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Date : 27/02/2006
Source: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
Title: van Schalkwyk: World congress of International Council for Local Environment Initiatives


  Keynote speech by Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, at the 2006 World Congress of the International Council for Local Environment Initiatives (ICLEI), in Cape Town

Introduction

Julius Nyerere, the first President of Tanzania, once said that "The purpose of development is the creation of conditions which enable man the individual, and man the species, to become his best."

This assertion so elegant in its simplicity lies at the heart of planning and governance especially at the most local level. It reduces to its simplest form the imperative of uplifting communities today, without sacrificing the resources needed by the generations of tomorrow

The theme of this fifth ICLEI World Congress could not be more apt, because Africa has an unbroken cultural and historical tradition of forging local solutions. Out of Africa, and other developing regions, comes our experience of necessity, our understanding of doing more with less, and our personal insight into poverty and underdevelopment, especially the biting realities of the direct consequences of environmental damage for livelihoods.

It is my great pleasure, therefore, to extend to you all the warmest welcome of both our people and our Government. We are honoured that the first ICLEI World Congress to be held in the Southern Hemisphere has come to Africa and specifically to South Africa. There are few places on Earth with more tangible or recent experience of how freedom and development converge. There are few places indeed with so visible a link between environmental health and long-term sustainability.

A Local Government Legacy of Sustainable Development

The world came together in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit, and placed sustainable development firmly on the global agenda. The outcomes of the Earth Summit and Agenda 21 were challenged however by the need for real implementation. The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), hosted here in South Africa in 2002, placed people and their needs centre-stage in the sustainable development equation identifying poverty and global inequality as principle obstacles to the creation of a more sustainable world order.

This legacy, of a more people-centred approach, was also captured by the leaders of local governments at the WSSD, with the decision to move from Local Agenda 21 to Local Action 21 dedicating the second decade after the Earth Summit to local implementation and local action. The result has been a global movement in which city and municipal government has taken an ever-growing role in and responsibility for the direct implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the time-bound targets of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI). Halving poverty by 2015, changing patterns of consumption and production, and protecting our shared natural resources, is less and less about global commitments alone, and more and more about local action.

Poverty: Main Cause of African Environmental Challenges

2006 is the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Africa is faced with the loss of up to a third of our land area through the widespread degradation of ecosystems, made even more severe by global climate change with one third of the earth's surface, more than four billion hectares, and over a billion people threatened worldwide.

Unsustainable exploitation of forests, soils, fresh water, and other natural resources may well prove to be the greatest obstacles to economic and social development.

Throughout Africa it is poverty that remains both the main cause and main consequence of environmental damage. From climate change to biodiversity loss, diminishing clean water sources, pollution, waste and food security the African experience is one in which we acknowledge that environmental challenges must be addressed from a broader perspective, that also addresses the root causes of poverty and inequality. We must make the fight to save the environment, and the fight to uplift our people, the same battle.

Clearly declining trends in environmental health will impact greatly on local communities especially those rural communities who depend on natural resources for their livelihoods. This is what makes it so important for city and municipal government, in partnership with provincial (or state) and national governments, to develop long-term plans for sustainability.

South Africa to publish NSSD by May

Our President, Thabo Mbeki, delivered his annual State of the Nation Address less than four weeks ago. In it, he challenged South Africa to move faster in addressing poverty and marginalisation; to accelerate more widely shared growth; and to ensure that the machinery of Government especially in the local sphere discharges its responsibility effectively.

I am very pleased, therefore, to announce that we will, within two months, be releasing for public comment South Africa's National Strategy for Sustainable Development (NSSD). One of the concrete commitments made by nations at the WSSD, it represents our determination to apply a long-term vision of sustainability to the planning and decision cycles of government.

The NSSD will be a powerful tool to be used in addressing priority issues like water quality and quantity; climate change; waste management; soil loss and pollution; food production; and strategic biodiversity management. It will identify specific risks and opportunities over an extended planning period of 20-30 years, and will bring together the targets of the Millennium Development Goals and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation identifying how South Africa will address these challenges. The NSSD will also form the basis for the development of Provincial Strategies for Sustainable Development, to help provide local governments with new tools for direct local action.

Local SA Action on climate change

There are few challenges that better illustrate the need for local sustainable development action than climate change. The Energy Research Centre at the University of Cape Town has estimated that the yearly cost to South Africa of not acting to adapt to the effects of climate change now, will be about 1,5% of GDP by 2050. On the other hand, achieving our 2013 additional renewable energy target of 10 000 giga watt hours, could have a positive impact on GDP of more than R1 billion, lead to additional government revenue of almost R300 million, additional income to low income households of R128 million, and water savings of up to 16, 5 million kilolitres per year at the same time creating just over 20 000 new jobs.

Last December, at the Fourth Municipal Leaders Summit in Montreal, more than 190 mayors agreed to reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses by 20% before 2020 and by 80% by 2050 in support of the Kyoto Protocol. This then is the future global action by local governments. Model cities, like Portland, Oregon the first in the USA to adopt a plan to combat global warming have shown what can be achieved. Portland has reduced emissions by 13% since 1990; increased public transport usage by 75%; shifted to sourcing 10% of all energy from renewable which will increase to 100% by 2010; and at the same time it has grown its economy and its population.

We don't have to go beyond the boundaries of South Africa however to find cities and municipalities that have embraced this responsibility.
Through the ICLEI Cities for Climate Protection Campaign, there is so much about which South Africans can be proud. Right here in Cape Town we have seen the development of the first city level State of Energy Report. The city is targeting 10% of energy from renewable by 2020, has implemented a pilot project converting vehicles to LPG fuel, and is implementing our first Gold Standard Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project in 2300 homes in the impoverished area of Khayelitsha which will reduce CO2 emissions by a total of almost 145 000 tonnes over a period of 21 years.

Cities like eThekwini, Tshwane and Ekhuruleni have taken important strides in 'greening' buildings and other energy efficiency projects. Potchefstroom has piloted bicycle lanes, bicycle parks and a range of other transport efficiency measures. Johannesburg, as one would expect under the leadership of a Mayor who is also the President of ICLEI, has championed a Zero Carbon City campaign and hosted South Africa's first National Climate Change Conference last year. From Sol Plaatjie Municipality to Mangaung, from Buffalo City to Saldanha Bay, South Africa's local governments are starting to realise their responsibilities in combating climate change, and in so doing are contributing to sustainable development on a regional and global scale.

Our shared challenge is to accelerate this work, and to expand the list of participating cities.

Conclusion

Local action for sustainable development is about much more than just environmental issues. In a developing country like South Africa it is an expansive terrain inviting innovation, investment, and entrepreneurship.

There can be very few who doubt that energy, and global energy demand, has fast become the driving force behind geopolitics, social mobilisation, and international financial markets. With the recent power cuts that our Western Cape province has endured, it is also clear that the challenges of sustainable development are both immediate and absolutely local affecting every home, every business and every person. The responsibility to ensure that sustainable and responsible alternatives are developed, lies as much with local government as it does with states and nations.

It was President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, speaking at the first African Regional Conference on Environment and Sustainable Development, held in Kampala in 1989, who said: "No nation, however powerful, can legislate against acid rain or ban it over its airspace. We have a common future and we must defend it if we are to survive on this planet."

This then is the importance of the ICLEI World Congress and your deliberations. I trust that you will enjoy your time in our country, and hope that you will find the opportunity to discover its many unmatched treasures and experiences.

Enquiries:
Riaan Aucamp
Cell: 083 778 9923

Issued by: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
27 February 2006
   

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