Can South Africa Reduce Emissions With The Climate Change Act?

The newly elected President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, has recently enacted the country’s first comprehensive Climate Change Act. This is the first time that climate change response is directly brought into domestic law in South Africa. The new Climate Change Act. set a cap for large emitters and mandated every municipality to publish an adaptation plan.

Emissions targets will be set for high-emitting sectors such as agriculture, transport and industry, and each relevant sector must adopt measures to achieve them.

The Climate Change Bill aims to enable South Africa to meet its emissions reduction commitments under the Paris climate agreement, the presidency said in a statement.

South Africa, which is the world’s most carbon-intensive major economy and among the top 15 greenhouse gas emitters, is on track to miss those targets because of its heavy reliance on coal for electricity.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law a broad climate change act that will require every town and city to publish an adaptation plan.

The law also says the environment minister must allocate a carbon budget to large greenhouse gas-emitting companies, setting a limit on their emissions over a specified time.

The country is navigating a critical moment in its energy transition, but challenges remain and public mistrust in the government could undermine its plans. Transparency will be the key to the success of this law.

The writer of this article is Dr. Seema Javed, an environmentalist & a communications professional in the field of climate and energy