adopted by Cabinet and then processed through Parliament. Secondly, South Africa successfully hosted the international climate change negotiations in the form of the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties: the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Durban in December 2011. Against the expectations of many, they managed the Cop 17 gathering in such a manner as to achieve a highly successful outcome, creating a new political international environment which potentially contains less of the challenges bedevilling negotiations prior to Durban, thereby opening up new opportunities for the future international negotiations on climate change.
Thus, against the background of 2011 to 2012 and part of this year, the portfolio committee held three sets of public hearings relating to the formulation of the National Climate Change Response Policy of South Africa and also on implementation of that policy once it became the national policy of the government of South Africa.
I am not going to deal with all these public hearings. I can see that energy levels are low. However, I think I should, at the very least, remind you of the portfolio committee's observations on the White Paper on Climate Change. Firstly, the content of the White Paper differed markedly from the content of the Green Paper and captured the concerns, challenges and solutions identified during the portfolio committee's hearings on the Green Paper.
Secondly, the portfolio committee is of the opinion that there seemingly exists broad consensus in our country on the principles underpinning our climate change policy framework in the White Paper. Thirdly, in the main, the White Paper consists more of an overarching policy framework for all the policies of all departments on which climate change impacts, rather than detailed policies for each department. It was noted that the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs will be the point department for implementing the overall policy framework, but the policies for each department relating to response to climate change remain the responsibility and mandate of each department within the overall policy framework.
Fourthly, the policy framework has a balanced and rational, but also a radical, progressive, all-encompassing, innovative, integrated and transformative response to the challenges of climate change, underpinned by progressive, integrated, developmental and sustainability goals, especially for a mid-range emerging economy in a developing country like South Africa.
Fifthly, for the first time in our history, South Africa has adopted a detailed policy framework on carbon pricing, carbon budgets, and financial instruments, targeted at reducing carbon emissions by our business community - like a carbon tax - with special targets and mechanisms being identified and adopted for achieving a low carbon economy. The response potentially places our country amongst the leading nations of the world that are responding boldly and decisively to the challenges of climate change.
Thus the policy framework has the potential to lead our highly fossil fuel- driven economy to a low carbon and climate-resilient economy within a reasonable and achievable period of time. This is also conditional on us moving into the future with circumspection and caution, as decisions made in haste without the necessary prudence potentially can cause us irreparable economic damage. For example, a White Paper has taken greenhouse gas emission targets onboard, whereas the Green Paper was devoid of such targets. The portfolio committee considered the projected emission reduction targets from the White Paper as very ambitious, but supported the proposal of those targets and encouraged their attainment.
Sixthly, the portfolio committee also identified various challenges in the policy framework, which may require further attention. I am not going to list all of them now, but I will only mention a few. Consideration should be given to the drafting of climate change legislation as soon as it's feasible for processing and adoption by Parliament. The magnitude of advances with regard to the policy framework requires that consideration be given to the sequencing of activities in order of priority.
The policy framework is mainly silent on all aspects of the financing of our response to climate change, especially in respect of the objectives, funding and accessing of the various green funds already established, or which are intended to be established in future, both internationally and nationally. Consideration should be given to the National Treasury in their own compilation of an annual climate change Budget at the time of the adoption of the annual Budget, which will reflect all monies which will be spent by the fiscus on our response to climate change.
Lastly, consideration should be given to the establishment of climate change champions, or focus persons, in the provincial and local spheres of government to ensure a more integrated and co-ordinated response by the different spheres of government.
Let me end up by saying that we are soon embarking on our next set of public hearings to look at all the departments, what they have done around the White Paper on Climate Change, and we will report back to this House. Thank you. [Applause.]
There was no debate.
Hon Chairperson, I move:
That the Report be adopted.
Motion agreed to.
Report accordingly adopted.