ATC130510: Report of the Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs relating to numerous public hearings dealing with matters pertaining to climate change, including the Climate Change Green Paper during February 2011, The Climate Change White Paper During November 2012 and the implementation of the climate Change White Paper during June and November 2012, dated 7 November 2012
Water and Sanitation
REPORT OF
THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON WATER AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS RELATING TO NUMEROUS
PUBLIC HEARINGS DEALING WITH MATTERS PERTAINING TO CLIMATE CHANGE, INCLUDING THE
CLIMATE CHANGE GREEN PAPER DURING FEBRUARY 2011, THE CLIMATE CHANGE WHITE PAPER
DURING NOVEMBER 2012 AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CLIMATE CHANGE WHITE PAPER
DURING JUNE AND NOVEMBER 2012, DATED 7 NOVEMBER 2012
1. Introduction
For the Portfolio Committee on Water
and Environmental Affairs (the Portfolio Committee) and the environmental
sector family, the year 2011, will always be remembered as the Year of Climate
Change. This was the year, firstly, that a six year long policy formulating
process relating to all aspects of our response to Climate Change, culminated
in a Green Paper and then a White Paper on Climate Change, being adopted by
Cabinet and then processed through Parliament; and, then, secondly, South
Africa successfully hosted the international Climate Change negotiations, in
the form of the 17
th
session of the Conference of the Parties to the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (COP17/CMP7), in
Durban, in December 2011 (COP17 gathering), and against the expectations of
many, managed the COP17 gathering in such a manner as to achieve a highly successful
outcome, creating a new political international environment, which potentially
contains less of the challenges bedevilling negotiations than PRIOR to Durban,
thereby opening up new opportunities for the future international negotiations
on Climate Change.
Thus, against the above background, during
2011 and 2012, the Portfolio Committee, held three sets of public hearings relating
to the formulation of the National Climate Change Response Policy for
1.1.
PUBLIC HEARINGS ON THE GREEN PAPER ON CLIMATE CHANGE
The first of those public hearings
was conducted on the National Climate Change Response Policy Green Paper of 2010
(the Green Paper) that was released for written comment by Minister Edna Molewa,
M.P., the Minister of Environmental Affairs (the Minister), in Government
Gazette (No. 33801, Notice 1083 of 2010), dated 25 November 2010. The Portfolio
Committee invited all interested stakeholders to submit written comment on the
Green Paper to Parliament. Forty-five submissions were received, mainly from
civil society and business interests. The public hearings were conducted over a
six-day period and the strategic inputs from those public hearings mainly constituted
the Portfolio Committees recommendations that contributed to the contents of a
draft
White Paper on Climate Change.
The Portfolio Committee opined
during the public hearings that
This led the
Portfolio Committee to highlight the necessity for l
ow-carbon and Climate Change resilient growth for
our country, opining that
those countries that could produce energy
cleanly and use it most efficiently will in all probability dominate the global
economy in this century. Such countries are also more likely to weather any
economic crisis better than those who have not embraced new technologies. They
will also be better protected from the future inevitable surges in fuel prices.
After thorough
deliberations on the Green Paper, the Portfolio Committee made the following
recommendations for consideration and inclusion in a National Climate Change Response
Policy White Paper for
·
Encourage
the holistic valuation of the benefits and costs of environmental
sustainability in development planning, thereby effectively communicating that
ecosystems underpin the South African economy and not vice versa
;
·
Provide
for an optimal mix of energy, with the aim of quickly moving away from coal
(the most polluting energy carrier) and fossil fuels, to cleaner fuel sources;
·
Have a focused approach to
mitigation, including quantifiable carbon emission targets for the country and
for specific sectors or industries. We need to be precise and specific on the
targets we set and which we need to achieve, as a nation;
·
Provide
clear directions on mitigation and adaptation in all major sectors,
the agricultural sector, as a priority;
·
Create
a national, integrated, single Climate Change Database;
·
Direct
efforts towards creating greater capacity across the three spheres of
Government to increase the ability of Government institutions, especially at
the local level and hence communities, to cope adequately with present and
future risks from Climate Change hazards; and
·
Have
a policy thrust on the kind of mining that is needed in
The Portfolio Committee noted at the time of the
processing of the White Paper that the Portfolio Committees recommendations on
the Green Paper have directly contributed to influence the contents and the
direction of the White Paper on Climate Change.
2. PUBLIC
HEARINGS ON THE WHITE PAPER ON CLIMATE CHANGE
2.1.
Introduction
The Portfolio Committee held public hearings
on the White Paper on Climate
Change, soon after its formal adoption by Cabinet, in October 2011, as the
Governments national framework policy for Climate Change.
The
Portfolio Committee invited all interested stakeholders to submit written
comments to Parliament, on a relatively short timeline, to gain an
understanding of any concerns that members of the public could have about
specific policy intentions articulated in the White Paper. Thirty-five
submissions were made by public entities, civil society and business interests.
The Portfolio Committee continued to accept submissions beyond the deadline,
being acutely aware of the prevailing time constraints on holding the public
hearings. .
The Portfolio Committee noted the
concerns of some members of the public that the consultation period was too
short for some people to adequately express their views on the White Paper. The
Portfolio Committee agreed with this sentiment, but drew the attention of the
public to the need for them to comment expeditiously prior to the convening of
the COP17 gathering that
2.2. Portfolio Committees Assessment and Analysis of the
White Paper
On 6 December 2009, at the United
Nations Framework Conference on Climate Changes COP15 gathering, in
Copenhagen, President Zuma, for the first time ever, publically committed South
Africa to the implementation of mitigation actions that will collectively
result in a 34% and a 42% deviation below its Business As Usual carbon emission
growth trajectory, by 2020 and 2025, respectively. President Zuma also noted
that, in accordance with article 4.7 of the UNFCCC, the extent to which this
outcome can be achieved depends on the extent to which developed countries meet
their commitment to provide financial, capacity-building, technology development
and technology transfer support, to developing countries, like
The South African government
captured a policy framework in which to meet its international and national
responsibilities and commitments relating to Climate Change, within the
National Climate Change Response Policy, which was approved by Cabinet, as a
White Paper, on 19 October 2011 (Gazette No 34695, Notice No 757). The White
Paper represents the culmination of an iterative and participatory six (6) year
long policy development process that was started in October 2005 and that
involved ground-breaking modelling and research activities, two national
conferences, numerous workshops and conferences in ever province, a myriad of
bilateral and key stakeholder engagements, a NEDLAC review and Parliamentary
Hearings on the Green and White Papers.
The Portfolio Committee, in November
2011, concluded Public Hearings on the White Paper and its implementation
challenges, within days of the policy being approved by Cabinet.
Hereafter follows the Portfolio Committees
observations of the White Paper on Climate Change:
Firstly, that the
content of the White Paper differed markedly from the content of the Green
Paper and captured the concerns, challenges and solutions identified during the
Portfolio Committees hearings on the Green Paper.
Secondly, the Portfolio
Committee is of the opinion that there seemingly exists broad consensus in our
country on the principles underpinning our Climate Change policy framework in
the White Paper.
Thirdly, in the main, that
the White Paper consists more of an overarching
policy framework for all the policies of all Departments
on which Climate Change impacts, rather than detailed policies for each such
Department. It was noted that the Department of Environmental Affairs will be
the point Department for implementation of the overall policy framework, but
the policies of each Department relating to our response to Climate Change
remains the responsibility and mandate of each Department, within the overall
policy framework.
Fourthly, the policy
framework is a balanced and rational - but also a radical, progressive,
all-encompassing, innovative, integrated and transformative- response to the
challenges of Climate Change, underpinned by progressive and integrated
developmental and sustainability goals, especially for a mid-range emerging
economy in a developing country like South Africa.
Fifthly, that in the
first time in our history, South Africa has adopted a detailed policy framework
on carbon pricing, carbon budgets and financial instruments targeted at
reducing the carbon emissions by our business community, like a carbon tax,
with specific targets and mechanisms being identified and adopted for achieving
a low carbon economy. This response potentially places our country amongst the
leading nations of the world that are responding boldly and decisively to the
challenges of Climate Change. Thus, this policy framework has the potential to
leading our highly fossil-fuel driven economy to a low carbon and climate
resilient economy, within a reasonable and achievable period of time; but this
is also conditional on us moving into the future with circumspection and
caution, as decisions made in haste and without the necessary prudence
potentially can cause us irreparable economic damage.
For example,
the White Paper has taken greenhouse gas emission targets on board (reflecting
the 2008 Cabinet Lekgotla targets and the
Sixthly, the Portfolio
Committee also identified various challenges in the policy framework which may
require further attention, as follows:
·
Consideration
should be given to the drafting of Climate Change legislation, as soon as is
feasible, for processing and adoption by Parliament;
·
The
magnitude and vastness of the policy framework requires that consideration be
given to a sequencing of activities in order of priority;
·
The
policy framework is mainly silent on all aspects of financing of our response
to Climate Change, especially in respect of the objectives, funding and
accessing of the various green funds already established or which are intended to
be established in future, both internationally and nationally, like our
National Green Fund;
·
Consideration
should be given by National Treasury of the compilation of an annual Climate
Change budget, at the time of the adoption of the annual budget, which will
reflect all monies which will be spent by the fiscus on our response to Climate
Change; and
·
Consideration
should be given to the establishment of Climate Change Champions or Focus
Persons in the provincial and local sphere of government, to ensure a more
integrated and coordinated response by the different spheres of government in
achieving the goals of the National Policy Framework on Climate Change.
Seventhly, the Portfolio
Committee regards adoption of the White Paper on Climate Change as only the
beginning (and not the end) of our nations response to Climate Change.
Therefore, Parliament will, in future:
o
Firstly,
have to oversee the development and implementation of the National Climate
Change Response Policy, contained in the White Paper, through the relevant Portfolio
Committees, in particular the Portfolio Committees on Water and Environmental
Affairs; Energy; Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Cooperative Governance
and Traditional Affairs; Trade and Industry; Economic Development; Human
Settlements; Rural Development and Land Affairs; Mineral Resources; Science and
Technology; Finance; and Transport. In this regard, consideration will have to
be given to the creation of mechanisms, comprising the relevant Portfolio
Committees, to coordinate and oversee implementation of the White Paper on
Climate Change. To this end, the Portfolio Committee has decided to hold at
least one weeklong oversight meeting in each half of the year, inviting all
relevant Portfolio Committees, to engage the Department of Environmental
Affairs and all other relevant Departments/Agencies, on progress with the
implementation of the policy framework.
o
Secondly,
have to identify and ensure the implementation of some immediate tasks by the
relevant Departments/Agencies, arising from and in the policy framework,
including:
§
Setting
up the Intergovernmental Committee on Climate Change (IGCCC) and its sub-structures;
§
The
identification and prioritization of key short and medium term adaptation
interventions that must be addressed in sector plans and the identification of adaptation
responses that require coordination between specific sectors and/or Departments;
§
Defining
desired emission reduction outcomes and/or carbon budgets for each significant
sector or sub-sector of the economy, based on an in-depth assessment of the
mitigation potential, best available mitigation options, science, evidence and
a full assessment of the costs and benefits;
§
Reviewing/auditing
and revising key sectoral implementation plans to ensure alignment with the Climate
Change policy and specifically the identified desired mitigation outcomes
and/or carbon budgets and adaptation priorities;
§
Implementing
the flagship programmes;
§
The
establishment of a national, integrated, single Climate Change database;
§
The
National Atmospheric Emission Inventory, including greenhouse gases (GHGs), a
component of the South African Air Quality Information System, must be
developed, tested and commissioned;
§
Designing
and publishing a draft Climate Change Response Monitoring and Evaluation
System; and
§
Appointing
a multi-stakeholder climate financing working group.
o
Thirdly
and finally, through the relevant Portfolio Committees, review each policy and
piece of legislation, which falls within its mandate, to determine whether it
complies with the legal requirements to support the effective and efficient
implementation of the institutional and regulatory arrangements proposed in the
White Paper, and to continuously ensure policy and legislative alignment with
the Climate Change policy framework.
The Portfolio Committee
is of the view that the adoption of this White Paper by our Government is
exemplary in the international Climate Change sector, and, if efficiently and
effectively implemented, places our country at the cutting edge of the
international response to slow down and then reverse the effects of Climate
Change.
3. Public Hearings on Implementation of the White
Paper AS AN ONGOING PROCESS.
It is important to reiterate that the Portfolio Committee regards
adoption of the White Paper on Climate Change as only the beginning of the
nations response to Climate Change. It was in this context that the Portfolio
Committee decided to hold at least one weeklong oversight meeting in each half
of each year, to engage the Department of Environmental Affairs and all other
relevant Departments/Agencies, on progress with the implementation of the
policy framework.
To this end, the Portfolio Committee
held the first of such public hearings on the implementation of the White Paper
to determine progress in the coordinated operationalisation of the specific
policy directions in the White Paper, by relevant Departments and Agencies,
from 5
th
-7
th
June 2012. These hearings were held in the
context that:
-
Climate Change is a cross-cutting issue that
requires affected parties to work together;
·
on seeking cooperation to build an
alliance of like-minded stakeholders that can share knowledge and experience;
·
on
finding optimal mitigation and adaptation solutions;
·
on finding low hanging fruit
emission reduction and adaptation opportunities; and
·
on corporately sharing the risks of Climate
Change.
The salient features of that
parliamentary process is captured in the third section of this Report.
This is underpinned by the White Paper, where there is explicit
recognition that Climate Change affects all the different facets of the economy,
as well as all our other social endeavours, and hence the need for integrated
implementation of policies and strategies pertaining to Climate Change. Consequently,
Government Departments and Agencies that participated in this parliamentary
monitoring and oversight exercise, included the Department of Environmental
Affairs, which plays a leading and coordinating role in the implementation of
the White Paper; and the Departments of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries;
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs; Economic Development; Human
Settlements; Mineral Resources; National Treasury; Rural Development and Land
Affairs; Science and Technology; Trade and Industry; Transport; and Water
Affairs. The National Disaster Management Centre also participated in the
public hearings, considering the intricate relationship between
disaster risk reduction initiatives and
adaptation programmes, f
or example, reducing vulnerability to Climate Change
improves the adaptive capacity of vulnerable communities to Climate Change,
especially in fragile environments.
Discussions that followed the respective presentations at the public
hearings indicated that the concerned Government Departments and Agencies were
cognisant of the responsibilities placed on them by the White Paper and were all
working towards the fulfillment of their obligations by operationalising those
applicable aspects of the White Paper. It was evident that the Department of
Environmental Affairs provides the requisite leadership in the coordinated
implementation of the White Paper and it was apparent that the implementation
of the White Paper is running smoothly, albeit very slowly, merely about six
months after the adoption of the White Paper as a Government framework policy
on Climate Change, by Cabinet. Similarly, scaling up of existing programmes
that have important mitigation and adaptation implications, has also gained some
momentum, notably in the Departments of Environmental Affairs, Energy and
Transport that deal with the implementation of flagship programmes.
This first session of parliamentary public hearings on the implementation
of the White Paper gave a birds-eye view of the implementation process and
hence serves as a good reference point, against which future progress in the
implementation of the White Paper could be monitored, with the aim of raising
red flags where there are implementation deficits. It is necessary to regularly
review the implementation approaches that Government Departments and Agencies pursue
to enhance synergy and prevent duplication and hence wastage of scarce
resources allocated to Government Departments and Agencies and other
stakeholders for managing and implementing Climate Change resilient measures.
This biannual monitoring by the Portfolio Committee assists Parliament to
holistically gauge the Governments commitment to Climate Change, taking into
account
The second
session of the parliamentary public hearings on the implementation of the White
Paper are scheduled for late July 2013.In the meantime, during November 2012, a,
briefing and progress report on the implementation of the White Paper was
received by the
Portfolio Committee from
the Department of Environmental Affairs.
4.
CONCLUSION
The Portfolio Committee
is of the view that the Department of Environmental Affairs provided excellent
leadership in coordinating the formulation and processing of the White Paper,
through a detailed and long six year consultative process, before adoption by
Cabinet. T
he Portfolio Committee further considered the White
Paper as a significant policy direction, insofar as the addition of numerical
values for mitigation targets, a carbon budget approach and a commitment to
keep well below a maximum of 2ºC above pre-industrial levels, among other
innovative policy responses, are concerned. The policy was well-conceived and
crafted, featuring strategic sectors with the greatest mitigation and adaptation
potential for
The implementation of the White
Paper, like any other policy, represents a critical aspect of the policy
process and hence requires all the sectors and stakeholders affected by the
policy to respond appropriately in rolling out their respective policy measures
to meet desired outcomes. It is in this context that Parliament, through the
Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs, undertakes to conduct
regular monitoring and oversight of the policy implementation process, to
ensure that there is a proper institutional arrangement that provides adequate
leadership and coordination functions for successful operationalisation of the
policy. The most recent public hearings on the implementation of the White
Paper serves as a critical reference point for gauging future progress in this
regard.
Report
to be considered.
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