The ANC believes that all present and future citizens of South Africa have the right to a safe environment that is not harmful to their health or wellbeing and that the broad objectives of its environmental policy must be aimed at fulfilling this right. The central goal of the ANC economic policy therefore is to create a strong, dynamic and balanced economy, with due regard to the environmental impact thereof and within the context of overall environmental protection policies.
The ANC's vision and position seek to embrace a transformative environmentalism based upon the idea of sustainable development and built upon the interconnection of environmental, social and economic justice, which vision and position have been consistent. It is this vision that has informed the various policies, programmes and actions of the ANC-led government since 1994.
The ANC, therefore, ensured that environmental rights were firmly entrenched in our Constitution so that both individuals and communities are able to defend their right to a safe and sound environment. An obligation is placed on the state by section 24(b) of the Constitution to protect the environment, to prevent pollution and ecological degradation, to promote conservation, and to secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development.
Over the past 17 years, the ANC-led government has focused on prioritising people's needs while safeguarding the country's natural assets with new policies and legislation that have been designed to secure sustainability and to cause environmental issues to move into the sociopolitical arena, bringing together human rights, equitable access to natural resources, social justice and equity.
The range of legislative policy and institutional developments that have occurred over this period have served to bring about a new environmental management approach, which focuses on poverty alleviation and development towards a better quality of life for all.
The resolutions on the environment taken by the ANC at its Polokwane conference in December 2007 have placed our country on a historic path and foundation in their objective to get South Africa working towards realising our developmental goals of halving poverty and unemployment, thereby firmly entrenching environmental justice as an integral part of our national democratic revolution.
It should be acknowledged that South Africa has over the years developed a good environmental stewardship in the country, considering the close link between the environment, human welfare and economic development. In this regard, South Africa has developed appropriate institutions, and policy and legal frameworks for creating a better and sustainable environment and future for all citizens.
South Africa's environmental governance policy frameworks aim to strike a reasonable balance between the environment and development within the context of sustainable development. We have made commendable progress on waste and pollution minimisation, on air and atmospheric quality management and on the burning issue of climate change.
The ANC-led government's emphasis on effective protection of South Africa's environmental resources, as articulated in the 2010 state of the nation address, therefore reflects the constitutional directive for the government, as a public entity, to safeguard the wise and sustainable use of the country's environmental assets.
However, growing economic demands on environmental resources through population growth and associated poverty in rural areas strongly influence the country's priorities and policies, and hence its ability to meet its environmental goals.
An undesirable combination of circumstances in South Africa, some of which link closely to decreasing social coherence and social capital, makes people vulnerable to environmental change. These conditions include poverty, population growth, inadequate access to basic services and the transformation of ecosystems to provide the resources to meet rising population demands, poor land use practices, invasive alien species and habitat destruction, as well as accelerating changes in our environment owing to climate change.
The cumulative evidence of increasing human vulnerability to environmental change in South Africa calls for a significant policy response and action on all fronts. Responding to vulnerability requires building on people's own responses, providing institutional support, and promoting resilience and adaptive capacity among the people most at risk.
One of the most effective responses to human vulnerability to environmental change is to strengthen mechanisms that provide early warnings, such as vulnerability assessments and disaster management planning. Vulnerability assessment can measure the severity of potential threats on the basis of known hazards and the levels of vulnerability of societies and individuals. It can be used to translate early warning information into preventative action and is necessary for early warnings and emergency preparedness.
A defining moment in the global battle against climate change has been reached, and leadership on climate change, in terms of legislation and oversight, is critical. Climate change is a global issue that affects all of us. Changes in climate patterns mean that extreme weather events such as heat waves, floods, storms, droughts and bush fires will become more frequent, more widespread or more intense. The expected impacts of climate variability are likely to adversely affect the wellbeing of all countries, particularly the poorest countries in Africa.
Therefore, a focus on climate change is central to development and poverty reduction agendas. We, as representatives of the people, are best placed to be at the forefront of the climate change debates, and are thus in a unique position through our legislative powers, oversight functions and budget allocations. In addition, we must take a leadership role in promoting behavioural change and a deeper understanding of climate change issues amongst our constituencies.
There is a need to effectively conserve South Africa's environmental resources in the face of the ongoing negative consequences of human population growth. The ANC supports the Budget Vote.
Lastly, I just want to say that we have one Minister of Water Affairs. We can't have another Minister on an island called the Western Cape; he or she should be an MEC, member of the executive council. Thank you. [Applause.]