THURSDAY,
14 DECEMBER 2006: Marthinus van Schalkwyk, South
African Minister of Environmental Affairs and
Tourism, today announced, “We are committed to
ensuring that South Africa learns from the Green
Goal experience, which vastly reduced the environmental
impact of the 2006 World Cup that was held in
Germany.” The Minister was speaking from Germany
where he held discussions with Germany’s Federal
Environment Minister, the European Environment
Commissioner and key role-players in the German
Green Goal initiative.
According to Minister Van Schalkwyk,
“South Africa is committed to greening the 2010
World Cup by focussing on the basis of four pillars:
conservation of water and energy, waste management,
transport and mobility, and a carbon offset campaign.”
Leveraging Legacy Benefits for
the African Continent
Minister Van Schalkwyk commented,
“An initial Greening 2010 workshop in SA last
month discussed the possibility of including a
carbon offset campaign as part of the 2010 Greening
Campaign. The idea would be to use the proceeds
from the 2010 Legacy project programme to support
the more equitable distribution of Kyoto Clean
Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in Africa.
It is our intention to make use of the 2010 Greening
Campaign and its carbon offset legacy project
to promote the finding of African solutions to
African challenges, more specifically: in-country
capacity building and support for the development
of Kyoto CDM project proposals.”
Green Goal
Green Goal used a number of
innovative techniques to reduce its impact on
climate change. These included the use of renewable
energy at stadia and greater use of public and
non-motorised transport by fans, resulting in
substantially reduced greenhouse gas emission.
The Green Goal succeeded in decreasing electricity
emissions from an estimated 7,540 tonnes to 2,490
tonnes and transport emissions from 90,000 tonnes
to 73,000 tonnes.
The Minister further elaborated,
“In addition to being the first ‘climate neutral’
World Cup, the Organisers offset emissions rises
in Germany by supporting clean energy schemes
in India and South Africa, which in total offset
roughly 100 000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. The
South African projects that benefited from Green
Goal were a sewage gas project in Sebokeng and
a sawdust-fuelled fruit-drying furnace in Letaba.”
South Africa’s Prior Achievements
The Minister noted, “South Africa
already has a good track record with the successes
of the Department of Environmental Affairs and
Tourism’s Greening the World Summit on Sustainable
Development (WSSD) project. At the time, the summit
was the biggest international conference ever
held in Africa, involving 37 000 people. We were
supported by the Global Environment Facility to
organise the summit using environmental best practice
guidelines. The WSSD produced 331 tons of solid
waste, of which 24% or 76 tons were recycled.
40 000 tons of carbon were offset through Climate
Legacy certificates. ‘Green energy’ accounted
for 26% of the energy used at the conference and
additional energy was conserved through retro-fitting
(e.g. energy efficient lighting in hotels).
“I am confident that South Africa
is on track to meet the challenge. We have a solid
history of success in this area, and more importantly,
we are firmly committed to the sustainable management
of our environment in 2010 and beyond.”
Mr Blessing Manale, (Acting Chief Director: Communications)
Mr Riaan Aucamp (Minister's Spokesperson)
Minister Van Schalkwyk Announces
Extention Of Public Comment Period For Draft Subsistence
And Small-Scale Fishing Policies
Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
- WEDNESDAY, 13 December 2006: Minister van Schalkwyk
announced today that the Department of Environmental
Affairs and Tourism is extending the public comment
period for two key policy documents that affect
subsistence fishing communities such as Paternoster,
which has recently been in the public eye. The
Minister said, “The draft policies for the Allocation
and Management of Medium-term Subsistence Fishing
Rights and Small-scale Commercial Fishing Rights
were gazetted on 17 November 2006 for public comment.
The original deadline for comments was 18 December
2006. However, we acknowledge the need for more
extensive deliberations on these important issues
and have now extended the deadline to 12 March
2007 to allow for this.”
The two draft policies provide
guidelines for the allocation and management of
medium-term rights for both subsistence and small-scale
commercial fisheries. The policy objectives are
to grant four (4)-year medium-term rights to persons
who can demonstrate their historic and cultural
dependency on marine living resources, ensure
orderly and sustainable development of fisheries
and environmental sustainability.
The Minister stressed, “These
draft policies are intended to ensure that our
rights allocations framework provides a fair share
to our very poorest communities - specifically
those coastal fishing communities who depend on
the sea for their own food needs and the most
basic of incomes. We urge the interested parties
- especially community-based organisations - to
provide as much input as possible so that we can
proceed from a stronger and wider knowledge base.
“In addition to the draft policies,
we have undertaken a number of measures to improve
the livelihoods of coastal communities. Earlier
this year, we virtually doubled the total number
of allocations of West Coast Rock Lobster (WCRL)
near shore from 418 to 812. These rights will
be valid for a period of 10 years. I made these
interventions on appeal because I sympathize with
fishing communities who have relied on the sea
for generations. However, the depletion and migration
of stocks is a reality and government has a responsibility
to find a proper balance.
“The area where WCRL rights
are allocated stretches from Port Nolloth to Gansbaai.
Approximately 70% of WCRL catches 30 years ago
occurred higher up on the West Coast from Port
Nolloth to the Saldanha area - whilst 90% is now
caught between Dassen Island and the Cape Peninsula.
Research conducted by marine scientists, confirms
this shift in the distribution of marine resources.
This has already resulted in a decline of fish
landings in the West Coast areas and has resulted
in the introduction of a small-scale commercial
fishery sector in the area East of Cape Hangklip,
which further confirms the shift in distribution
of the resource. In addition the total allowable
catch (TAC) for WCRL was reduced by 10%.”
Minister van Schalkwyk concluded,
“It would be irresponsible for us to allow the
total depletion of the resource for short-term
political gain. Government has the responsibility
to ensure the environmental sustainability of
our fish resources and to manage our marine resources
for the benefit of future generations.”
Mr Blessing Manale, (Acting Chief Director: Communications)
Mr Riaan Aucamp, (Minister's Spokesperson)
