REGULATIONS PERTINENT TO CLIMATE RESEARCH
1. Overview of national policies governing climate change science and technology
1.2 Environmental and climate change specific policy, legislation and strategies
National Environmental Management Act and Amendments (1998, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008)
NEMA (No. 107 of 1998) and its amendments are focused on providing an overarching legal framework and principles for environmental management across sectors within South Africa. It concentrates on providing an overarching structure for sound and co-operative environmental governance. Climate change is not specifically mentioned.
NEMA includes a section (Chapter Six) which governs South African international agreements and obligations in regard to the environment. This chapter also cites
the ability of the state to join and participate in research programmes and protocols through international agreements and international environmental instruments.
NEMA also allows for the introduction of legislation or changes to existing legislation in South Africa in response to becoming a signatory to an agreement/instrument.
These certainly include agreements and instruments in relation to climate change mitigation which facilitates the active inclusion of South Africa within climate change science research and development programmes.
Importantly, NEMA operates as the overarching legislation for environmental management within the country, while facilitating the more specific regulation on a sectoral basis through an associated cluster of policies and guidelines. These include:
• The National Environmental Management Air Quality Act (NEMA:AQA)
• The National Environmental Management Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations (NEMA:EIA)
• National Biodiversity Framework (NBF), mandated by the Biodiversity Act (NEMA:BA)
• Guidelines Regarding the Determination of Bioregions and the Preparation of and Publication of Bioregional Plans (Guidelines, mandated by NEMA: BA).
• National Environmental Management Act: Environmental Management Framework Regulations
Collectively, these additional policies support climate change responses more directly than the umbrella Act of NEMA. A number of these laws are discussed further below.
National Environmental Management Act: Air Quality Act (2004)
The core purpose of the Air Quality Act is to update and reform the legislation pertaining to air quality in South Africa. The Act is concerned with pollution prevention, ecologically sustainable development, the regulation of air quality and standardised monitoring of air quality. The Act makes no direct mention of climate change but it does have a stated concern with GHG emissions, the negative effects of these emissions and the need for their management in order to protect environmental quality. As such the Act provides an enabling context for climate change science research and technology development.
National Environmental Management Act: Biodiversity Act (2004)
As with the Air Quality Act, the Biodiversity Act does not specifically address climate change. The intention of the Act is to “provide for the management and conservation of biological diversity within the Republic and of the components of such biological diversity.” Most importantly for climate change science research, the Act makes provision for the establishment of the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). SANBI has expanded its activities to become an instrument for facilitating climate change research in South Africa, a role discussed elsewhere in the report.
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The National Framework for Sustainable Development (2008) and the National Strategy for Sustainable Development (2011)
The National Framework for Sustainable Development (2008) and its accompanying strategy provide a vision for sustainable development in South Africa as well as direction for the re-orientation of the country’s development path to one that is more sustainable. The need for balance between environmental management and the addressing of poverty and economic growth is raised as an important sustainability concern. The overall strength of South African environmental policy and legislation is acknowledged within the Framework.
The framework provides the platform for the national climate change response strategy. It identifies climate change as ‘a cross-cutting global trend’ and prioritises climate change as one of the five priority areas of sustainable development in South Africa which require immediate attention through specific and coordinated strategies and action plans. One of the sectoral strategies needed to assist in the national climate change response is a National Science and Technology for Development Strategy in order to make more efficient use of resources through technological innovation, including through cleaner technology and green energy technology.
The framework lists a number of challenges which need to be addressed to further climate change mitigation and adaptation, including the improvement of climate models and scenarios at detailed regional level and the building of experience and understanding of adaptation measures. Concerns for the effects of climate change on biodiversity are also noted as substantive, particularly in relation to marine and fresh water systems, and the need to offer support for research into biological system changes and early indicators of change is raised. Advances in research and technology development on energy efficiency are called for. These challenges and highlighted concerns indicate the kinds of issues that need to be addressed and supported through climate change science research and technology.
National Climate Change Response Policy (White Paper) (2011)
The National Climate Change Response Policy was gazetted as a White Paper in 2011 in order to formalise the South African stance on climate change and to state the vision and plan for transition to climate resilience and a lower-carbon society and economy. The response policy states two objectives for climate change in South Africa, namely, to:
• “Effectively manage inevitable climate change impacts through interventions that build and sustain South Africa’s social, economic and environmental resilience and emergency response capacity.
• Make a fair contribution to the global effort to stabilise greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that avoids dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system within a timeframe that enables economic, social and environmental development to proceed in a sustainable manner.”
In line with the transformation agenda in South Africa, there is a focus in the policy of prioritising adaptation and mitigation measures that address developmental priorities of South Africa such as job creation and poverty relief. The key sectors of water, agriculture and forestry, health, biodiversity and human settlements are emphasised in the policy, as well as concern for resilience of many systems to climate variability and extreme weather events that are likely to affect the country.
Envisioned responses are laid out in a five-year and a twenty-year response plan as well as goals for climate responses to be achieved by 2050.
The National Response Plan lists Parliament, the Forum of South African Directors- General, the National Disaster Management Council, and provincial and local governments as important actors in the implementation of climate policy. In order to facilitate a coordinated response to the priorities of the response plan and related legislation, the plan lists the required institutional arrangements at a national level, namely, an inter-governmental Committee on Climate Change; a National Committee on Climate Change; a Monitoring and Evaluation Task Team; a Technical Working Group on Adaptation and a Technical Working Group on Mitigation.
According to the plan, policy actions are required to be evidence-based and therefore rely on research, monitoring and new technology that does not damage the environment. In accordance with South Africa’s signatory of international climate change agreements, such as the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol, prior to 2011, the policy states the country’s intention to foster a robust research agenda and systematic observation of climate change to generate knowledge, manage information and to support the organisations which undertake these activities. In terms of mitigation and systematic observation goals, the 2011 Plan gives priority to a Greenhouse Gas Inventory to be initiated by 2014, and which is required to provide current and comprehensive data to support mitigation efforts and impact analysis.
Informed decision-making and planning in relation to addressing climate change are reliant on the outcomes of these research-based activities and the generation of a useful knowledge-sharing system.
At a sectoral level, the response plan highlights the need for climate change science research in relation to the following:
• Water vulnerability and water resource uses such as desalination and groundwater extraction
• Agricultural and commercial forestry adaptation strategies
• Health implications of climate change and particularly the relationship between changing climate variables and disease at temporal and spatial scales
• Marine and terrestrial ecosystems and biodiversity
• Ecosystem services
• Water, nutrient and soil conservation technologies and techniques
• Climate-resistant crops and livestock
• ‘Climate-smart’ agriculture that lowers carbon emissions
• Monitoring of climate change implications in order to inform understanding
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of current and future risks as well as the design and refinement of adaptation responses
• Monitoring and observation of the outcomes of adaptation activities
• Rescaling of climate modelling to the urban and municipal scale to assist with decision-making and action in regard to adaptation – especially for urban settlements.
• Impacts of climate change on artisanal fishing communities and livelihoods in coastal areas as well as appropriate responses
• Defining carbon budgets for key emitting sectors of the economy
• Observation and analysis of the impact of mitigation measures
Two flagship programmes in relation to climate change science research and technology are listed in the plan. These are the Carbon Capture and Storage Flagship Programme and the Adaptation Research Flagship Programme. These are respectively intended to facilitate the building of knowledge and technical skill in relation to the energy sector, carbon emissions control, and biodiversity.
In terms of technological development related to climate change science, the response plan has a strategic priority for technology research, development and innovation as well as the building of capacity for technology transfer. The plan highlights the need to promote and invest in technology-related research and development and to acquire technologies that will facilitate climate change adaptation through energy efficiency and lower-carbon processes and practices.
The development of climate change responsive technology for both urban and rural communities is given importance, but there is particular emphasis on rural areas in relation to water resources and agricultural productivity. Climate change adaptation is seen as having a much stronger local focus for green technology development and utilisation than climate change mitigation and thereby creates possibilities for green jobs. This priority is thus viewed as encompassing the dual needs of climate change response and employment creation in South Africa.
The response plan acknowledges that research co-ordination and financing are required in order to strengthen the utility of scientific research and technology development in relation to climate change. To this end, academics and scientists are considered a key stakeholder group to facilitate the national climate change response plan by conducting research, ensuring that data and findings are shared and that other stakeholder groups are enabled to make informed decisions.
Coordination between stakeholder government departments and organisations are required to facilitate strong support platform for climate change science research and technology. This platform is envisaged as including Climate Change Research Chairs in the family of the DST/NRF South African Research Chairs Initiative; research and innovation partnerships in the area of climate change resilience and a Climate Change component within the existing NRF-administered Technology and Human Resources and Innovation Programme sponsored by the dti. In addition, climate change response programmes are to include grants for research and development, incentives to study and research climate change such as centres of excellence
for climate change research, support for PhDs and postdoctoral fellowships and additional education bursaries for studies related to climate change science research and technology.
Section 11.3 of the plan deals directly with mobilising science and technology development resources for addressing climate change in South Africa and with a view to the country becoming a more capable and competitive global player in the green economy. Informed decision-making through a specialist scientific advisory council based in the Department of Science and Technology is established through the response plan. Investigation of, and planning for, additional institutional and funding mechanisms to support climate change responses are also laid out in this section, with a particular focus on science and technology capabilities.
Given this multi-pronged focus and significant support and facilitation for climate change science research and technology development, the 2011 national climate change response plan provides a significant policy stance in prioritising research and technology development in relation to climate change science and supporting the transition to a green economy.