Date: 06/12/2011

Source: The Department of Science and Technology

Title: SA: Pandor: Address by the Minister of Science and Technology, at the ACCESS event, Durban

Minister Erik Solheim (Minister of Environment and International Development, Kingdom of Norway)

Dr Wendy Watson-Wright (Executive Secretary, IOC-UNESCO)

Dr Joseph Alcamo (UNEP Chief Scientist)

Dr Mark Penning (SAAMBR)

Dr Neville Sweijd

Dr Jimmy Adegoke

Guests

Delegates

I want to confine my remarks to three points – the first about DST-sponsored climate change research, the second about centres of excellence, and the third about ACCESS as a model for future science research in Africa.

The DST’s global-change research

The DST adopted global-change research as one of its main focus areas three years ago and since then has been involved in a varied portfolio of global-change activities.

We have just awarded eleven research grants to the value of about R50 million in the broad field of sustainableglobal change.

We prioritise research in the key sectors of waste and water to support global-change mitigation and adaptation efforts.

We are committed to investing in scientific and technological innovation that is vital for expanding earth-observation initiatives.

We have already published a ‘Risk and Vulnerability Atlas’ aimed at equipping decision-makers with information on the impact and risks associated with global change in the region.

It provides easy understanding of global change sensitivity and vulnerability information at regional, provincial and municipal levels.

For example, if the sea water levels are predicted to rise by 1m, the Atlas will give more specific data that will enable city planners to determine how this will affect current and future property developments in all of the country’s regions.

The South African Earth Observation Portal and Earth Observation Data centre are also critical facilities. They enableearth observations and derived products to be warehoused, analysed and distributed nationally and in the broader SADC region.

Centres of Excellence

The centres of excellence are one of South Africa’s flagship science and technology programmes.

All our centres of excellence take advantage of our comparative knowledge and geographic advantages.

Our position at the tip of the African continent, adjacent to the Indian, South Atlantic and Southern Oceans, gives us a unique opportunity to study the influence of global weather patterns and atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations.

The country’s seas, straddling three oceans (the Atlantic, the Indian, and the Southern Ocean), include an exceptional range of habitats, from cool-water kelp forests to tropical coral reefs.

South Africa is also one of the world’s “megadiversity countries”. It occupies 2% of the world’s land area, but is home to nearly 10% of its plants and 7% of its reptiles, birds and mammals.

As a result of these comparative knowledge and geographic advantages South Africa has an outstanding record of scientific research, and many South African scientists are recognised world leaders in their fields.

Moreover, we have been able attract many foreign scholars and scientists from Africa and abroad.

The ACCESS model

The Applied Centre for Climate and Earth Systems Science is South Africa’s 8th centre of excellence.

As you have already learned, ACCESS includes entities in the CSIR, the South African Weather Service, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, the South African National Biodiversity Institute, Marine and Coastal Management and several university-based research groups at the University of Pretoria, University of Cape Town, Witwatersrand University and the University of the Western Cape.

It’s a collection of science or research council bodies in alliance and association with a collection of earth-observation units at our universities.

More specifically it’s an African centre. Its aim is to harness African earth-science talent.

It’s not a centre that a university could cobble together on its own. It’s a centre that needs central or government coordination.

As such it’s a sign of future scientific collaboration under the umbrella of government funding and support.

We can certainly look forward to more centres and agree with the proposal in the recently published National Development Plan that suggests greater attention should be given to these sorts of centres and networks.

“More weight should be given to building departments, and centres or networks of excellence.” (p. 291)

Centres of excellence are built on long-term strategic cooperation agreements, some of which we are here to put into effect.

ACCESS is an important part of the Department of Science and Technology’s global-change grand challenge. And as it newest addition to our group of centres of excellence, we are extremely proud of the work it does and the promise it holds out for the future.