Climate change high on South Africa's agenda

The 13-chapter United Nations report looks at measures the world can take to address global warming and was written by 190 authors from around the world.

It was released in Bangkok and is the third in a series of 2007 reports from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that have highlighted the dire consequences of global warming.

The report, in which four South Africans are listed as authors, looks at measures that can be taken to limit and prevent greenhouse gas emissions and how much this would cost.

It says increased use of energy-efficient technologies, a shift away from coal, and agricultural reforms can prevent world temperatures from rising.

Speaking about the implications for South Africa, Harald Winkler, senior researcher at the University of Cape Town's energy research centre, said the South African government was "actually quite engaged" on climate change.

However, he said climate change was not only an environmental issue, and other government departments needed to incorporate it into their decision-making.

"I think it's fair to say on the one hand that South Africa is proactively engaging, but there is a lot more practical action that needs to be taken to implement policies and take measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," he said.

Mr Winkler, a lead author of chapter 12 of the report on sustainable development and mitigation, said mitigation efforts had implications for making South Africa's own development more sustainable, especially in the energy sector, where four fifths of emissions originated.

Dr Bob Scholes, a Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) fellow in natural resources and environment and a lead author of Chapter 8 on agriculture, agreed climate change had not extended to line departments.

Dr Scholes said previously, South Africa was not obligated to reduce carbon emissions, but that it was accepted that the more developed of developing countries needed to accept "some kind" of emissions reductions.

In the agriculture sector, there was incentive for developing countries to reduce emissions and then sell these to developed countries through the Clean Development Mechanism.

The mechanism is a Kyoto Protocol agreement allowing countries with emission reduction targets to invest in emission reducing projects in developing countries.

Many South African farmers were under pressure to undertake mitigation actions if they were exporting produce as they had to show they were offsetting emissions, because clients wanted to buy products that were carbon neutral.

But Dr Scholes said land use mitigation was not going to be enough to solve the problem and the energy system would need to be addressed, but this was slow and expensive to change.

Asked if the report would make any difference, he said there was a lot that could be done to stave off the worst outcomes and there was a huge difference between "bad outcomes and catastrophic outcomes".

Clive Turner, lead author of chapter four of the report on energy supply, said mitigation efforts meant a change in the way energy was used, with increased energy efficiency as well as a gradual move away from carbon fuel sources.

But he said change would be gradual rather than abrupt.

Countries like South Africa, with large amounts of coal, were investing in cleaner technology, with renewable energy being a further option, he said.
 

By Bongani Mlangeni

BuaNews