Chair, the ID believes in giving credit where credit is due, and this department certainly needs to be praised for the hard work and commitment of its staff. This is arguably one of the best-run departments in government, and I believe its influence should be extended to other Ministries.
The Department of Water and Environmental Affairs should, however, not be limited to a reactive role, where it has to clean up other people's mess, in a sense. It must be leading the drive to ensure that all the decisions taken within government are in the interest of a sustainable development agenda.
It is this department that has to deal with, for instance, the disastrous long-term impacts of a coal-based economy, and it needs to be vociferous in raising red flags about the damage of acid mine drainage, local air pollution and greenhouse-gas emissions.
The World Bank loan has put South Africa in the international spotlight for all the wrong reasons. The ID certainly had its reservations about this loan and we made this known to the World Bank in a vociferous manner.
The ID does, however, disagree with the hypocritical approach of some developed countries who have attempted to use this issue as a way of conducting climate-change negotiations by stealth. I was in Copenhagen and I witnessed first hand how some of these very same developed countries refused to take on their emission-reduction targets as required by science. They also refused to make available the necessary funds to enable developing countries like us to pursue a comprehensive and clean energy path. We cannot, however, all sit back and let the world burn. It is not blame that we need to apportion, but rather the real commitments that are required by science.
On the domestic front, South Africa will now need to live up to its commitments and show that we are serious about moving from a coal-based energy future to one that is powered by an increasing share of renewable energy. The ID therefore looks forward to engaging on the Climate Change White Paper that this department will need to bring to Parliament in the near future. It is vital that this process feeds into the work of other departments, and that all of its programmes are driven with vigour.
The failure of Copenhagen means that the pressure is now on us to deliver a real deal in South Africa next year when the negotiations come to our shores. Time really is running out, and I do not think it is overly dramatic to say that this will be the last chance to deliver a deal that can save the world from runaway climate change.
The ID therefore hopes that the department will bring together all stakeholders in South Africa to formulate a clear road map that will deliver just such a deal. It is not going to be easy and trust will, once again, have to be built between developed and developing countries. We will also need to ensure that society is brought on board and plays a strategic role in fighting for this deal.
This is, however, an opportunity for South Africa to, once again, become a global beacon of hope for the world, and we all need to be part of making sure that that happens. Thank you. [Applause.]