Chairperson, hon Minister, let me start by giving credit where credit is due. This is certainly a well-run department, which is staffed by people who are clearly passionate about the work that they do. There are still some concerns, such as the Buyisa-e-Bag project, which has proved to be a consistent plastic bag around the neck of this department. But, I trust that this issue will finally be resolved this year.
I also want to pay tribute to our new chairperson, hon De Lange, who has shown real enthusiasm for these issues and has injected a new sense of urgency and direction into our dealings with the department.
Finally, I want to welcome you, Minister, and say that I have been impressed by how quickly you have taken to the task at hand. I therefore trust that with this team in Parliament the department and the Ministry will be able to confront the many environmental challenges we face as a country.
Allow me to say this to the hon Minister. Let us make no mistake; we are facing large environmental challenges as a country. Unfortunately, we are dealing with a legacy of severe environmental degradation, where the interests of our minerals-energy complex took precedence over environmental concerns. It is therefore imperative that we don't now perpetuate the mistakes of the past in our rush to exploit our vast mineral reserves.
In this regard, it is totally unacceptable to the ID that the Department of Environmental Affairs still does not have any authority with regard to environmental authorisations concerning mines. This anomaly was dealt with by Parliament over two years ago. However, because the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Act, MPRDA, has never been implemented, the Department of Mineral Resources still sits with all the authority.
We cannot allow this situation to continue any longer. At the very least, this department needs to insist on certain areas of our country being made strictly off limits to mining. It also needs to play a leading role in the review of the MPRDA, which the Department of Mineral Resources has stated that it will undertake.
This department also needs to direct the current debate over the emerging concept of a green economy. We cannot allow this debate to simply focus on a distinct economic sector, as encapsulated in the New Economic Growth Path. This concept needs to be shifted from that of a green economy to a green society, where natural resource constraints form the basis for all our development decisions.
It has now become clear that it is our generation that will in many ways determine the future of humanity. By 2050 the global population will peak at around 9 billion and then start declining. At the same time, according to current trends, many of the world's ecosystems will be severely degraded and the earth's climate will have passed the tipping point of dangerous destabilisation. Essentially, it is the next 40 years that will determine whether humanity is placed on a sustainable path of increasing prosperity or is doomed to a world racked by conflict over increasingly scarce natural resources. In hosting COP 17, South Africa has a pivotal role to play in ensuring that the international community agrees to a global deal that will break with the current destructive trends. Minister, I have been to four COPs in various capacities over the last 10 years, and they have not left me with an overwhelming sense that the world is serious about averting global climate catastrophe.
Indeed, Durban is our last shot to get this right and we have to give it all our best. Instead of downplaying expectations, we must ratchet up the pressure on countries. We must be engaging in diplomatic efforts across the globe, finding out what it will take to shift some of those countries that are refusing to budge on this issue. We must employ all tactics, including civil society action and making sure that the global media exposes the hypocrisy of those countries that refuse to live up to their responsibilities.
This COP can no longer be business as usual for the world and we need another negotiating miracle to take place on our shores. As the continent most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, it is fitting that it is here where a final break must be made from our carbon-intensive path and a global future of sustainable prosperity must finally be agreed to. This is our time, let's make it happen. Thank you. [Applause.]