Date; 29/11/2011

Source: The Department of Science and Technology

Title: SA: Pandor: Address by the Minister of Science and Technology, at a climate change seminar on the sidelines of COP17, Durban

Dr Olive Shisana, CEO of the HSRC;

The guest speakers: Dr Heide Hackmann, Dr Asuncion Lera St Clair, Ms Elizabeth Longworth, and Dr Peter Jacobs;

Distinguished guests;

Ladies and gentlemen:

It’s a great pleasure to be at this seminar on "The Social Sciences in a Changing Climate: Meaningful Knowledge that Works", in conjunction with the COP17/CMP7 conference.

South Africa’s climate-change policy landscape

South Africa is embracing and implementing multi-pronged and multi-stakeholder responses to our climate challenges.

On 12 October 2011, Cabinet approved a National Climate Change Response White Paper, which recognises the human and social dimensions of the country’s transition to a climate-resilient and low-carbon society.

The White Paper spells out the country’s key global policy commitments. It aims to achieve a fair, inclusive and effective global agreement that is in line with our goal of eradicating poverty and promoting sustainable development.

South Africa’s "Climate Change Response" policy aims to reduce South Africa’s greenhouse gases through complementary adaptation and mitigation strategies. It includes a timetable to review greenhouse gas emission reductions and the implementation of sustainable development policies every five years.

Even closer to the human and social aspects of this pressing concern is a suite of other policies that reflect our national commitment to shift the country to a low-carbon socio-economic development path.

Our new economic development policy, the New Growth Path and Industrial Policy Action Plan, outline various "green economy" initiatives.

The Industrial Policy Action Plan contains a commitment to foster the "greening of industrial development". It specifically recognises the potential benefits to be reaped from promoting "green" and energy-saving industrial development, and is closely aligned to government’s "Renewable Energy White Paper".

The policy considers options for greater water efficiency in industrial applications, possibilities of waste management, and ways to efficiently harness wind, biomass and solar energy. There has, for instance, been increasing interest in the job creation and environmental benefits of solar water heaters.

Both these policies seek to address our challenge of job creation, infrastructure provision and socio-economic development.

The National Treasury’s "Carbon Tax" discussion paper specifically explores the use of economics to calculate the social benefits and costs from state policies to curb emissions from polluting firms.

The longer-range plans emerging from the National Planning Commission indicate similar steps in this direction.

Collectively, these policy documents illustrate the invaluable commitment of social scientists to collaborate with natural scientists in the development of policy-relevant information in order to radically shrink the carbon footprint of human socio-economic activities.

This universal challenge for human existence is an opportunity around which natural scientists and social scientists can purposefully and actively pool their capabilities and collaborate toward the achievement of a common goal.

More specifically, the social and human sciences are crucial to deepen our knowledge of the causes and consequences of climate change, and also to develop feasible and effective responses.

Climate change impacts

Recent empirical evidence shows that the effects of climate change are already being observed, and scientific findings indicate that precautionary and prompt action is necessary. There is now a strong consensus that climate change presents an urgent challenge to the well-being of all countries, particularly to the poorest people living in them.

Developing countries in Africa will experience the most severe effects of climate change, with serious implications for development and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. This is despite the fact that they are the least responsible for carbon emissions.

Social sciences can contribute to understanding how multiple stressors, including climate change, interact on a variety of scales, and how they generate vulnerability.

This is essential to help identify development and poverty-alleviation policies and interventions focused on building the resilience and decreasing the vulnerability of the poorest communities, nations, regions, and so on, to the impacts of climate change.

Rapid industrial growth, which has undoubtedly helped to sharply reduce poverty and inequality in highly industrialised countries, is associated with the dramatic rise in greenhouse gas emissionsover the last 150 years.

What does this experience imply for developing countries wanting to industrialise today?

The key lesson is that developing countries must pursue climate-friendly industrialisation for better human wellbeing outcomes.

Green industrialisation, which is being promoted by the African Development Bank, for instance, articulates this new approach to building industries on the basis of environmentally friendly technologies.

But climate-friendly industrial development also requires suitable policies to influence appropriate institutional and behavioural changes. With the aid of social and human sciences, we can adapt our institutions and behaviour to construct low-carbon industrial pathways.

Responding to climate change and related impacts

Even if efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are successful, it is no longer possible to avoid some degree of global warming and climate change. Mitigation efforts to reduce the sources of, or to enhance the absorption (what are called "sinks") of, greenhouse gases will take time.

Furthermore, effective mitigation requires collaboration and commitment from many countries.

The Commission on Climate Change and Development in 2009 reported that much of climate change discussions have been concentrated at global perspectives, such as rising sea-levels, temperature increases, negotiations and policies, global costs of adaptation and large-scale modelling.

However, although they may be extensive and severe, the impacts of climate change will be felt locally by individuals, families, villages and neighbourhoods.

Social scientists must contribute to policy making and implementation in reducing climate-change-induced malnutrition, coordinating relief and disaster management, conflict management, controlling the outbreak of diseases, and preparing sustainable resettlement plans for the displaced.

Moreover, as the effects of climate change are not equally felt by all groups of society, knowing who is more vulnerable could contribute significantly to mitigating the negative impacts of climate change.

In addition, most adaptation will happen at the local level, in ways that are usually unnoticed, uncoordinated and unaided by national governments or international organisations.

Clearly, the challenge of climate change is twofold: to make a transition to a lower carbon global economy, and to adapt to the impacts of future climate changes.

To meet these challenges, society needs professionals and policy-makers who understand the complex issues of climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Consequently, the social sciences have a critical role to play by collaborating to provide "meaningful knowledge that works" in helping communities, nations and regions to respond to current and projected changes in climate.

Thank you.