Melanie Gosling
Environment Writer
MEC for Environmental Affairs, Development Planning and Local Government Anton Bredell has taken a swipe at the international attempts to tackle climate change and questioned what world politicians had achieved in global negotiations over the past 20 years.
Bredell said the UN’s climate talks in Paris in December presented what was possibly the last chance for the global community to push for real agreement on an effective new instrument.
“But if we look at the results of COP 17 (in 2011) in Durban, did we really make a difference? Or are we just contributing more to greenhouse gas emission by arranging more COPs and not coming up with a solution?
“Maybe a lot has happened, but I can tell you it has not happened at scale, and we need it to happen at scale.”
Bredell gave the keynote address at a Department of Environmental Affairs workshop in the city – one of several organised to gather input from provinces and civil society into what commitments South Africa will put on the table in Paris regarding its greenhouse gas emissions.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change requires all signatory nations to submit these targets – known as intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) – by October.
Cabinet has approved a discussion document on INDCs, but ruled that Environment Affairs consult extensively and then make adjustments to South Africa’s position.
Bredell also raised the question of how much of our luxuries we would be willing to sacrifice to reduce our carbon footprint.
Were people willing to make changes such as living off-grid or using waterless lavatories, and were they willing to put in the effort required to maintain these systems?
He said officials across the board had done good work and come up with great strategies to combat climate change and to adapt to the effects of a changing climate.
“But we must implement these strategies. We can’t now rewrite them after COP21.”
He emphasised the need to integrate climate change into all government decisions, and not let the push for economic growth come at the expense of doing so.
Judy Beaumont, deputy director general at Environmental Affairs, said once all the nations had submitted their greenhouse gas reduction targets, the UN would need to add them up and see if this was sufficient to keep the average global temperature increase below 2ºC.
The Africa Group had set a target of keeping to below 1.5ºC, and South Africa agreed with that target. However, the kind of action needed to keep below 1.5ºC would require “radical transformation”.
“We’re not afraid of radical transformation, but as a country with a coal base we are aware of the need for flexibility and space to say: ‘Two degrees is where we could retreat to’,” Beaumont said.