18/08/2005 Marthinus van
Schalkwyk, Minister of Environmental Affairs
& Tourism, has yesterday and today been
visiting the Ilulissat Ice Fiord World Heritage
Site and the Greenland icecap to observe the
evident decline in the extent of sea ice in
the North Pole. In the attached pictures the
Minister is seen observing the melting of
the ice mass (to request the two print quality
pictures to be emailed to you please call
Rob Spaull on 0837778563 or email the request
to rspaull@deat.gov.za - each picture is about
1.3MB in size). “Our experiences in Greenland
thus far have dramatically demonstrated the
effects of the unprecedented rise in arctic
temperatures,” said the Minster, “The melting
of the arctic glaciers, the retreat of the
ice cap, and the global rise in sea levels
is clearly a cause for major international
concern.”
“Climate change is one of the most important
and daunting global challenges facing the
international community. It is a threat to
all nations, and requires a coordinated, determined,
and united response,” said the Minister, speaking
on Thursday from Greenland.
Hosted by the Danish Ministry of the Environment,
Minister Van Schalkwyk has joined the representatives
of 25 developed and developing countries like
France, Sweden, China, Brazil and Germany,
for a week-long ministerial dialogue and political
discussions on climate change – focusing on
building greater international understanding
of the challenges relating to future international
climate policies. One of the main aims of
the meeting is to discuss ways of making the
Kyoto Protocol more effective and more inclusive
to successfully tackle global climate change.
The Greenland Dialogue follows in the footsteps
of the discussions about climate change at
the G8 Heads of State and Government meeting
in Gleneagles in July, and anticipates the
follow-up meeting of the G8 announced by British
Prime Minister Tony Blair to be held in London
in November, to which Minister Van Schalkwyk
has also been invited as part of the build-up
to the first international meeting of parties
under the Kyoto Protocol which is to be held
in Montreal in December. The Greenland discussions
also precede South Africa ’s own regional
initiatives – a climate change conference
of African scientists to be held in Gauteng
from 17-19 October 2005,and a parallel National
Consultative Conference from 18-20 October
to examine the policy implications of climate
change.
During the Greenland meeting the Minister
stressed the following points about the impact
of climate change on South Africa:
In South Africa , climate change is evident
and will continue, even if Greenhouse Gas
concentrations are stabilised, and as such
will also continue to undermine sustainable
development;
Expanded desertification in the semi-arid
areas of the country is already a feature
of the South African landscape. In terms of
biodiversity, there is a demonstrated die-back
of desert plants, such as the Kokerboom, in
the Northern Cape and southern Namibia;
In the more moist areas in the East of South
Africa there is a marked increase in the density
of thickets, eg. thorn trees. Bush encroachment
into productive grasslands in the summer rainfall
regions holds implications for agricultural
activities such as cattle and sheep ranching,
wildlife management strategies and other ecosystem
services;
Climate change could lead to provinces like
Mpumalanga, Limpopo, the North West, KwaZulu-Natal
and even Gauteng becoming malaria zones by
2050 (if no control measures are implemented).
The number of South Africans ‘at high malaria
risk’ may quadruple by 2020 – at an added
cost to the country of between 0,1% and 0,2%
of GDP;
Climate change modeling suggests a reduction
of the area covered by the current biomes
in South Africa by 35% to 55% in the next
50 years; and
Under a hotter and drier climate, maize production
will decrease by up to 20%, mostly in the
drier western regions of the country. Marginal
areas of maize production may well fail, especially
for resource-poor farmers unable to rapidly
adapt.
In the discussions the Minster added that:
“South Africa’s vulnerability to the direct
and indirect impacts of climate change, including
the costs of mitigation and adaptation, the
potential loss of markets, and the consequent
impact on sustainable development and poverty
alleviation (eg. threats to water provision,
health, energy supply, biodiversity, sustainable
human settlements, tourism, agriculture and
food security), underlines the need to create
a balance between adaptation, mitigation and
managing the socio-economic impacts of climate
change response measures.”
