Hon Chairperson, hon members, fellow South Africans, sometimes they stand in the searing heat of the summer sun; sometimes they bear the brutal icy winter wind, holding banners, gripping placards, raising them as high as the skies can allow and doing everything in their power for the world to hear their voices. Their message stands in unison and it is clear to the country's leaders. Act now! They are the activists, the change makers, the citizens of our country, the future of the world. They want solutions; they want action. And it is about time we made things happen. They are the youth of our country. They are the youth of the world. They are not protesting. They are not asking. They are fighting against their future being cancelled.
It is time to get real about climate change. It is time to face the truth. What are those truths? The truth, in simple layman's language, is that we are experiencing global warming. The earth's temperature is rising due to the emissions of greenhouse gasses, with various negative and devastating impacts on the environment and climate of the world as we got to know it. Climate change implies
rising temperatures, rising sea levels, droughts, floods, fires, health risks, natural disasters, and impacts on food security, agriculture and poverty, just to name a few.
South Africa has a few dire challenges - poverty, inequality, unemployment, limited economic growth, an economic recession, as well as a lack of investment interest. On top of this, we are also experiencing some of the impacts of climate change such as droughts, flooding, fires and compromised ecological systems.
However, we as the people living on this earth have a responsibility to address global warming and the consequent climate change impacts. We do not have a choice to do nothing. We must manage our risks through mitigation and adaptation via responsible and innovative transition processes.
We all know that the main driver of the world's effort to address global warming and climate change is the UN's Framework Convention on Climate Change. We all know about the Conference of the Parties, Cops. Focus has been on the importance of a balance between climate finance for mitigation, which is the reduction of human emissions of greenhouse gases, and adaptation to change society's resilience to climate change.
The Paris Agreement was signed by 195 countries. South Africa was one of them. As a signatory to the Paris Agreement, South Africa, for example has six nationally determined contributions to reduce greenhouse emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
As part of the national climate change mitigation system, the Department of Environmental Affairs has developed sector emission targets, Sets. Regulations on a variety of issues affecting the environment, and as such climate change, have been promulgated, for example the National Greenhouse Gas Emission Reporting Regulations. A Carbon Tax Bill was passed in 2019. Draft regulations on this Bill were published earlier this year.
The further importance of the Paris Agreement is the acceptance of the need to increase adaptation support for parties most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The then Department of Environmental Affairs gazetted the draft National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy on 6 May 2019, to enhance adaptation capacity, strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability.
We need action by everyone. Climate change strategies, goals and interventions should be streamlined and integrated into all government departments, spheres of government, corporations,
businesses, nongovernmental organisations, NGOs, and civil society. We must change our behaviour. It is too expensive not to move forward. We already pay climate tax if we consider just the financial costs of disasters such as flooding, fires and drought.
The Western Cape's Climate Change Response Strategy, WCCCRS, second biannual monitoring and evaluation report of 2017-18 indicates that South Africa's legislation and policy instruments for disaster risk reduction, which includes early-warning systems, are one of the best in Africa as it adopted a proactive rather than a reactive approach.
The Disaster Management Act of 2002, as well as the National Disaster Management Framework, guides disaster reduction management implementation in South Africa. The Disaster Management Amendment Act of 2015 specifically refers to climate change adaptation, ecosystem-based adaptation and community-based adaptation measures and investments required by all tiers of government.
Greenhouse gasses are the result of human development and various sectors contribute to it to a greater or lesser extent. We all know that the burning of coal and consumption of fossil fuels, thus the energy generating sector, contributes massively to greenhouse gases in South Africa.
The solution to reduce a remarkable percentage of greenhouse gases is to add renewable energy to our mix of energy sources. Experience from First World countries such as Germany teaches us that the transmission process from fossil fuels to renewable energy is not simple and could impact on enough energy supply. In South Africa we already have a problem with not enough energy supply, relying mainly on coal. The need for transition to include renewable energy now is clear to everyone. Or should I say everyone, including the President of the country, who pronounces it from every possible platform. However, the crucial measure is the action that needs to follow. Renewable energy does not only address the impact of climate change but creates new economic opportunities and jobs.
The Global Risks Report by the World Economic Forum defined environmental risks amongst the top risks to the globe in terms of the impact of climate change. The latest report of the SA National Biodiversity Institute, which evaluates the progress and shortcomings in conservation and ecosystem management on both land and sea, indicated major pressures on habitat loss, changes to freshwater flow, pollution, invasive alien species and the overuse of some species.
Minister Creecy herself said the most concerning issue of this report is the state of our freshwater ecosystems, rivers, wetlands, estuaries and freshwater fish stock. We need to address the impact of climate change on our scarce water resources. South Africa is already experiencing water usage crises. Cape Town's day zero crisis was part of the devastating impact of one of the most severe droughts we ever had. We did not have a choice other than to move forward, adjust our behaviour and water consumption, as well as research, innovate, integrate and co-operate at all spheres of government, business and civil society, to prevent such a crisis in the future.
A report of the Carbon Disclosure Project highlights a few concerns about specific industries in South Africa. One of the conundrums is the demand for water supply in the mining industry versus the demand for water supply to the surrounding communities. The cost of reuse and post-use water treatment technology raises the overall production costs of mining and might jeopardise much-needed jobs.
Our challenge is on how to protect our water catchment areas, our rivers and the rest of our freshwater ecosystems to ensure that the next generation will have fresh water as a natural resource.
However, we have hope. Fortunately, some work has been done on various levels and by various role-players, including all spheres of government, NGOs, corporations and businesses. I am going to share some examples of that hope that has worked in the Western Cape, and I know that there are other provinces that have initiatives tailored to their environmental needs.
One of the critical aspects of the Western Cape's climate change resilience strategy is that the implementation is the responsibility across the whole of the provincial government and all associated stakeholders. The key priorities must be mainstreamed directly into sector policies, strategies and plans. A focus area of the Western Cape is to create an enabling environment for economic growth through resource resilience that focuses on climate change resilience, energy security, water security, waste management and the waste economy.
Some of the projects that are yielding success rates are a SmartAgri Plan, including the Fruit Look project that supports farmer's ability to increase water use efficiency without compromising production. The Berg River Improvement Plan is based on a Water Stewardship Programme that recognises the river as a vital ecosystem that needs to be maintained for its value to the green economy. The
removal of alien invasive species contributes to the increased availability of clean water. The Western Cape's Biodiversity Plan has a handbook to support decision makers.
Another big part of our hope is the youth of our country who are taking real proactive action in doing what is in their power to fight the threat to our existence. In the gallery right now we have two young climate change activists doing everything in their power to combat climate change. Zoe Prinsloo started her own eco-friendly distribution business, called Save a Fishie, in August 2018. You can give her a hand please. {Applause.] In 2019, she was a delegate to the UN Youth Climate Summit. In addition to this, Zoe has been a speaker at the Leadership for Conservation in Africa, LCA, Spark Talks in July 2019 - the eco-friendly equivalent of Ted Talks. She has led the regional Earth Day beach cleanups for girl guides for the past three years and was an attendee at the Eden Festival of Action in 2019, helping to plant 5 000 trees.
We also have Akhona Xotyeni in the gallery. Akhona is a member ... A hand for Akhona please. [Applause.] Akhona is a member of the climate change working group which contributed a youth statement to the Cop 25 delegation last year. Apart from being a Global Peace Chain Ambassador, Akhona has served on panels at the Partnership for
Action on Green Economy, Page, Ministerial Conference, the European Roundtable on Climate Change and the EU-SA Climate Action Summit, and is a former World Wildlife Fund, WWF, International Earth Hour ambassador and Bali Model UN delegate.
I want all of us to look up there at these young South Africans. I want all of us to realise we are responsible for the state of the environment right now. We have a moral obligation as the older generations of our time to ensure there is still a world left for their generation. With just the achievements and work of Zoe and Akhona combined, they have done more than any of us here will probably do with the rest of our lives. However, that is no excuse. No-one has an excuse to take some sort of proactive measures to fight this reality and save the only planet we know and will ever know in this lifetime. Let's beat the past and build the future through addressing climate change in every way possible. I thank you. [Applause.]