Chairperson, this is the NCOP, that's what the Member of Parliament is saying. I would like to reiterate our commitment we made in the National Assembly that our work as a department is dedicated to the legacy of Tata Mandela.
As the department, we have a duty and responsibility to ensure that the right to a clean and healthy environment, as enshrined in the Constitution, is extended to all our people irrespective of their station in life. This year, we also join our international counterparts in celebrating the International Year of Biodiversity.
This gives us an opportunity to heighten awareness of biodiversity, which we will consistently carry out with our partners in the sector, including the South African National Biodiversity Institute, Sanbi, and the South African National Parks.
As promised last year, the new National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act, which repealed the old 1965 Atmospheric Pollution Prevention Act, came into full effect on 1 April 2010. The ultimate outcome of the efficient and effective implementation of the Air Quality Act is, of course, ambient air that is not harmful to the health and wellbeing of all. And I must say that the municipalities have warmed to this programme; they are very involved and implementing the law.
In the spirit of co-operative governance, with effect from 1 April 2010, the district and metropolitan municipalities and provincial departments became the atmospheric emission licensing authorities. This responsibility was previously carried out by the national government. We have to decentralise these responsibilities because the provinces and local governments are at the coalface of delivery. Therefore, if we want to see implementation, we have to hand over to decentralisation. That is what we have done.
Hon members, as already alluded to by some, climate change will continue to pose an enormous threat to our economic growth, political stability and sustainable development. There is a prediction that by 2080, about 70 million people and up to 30% of Africa's coastal infrastructure could face the risk of coastal flooding because of sea levels rising and an increase in storm intensity and frequency over the oceans.
I am sure that people who live in Durban, especially along the coastline, will believe me because we are beginning to see the impact of climate change.
Hon members, I wish to remind you that the oceans absorb 40% of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. With industrialisation, it was made to absorb more and more carbon dioxide to the extent that we now have acidification of our oceans.
This leads to the dissolving of calcium carbonate and thus threatens our coral reefs and other shelled aquatic animals. The oceans, covering 70% of the earth, thus play an important role in the climate change debate.
South Africa as a responsible global citizen has committed its fair share to the global effort to reduce emissions in dealing with climate change.
Furthermore, South Africa will host the Climate Change Conference of Parties, COP, at the end of 2011. Something like Copenhagen 2009 will be here in South Africa, it will not be called "Copenhagen", but "Johannesburg" or "Cape Town", or maybe "Port Elizabeth", which is where I come from.
We are also on track in developing a national climate change policy that will facilitate a new growth path. We are also developing the green policy that the chairperson has alluded to. We are working with NGOs and stakeholders from government, business and labour.
It is in this context that as a country we are developing a green economy strategy. Surely we will have to come back and report to you on what that means, and that will allow recognition that clean technology development offers significant business opportunities, while also giving us a low- carbon, low-pollution and low-waste economy with positive employment and growth outcomes.
Hon members, we have set aside R400 million for the ecotowns programme, Buyisela, that we are rolling out to 10 municipalities in the country. We are very worried about the state of cleanliness of our cities and towns; but I still maintain that the townships and villages are also very important. Actually, it is something that we should prioritise.
We also identified three towns per province that will be implementing the cleaning and greening programme in all provinces. We have already started at Mthatha.
This is a project that we are implementing in collaboration with Indalo Yethu and the Department of Water Affairs. We, of course, also partner with local municipalities. The project aims to create 10 eco-towns, which is going to be a legacy project, but we are aiming to expand the project.
Some of the challenges that we are facing include illegal dumping, which creates problems of waste in our cities, and pollution from domestic and other industries. All of these things are resulting in health and safety risks and, of course, in medical waste.
We recently launched the National Biodiversity Framework, which articulates the country's vision for biodiversity management for the next five years, and this will be a key mechanism for delivering the mandate of the government. This framework has 33 priority actions for our country.
South Africa is covered by 29,5% of grassland; it is rich in plant species and this grasslands biome is second only to the internationally renowned, biodiversity-rich Cape Floristic Region. All of these aspects fall within biodiversity, which we need to manage to ensure that our environment is safer and cleaner. Forty-four per cent of South Africa's mammals are found in the grasslands biome, and many people also live there. In fact, this biome supports many of our country's industrial sectors, including agriculture, forestry, urban development, mining and tourism.
The transfrontier conservation areas programme is a key output of the department that is aimed at the creation of cross-border animal corridors and the promotion of cross-border ecotourism. We are managing the borders with all other countries. And ...
... sijonga izilwanyana, ukuze kubekho ukhenketho olwenzekayo nje ngaphaya kooMapungubwe ... [... we look at animals, so that we can have ecotourism just like in Mapungubwe ...]
... so it is important that we manage it. Working together on integrated coastal management is very important in order to ensure that we conserve and protect our oceans and our coastline.
The Act itself came into effect in December 2009, and we think that it is very important and it is going to guide us in the cost task of managing the coastlines and the oceans.
With regard to crime, we will very soon introduce the environmental courts in collaboration with the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development. Our pilot sites will be in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and the Western Cape. Therefore, you will have courts in those places.
I must state that we are ready for the 2010 Fifa World Cup. There is a programme that will ensure that wherever we are, at fan parks, we will be able to watch Bafana Bafana beat Bulgeria and Mexico in a clean environment.
I hereby present the Budget Vote of the Department of Environmental Affairs for your concurrence. I thank you, Chairperson. [Applause.]