Green Economy Journal Issue 56

ECONOMY
ECONOMY
Southern Africa’s
ABUNDANT RESOURCES
can fuel a successful
GREEN ECONOMY
with climate change are: mitigation which contributes to the reduction
of greenhouse gases; adaptation to the realities of climate change
and means of implementation which translates to allocating financial
and technical resources to execute climate change responses.
Thus the importance of the decisions taken at the international
climate talks in Egypt at the end of 2022, especially the historic decision
to establish a fund to assist developing countries to respond to loss
and damage caused by climate change. South Africa had emphasised
the importance of the need for the fundamental transformation and
modernisation of the global financial architecture and reform of the
multilateral development banks to make them fit-for-purpose in
supporting sustainable development and just transitions.
The final COP27 outcome frames the climate crisis and its solutions
in terms of the sustainable development goals and just transitions,
leaving no-one behind, and the need for broader financial sector
reform to achieve these.
The latest climate science documented in the Sixth International Panel on Climate Change
Report released in April 2022 documents the physical risk that climate change poses to
southern African countries and cautions that its impact is already denting economic growth.
BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY, FISHERIES AND THE ENVIRONMENT
The report explains the Earth’s average surface temperature
has already warmed by over one degree centigrade since preindustrial
times. Furthermore, southern Africa is warming at
twice the average global rate and the report estimates temperature
increases of over two degrees centigrade.
What is known with certainty is that climate change is already
part of the lived reality of millions: floods, severe storms, drought,
heatwaves and uncontrolled fire impact in the South African region and
has already threatened lives, agricultural production, water security,
tourism, health, infrastructure, ecosystems and biodiversity.
In addition to the physical risk, southern African economies also
face a transition risk associated with climate change. As the major
economies transition to new green technologies they will seek to
protect their investments by introducing trade barriers to goods
and services produced in economies with a higher carbon footprint.
The South African economy, with its reliance on coal-fired energy
generation, is most at risk.
In the shift to more sustainable industries, be they in mining,
manufacturing or electricity generation, South Africa needs to ensure
that it, and the region, is not left behind. Southern Africa is uniquely
positioned to benefit from the opportunities in the green economy.
This will require a paradigm shift in the approach to development
and government priorities so that the contribution to greenhouse gas
emissions can be mitigated and the region can begin the long road to
adapting to the impacts that lie ahead.
Because government is aware that climate change affects all sectors
of society, business and government, ways are being found to develop
a whole-of-society response that will allow all interested parties and
stakeholders to participate.
In this regard, the Presidential Climate Commission, representing
government, business, organised labour and civil society can now
boast its role in developing South Africa’s revised Nationally
Determined Contributions, concluding the Just Transition Framework
and researching pathways for transitioning several sectors of South
Africa’s economy severely impacted upon by climate change.
Besides the Commission, overarching framework legislation will
be important for SADC countries to guide all levels of government,
multiple departments and different stakeholders within a common
climate change response strategy.
South Africa’s experience has shown that one can only achieve so
much on a voluntary basis. In developing countries with limited budgets
and infinite need, and without a regulatory environment, climate
priorities always fall lower down the agenda. Thus the importance
of the Climate Change Bill presently before Parliament.
The Paris Agreement to which the SADC countries are signatories
requires participating governments to take three measures to deal
Southern Africa
is uniquely
positioned to
benefit from the
opportunities in
the green economy.
The call for multilateral consensus on making financial flows
consistent with pathways towards low emissions and climate resilient
development could open new investment opportunities in Africa for
clean energy investments, critical for addressing energy poverty on
the continent. The climate talks have also seen agreement amongst
parties to accelerate work on reducing vulnerability of societies due to
climate change impacts.
Within SADC, the adoption of the regional Climate Change Strategy
and Action Plan (2020-2030) in 2021 in identifying key sectors that
can contribute to the transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient
future, acknowledges that the region’s forestry resources have the
potential to act as significant carbon sinks. This is but one of the
sectors being considered in SADC’s planning towards the greening of
the regional economy in the hope of meeting development objectives
and mainstreaming climate change adaptation.
Southern Africa has abundant resources that must be employed
in our transition to a low-carbon future and the development of a
successful green economy.
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