Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall and extreme weather events are likely to take a heavy toll on South Africa, with growing losses on human and financial resources, particularly from droughts and flooding. It is against this background that industries and households will have to reduce their negative impact on the environment, by implementing far reaching changes to the way people live and work, with carbon tax playing a decisive role in creating the necessary behavioural change as well as changes in industrial processes towards a low carbon, and ultimately a zero carbon economy.