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The
Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Marthinus van
Schalkwyk has issued a no-nonsense warning to industries in South
Africa, particularly refineries, to clean up their act or face
accountability.
He was speaking at the official opening of the Johannesburg+2
Conference on Sustainable Development yesterday afternoon.
Van Schalkwyk also said that he would shortly appoint the members
of the National Environmental Advisory Forum in terms of the
National Environmental Management Act.
Over 600 delegates representing civil society, business and
government have descended on Johannesburg for the three-day
sustainable development indaba, aimed at assessing progress in
implementing the country's sustainable development targets and to
reaffirm a joint commitment to a national sustainable development
path.
The conference kicked off yesterday and will run until tomorrow at
the Sandton Convention Centre.
The event is being held to mark the anniversary of the World Summit
on Sustainable Development (WSSD), which South Africa successfully
hosted in 2002.
Discussing the progress which the country has made since the summit
laid down the guidelines, Van Schalkwyk said that South Africa has
started making vast inroads into the summit targets.
“At our present rate of delivery, our government is on track
not only to meet the WSSD targets for reducing the percentages of
people without access to basic water and sanitation, but will also
eradicate the backlog of infrastructure for water by 2008, and
sanitation by 2010,” he said.
The conference has been structured around thematic roundtables that
include water and sanitation, human settlements, energy and climate
change, agriculture and food security, science and technology,
natural resource management, governance for sustainable
development, and the role of business.
Van Schalkwyk also highlighted government's new approach to
sustainable human settlement and emphasised the importance of using
alternative energy sources.
“We must diversify our energy sources to reduce our over
dependence on coal - exploring all other options like gas, solar
power, wind generation, hydroelectric power and nuclear
energy,” he said.
“All of these issues are addressed in the targets that we
have adopted for renewable energy - meeting the commitments made by
our Minister of Minerals and Energy at the WSSD - and the energy
plan that has been compiled by our Department of Minerals and
Energy.”
The Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Rejoice
Mabudafhasi, yesterday officially opened the Sustainable
Development Best Practice Exhibition and the Learning Centre.
Various other side events have been organised.
City of Johannesburg Executive Mayor Amos Masondo hosted the
evening's opening reception.
The patron of the conference, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana
Dlamini Zuma, officially launched the WSSD book, 'Ten Days in
Johannesburg: A Negotiation of Hope'.
Visitors to the conference from other parts of the world will
include Kenya, Tunisia, Senegal, the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Mozambique and Hungary.
Photos
