Hon Speaker, I must say that I am taking part in this debate as a former chair of the Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs, and as the person who led the process from the 15th Conference of Parties, COP 15, up to the eve of the 16th Conference of Parties, COP 16.
Speaker, Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Sisi Edna, and all other Ministers present here, Members of Parliament, my colleagues from the Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs - from both sides - hon Morgan and the rest, we rise to support the report on COP 16 and its recommendation. We do so, not as matter of rhetoric or the fashion trend of talking about climate change. We support this report because, as the ruling party, we have played a leading role in influencing global debates and deliberations on climate change and its related challenges since 1994.
I wish to remind members in the House that the resolution on climate change adopted by the ruling party at Polokwane in 2007 was a critical resolve urgently and effectively to address climate change in the form of government policy. With this resolution, the ANC-led government has now been enabled to articulate principles and action plans to protect the environment and promote sustainable development.
South Africa's astonishing leadership on global issues was witnessed during COP 15, which proved to be the most challenging United Nations conference on climate change, and which was held in Denmark in December 2009. Again at COP 16 a challenge arose when parties could not agree on whether the developing countries should have binding emissions reductions or rich countries would have to reduce emissions first. But, still, South Africa has taken the leadership baton to host the 17th Conference of Parties, COP 17, in the quest to fulfil the nonbinding Cancun Agreement of COP 16 in its entirety.
Despite the setbacks of nonbinding agreements, at least COP 16 produced five critical elements that could serve as a starting point and foundation for positive talks in Durban later this year. These elements are the Green Climate Fund, which is financing climate change projects; reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation; increasing transparency through monitoring, reporting and verification; formalising the emissions reduction pledges made at COP 15 in Copenhagen in December 2009; and creating a new adaptation framework to assist least developed countries to create national adaptation plans and climate change strategies.
Importantly, though, as the host country, South Africa must take cognisance that for COP 17 to be a success all parties of the conference must come with concrete strategies and time-framed plans to show how the global climate funds will be raised to realise the R100 billion per year in order to assist poorer countries in financing emissions reductions and adaptation.
COP 17 must also strive to plan for accountability, monitoring and sustainability, so that developing countries such as ours are enabled to implement the agreements on climate change effectively.
In these two instances, Recommendation 3 of the report becomes critical, where the Parliamentary Climate Change Forum will be expected to co- ordinate, synergise and manage parliamentary work on climate change.
In the words of the incoming COP President, Minister Maite Nkoana- Mashabane, she vows that: "Durban is clearly the end of the line for the postponement of key political issues". With the Brazil, India and China, Brics, community South Africa calls on the industrialised nations such as the United States and Western European countries to step up their commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions at COP 17. The establishment of a South African Globe International Chapter in the South African Parliament will help to bring the Brics parliamentarians together for an impactful, collective effort to strengthen legislative action on climate change going forward.
We support our ANC-led government when it says that there must be balanced and realistic negotiation when developing countries such as South Africa are required to shift their approach in addressing climate change towards building low-carbon cities. This is because convincing the least developed countries and other developing countries and their populations to shift towards building low-carbon societies will certainly not be an easy task. How do you justify a resolution that binds a poor country to not using more energy to develop their economy, when they know and have witnessed that already industrialised and developed countries are rich because of high emissions of pollution?
For instance, it is no coincidence to see that the developing countries' pollution emissions, such as those of South Africa, China, India, Indonesia and Brazil, have rocketed - we cannot eliminate poverty without increasing the use of energy. And then, how do you persuade a poor country and its population to pay for the reduction of carbon, when they know they still emit the least of the pollution?
The ANC-led government will make sure that it balances its mandate of delivering on our top five priorities of poverty reduction, creation of employment, quality education, access to health care, and safety and anticorruption measures, with that of addressing climate change.
Our communities must be shown that climate change, if not prioritised as well, could disturb the drive to eradicate poverty. One way of creating jobs in climate change projects is through renewable energy technologies. South Africa has an abundance of untapped renewable energies. This should be an industry that provides opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and at the same time create new jobs.
The other way of responding to climate change in our South African context is to explore, plan and implement concretely ways to assist our communities who rely on agriculture as a means of income and sustainability. Here we are specifically talking about the small-scale farmers, of whom most are poor women in the rural areas. The issues of climate change, poverty, environment and gender are intrinsically interwoven, and cannot be separated. As we are processing our national policy through the Department of Environmental Affairs, this ANC-led government is cognisant that women farmers are particularly affected by climate change, and that we have to continuously drive gender equality and decrease women's vulnerability in the agriculture sector.
University of Cape Town, UCT, scientific research has already predicted that South Africa will experience increasing temperatures and less rainfall. The Western Cape is set to lose 35% of its current winter rainfall. This means, then, that there will be more frequent occurrences of drought, flooding, hurricanes, forest fires, rising sea levels, and damage to agricultural systems, which will lead to famine and rises in diseases, as already seen during 2010, and especially recently in Japan. For instance, the world has already experienced severe weather-related events, such as the earthquake that I have just mentioned in Japan, severe drought in Somalia, mudslides in China and heat waves in Russia.
Climate change policy begins and ends with people. Therefore, visible advocacy on climate change matters must be strengthened to build a just and sustainable policy for South Africa.
We will always remind ourselves here that South African black townships and informal settlements in particular are the direct products of apartheid and the manifestation of urban desertification. These are the areas that offer the ultimate challenge in advocacy for greening the environment. We are encouraging Parliament to take to the streets of Khayelitsha, Soweto, Mitchells Plain, Mangaung, Umlazi and Mdantsane, etc, to mobilise our communities regarding an awareness campaign on climate change and against hazardous climatic disasters.
As Members of Parliament, we must rekindle the zealous and advocating spirit which was shown during the organisation of the Fifa World Cup in 2010. Particularly projects such as "One home, one garden" can go a long way. For instance, in my own Department of Police we have already embarked on a programme of "One police station, one garden". Linking greening with education, in particular with the school syllabus, to introduce our children to science and ecology, that is, food chains, adaptations and seasons, as well as mathematics, where we teach them about growth in terms of graphs, shapes and functions, is also fundamental.
Out of the experience of the nonbinding Copenhagen Accord in COP 15 and the mistrust between developing and developed countries at COP 16, South Africa is obligating all parties to discuss and deliberate positively, and in a collective spirit, for a successful climate change outcome in Durban.
It is fitting then, that South Africa as the host country has themed COP 17 "Working together: Saving tomorrow today". Parliament must indeed lobby all relevant stakeholders to work together and to promote a common position for the upcoming COP 17 in Durban.
Furthermore, African countries like Tanzania and Kenya have established parliamentary forums dedicated to addressing climate change. These forums are not comprised of Members of Parliament alone. They are multisectoral forums, which are composed of diverse people with skills and expertise in the management of climate change. Perhaps our Parliament needs seriously to consider this approach, as already recommended in our COP 15 report in this House.
As the Deputy Minister of Police I can also say that safety and security operational plans are in place and being executed by our joint operational and intelligence structures at the national and provincial levels in preparation for COP 17 in Durban.
The KwaZulu-Natal provincial government has already established priority committees to co-ordinate and finalise the planning process of safety and security-related issues in terms of article 9(1) of the Host Country Agreement.
It should come as no surprise to sceptics that we have been given the honour of hosting the United Nations 17th Conference of the Parties, COP 17, from 28 November to 9 December 2011. It comes on the heels of a very successful hosting of the Fifa World Cup in 2010.
Speaker, I must say that as Members of Parliament, we need to go out there and sensitise people, and hold awareness campaigns about the issues of COP 17 and the importance of climate change. This is especially because it is being held here in Africa, and particularly in South Africa. It is too quiet for our liking - we are left with only three months before the hosting of COP 17 and we are not hearing much about what is being said outside there. What happened when we were about to host the soccer tournament in 2010 was that a year before then everybody, even children on the street, knew that we were about to host this big tournament. The same must happen with COP 17. It's a real honour for the country to be given the opportunity to host such a big event in our own country.
In conclusion I want to say, as all roads go to Durban on 29 November, that we as a country must strive and hope for a positive spirit and honest articulation of climate change, as the world seeks to negotiate for a globally agreed comprehensive deal on climate change. Thank you. [Applause.]