Date: 16/04/2010
Source: African Christian Democratic Party
Title: ACDP: Swart: Speech by ACDP Member of Parliament on the Environmental Affairs budget vote, National Assembly

"The devastating impact that a natural disaster can have was graphically illustrated with the Haiti earthquake, and as recent as yesterday with the eruption of an Icelandic volcano that grounded all international flights in Europe.

Section 24 (b) of the Constitution states that all South Africans have a constitutional right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well being, and to have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future generations.

The ACDP agrees that we must be good stewards of our environment, and is concerned at the parlous state of our environment if one has regard to the 2007 Report in this regard:
1. South Africa ranks among the world's 20 biggest greenhouse gas emitters;

2. Increasing water pollution and poor air quality are causing respiratory diseases, vector -borne diseases and water-borne diseases, like cholera;

3. Poor waste management and lack of access to waste services (ie hazardous waste, healthcare waste, mine dumps, leach ate/sludge and general/solid waste management) ;

4. Natural resources (fauna and flora are being exploited in an unsustainable manner, threatening the functioning of ecosystems. This may undermine social and economic development.

5. The list goes on and on - read the report for yourself.

We as MPs need to appreciate that an investment in protecting the environment by effectively managing air quality and waste will also result in a long term saving on health costs. Against this background, the department is expected to enforce compliance with a growing number of environmental laws with dwindling financial and personnel resources. This is unacceptable and must be addressed.

As far as the Copenhagen Climate Summit is concerned, it is regrettable that it turned out to be a damp squib, although the accord did include an agreement that richer countries should raise funds to assist poorer countries adapt to climate effects and "green" their economies. In this regard governments that meet at global forums, such as the UN, should be held accountable through individual parliaments and through the IPU - this includes monitoring climate change and the estimated $100bn required.

We can also be proud that South Africa is the only African country that has admitted that it is a large emitter of green house gases, but has also set ambitious targets to address this. The challenge will be to meet these targets.

In this regard, much has been said about the World Bank loan to Eskom inter alia to complete the Medupi coal-fired power station. The bank last year financed more than $8.2bn worth of energy projects, of which 76 per cent was for non-fossil fuels and less than 3 per cent for coal. The bank would have closely monitored South Africa's environmental record, and the loan is part of a package that includes funding for alternative energy projects, using wind and solar power. It is also significant that Medupi will be the first in Africa to employ the cleaner-coal "supercritical" technology.

Thus whilst the ACDP appreciates environmental concerns with Medupi, we have to achieve energy security for sustainable economic development. This does not however detract from the need to implement a suite of renewable energy projects.

Our greater concern with the loan lies with the ruling party's interest in Hitatch Africa via Chancellor House and the estimated R1bn it is set to gain from the loan. It is not rocket science to see that there is a clear conflict of interest and we would appeal to the ANC to do the right thing. The ACDP was one of the first parties to call for legislation regulating party funding. Why, Minister, was the legislation not brought to parliament, considering five years have passed since the Idasa court case in this regard? Is this deliberate? We think so. To conclude, as pointed out in this morning's Financial Mail, "now that government and Eskom have made these commitments, they can expect close international monitoring of South Africa's environmental performance. They must deliver on their promises and ensure that the tighter emission controls are affordable." We in parliament clearly have an important oversight role to ensure that they do.

Lastly, the ACDP would like to express its gratitude to all management and officials in the department and public entities for their hard work in ensuring that our environment is protected for present and future generations notwithstanding the challenges they face.

The ACDP will support this budget vote.