Once again, Minister, let me remind you that although it seems to be in line with this question, but it is definitely new information. So, you can either respond or decide how to deal with it.
The MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES: Hon member, I
think in that we will have to sit down as a department, and we are already doing that in this process of looking at what would be the regulatory functions of the current Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries. Those regulatory functions would currently be happening in the oceans and coasts branch. Then we will need to look at where would a potential conflict of interests be and we will have to look at how we manage that.
One can understand that there could be similar issues around Forestry and both these branches have historically been in this department and they were moved out. I think that if you want a chart on our approach on this I would suggest that you submit a written question because it is a matter that we would be addressing ourselves too.
Question 146:
The MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES: Chair, I have
the answer to this question but anyway, I think I've got it as Question 144. A number of prominent South African scientists made key contributions to the intergovernmental panel on climate change 2018 report. South Africa expressed to other parties at the 24th Conference of the Parties, Cop 24, that it welcomes the 1,5 degrees Celsius report and regards it as a valuable and timely contribution to the global effort to address climate change. The report highlights that we are currently already experiencing climate change, especially in Africa, and the global efforts to meet the Paris Agreement temperature goals are extremely important.
South Africa is considering the complex implications of this report for our National Climate Change Response Policy. President Ramaphosa, in his statement to the United Nations, UN, Secretary-
General's Climate Action Summit on 23 September made clear our intention to revise our Nationally Determined Contributions, NDCs, to take into account the latest signs as reflected in the report. The Nationally Determined Contributions contains both adaptation and mitigation components, both of which will be updated to reflect the signs. Updating our NDCs presents an opportunity to facilitate clarity on the means of implementation, transparency and understanding of future NDCs as well as on the NDC accounting, adaptation components, and the enhanced transparency framework.
In the case of South Africa, this will be done within the context of sustainable development. The estimated period for submitting enhanced NDCs to the United Nations Framework Convention is in the third quarter of 2020 and implementation for the Nationally Determined Contributions should commence by the end of 2020. At the same time - on a national level, our Climate Change Bill would provide a national league or framework for climate action, including regular consideration of the latest signs. Thank you.