MEDIA STATEMENT
15 September 2009
South Africa is
committed to doing its fair share to ensure
that the December Copenhagen Climate Change
talks (COP 15) produce a deal that will
be favourable to developed and developing
countries.
We are aware of our
contribution to the overall global green
house gases largely due to our reliance
on coal powered electricity, and we are
committed to taking responsible action to
reduce our emissions. Over the long term
we will redefine our competitive advantage
and structurally transform the economy by
shifting from an energy-intensive to a climate-friendly
path as part of a pro-growth, pro-development
and pro-jobs strategy.
South Africa is working
towards a strategic policy framework in
which our emissions peak between 2020 and
2025, stabilize for a decade, before declining
in absolute terms towards mid century. To
achieve this we will require extensive international
financial and technical support.
Any developing country’s
actions to contribute to the mitigation
of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions must
be supported through the provision of the
means of implementation (technology, financing
and capacity-building) in a measurable reportable
and verifiable manner.
Furthermore funding
for adaptation should be significantly increased
in order to be adequate to address the adaptation
needs of developing countries. This is essential
in enabling developing countries to cope
with the double burden of developing sustainability
and adapting to the effects of climate change.
The current international climate change
negotiations are scheduled to conclude with
COP15, hosted by Denmark, when signatories
to the UNFCCC will negotiate a broader and
more ambitious global pact to combat climate
change beyond 2012 when the first commitment
period of the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCC
comes to an end.
For South Africa, a
successful outcome is one that is inclusive,
fair and effective; that has a balance between
adaptation and mitigation; and a balance
between development and climate imperatives.
Success in Copenhagen should strengthen
climate resilient development and must urgently
assist the world’s poorest and most vulnerable
to adapt.
The issue for developing
countries like ours has not merely been
about energy security but energy access
as well. The greatest challenges being faced
is how to ensure energy security and access
while not negatively impacting on our developmental
imperatives and at the same time laying
the foundation for moving towards a path
of low carbon growth. The problem being
faced in SA is that we have an energy supply
problem and apart from demand side management
initiatives, the only manner to realistically
deal with the immediate problem is through
the building of carbon efficient coal technology,
in the medium term.
It must be noted that
the Long Term Mitigation Scenarios (LTMS)
is not a policy but rather a study on mitigation
potential. The Clean Technology Fund (CTF)
is to be used to support the Government’s
goal of significantly reducing greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions, as also outlined in
our LTMS. Therefore the situation we find
ourselves in is not a simple matter of ensuring
energy security and access via renewables
but rather more complex which would mean
a continued use of fossil fuels in the short
to medium term while at the same time we
make a gradual shift to non-fossil fuel
energy sources over a longer term. This
issue would need to be approached in this
context.
To access the media briefing presentation
click on the link below
http://www.deat.gov.za//Documents/Publications/2009Sep20_2/Press%20briefing%20FINALcc.pdf
For media enquiries
contact:
Mr. Albi Modise on 083 490 2871 or amodise@deat.gov.za
or
Ms Roopa Singh on 082 225 3076 or (012)
310 3566 or rsingh@deat.gov.za
ISSUED BY THE MINISTRY
OF WATER AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS ON 15
SEPTEMBER 2009
Note: The Ministry of Water and Environmental
Affairs comprises two separate departments.
The departments are: the Department of Environmental
Affairs and the Department of Water Affairs.
