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National Government’s failure to implement an overarching climate change strategy is harming the Western Cape Provincial Governments’ ability to put their own plans in place.

In a parliamentary reply, the Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEADP) revealed that poor coordination between different levels of government has led to a fragmented approach to one of the biggest crises facing humanity.

There is a lack of provincially proportional and downscaled targets, thresholds and obligations which are resourced from National Government to guide the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and set benchmarks for adapting to the effects of climate change.

This has meant that securing funding for projects, from both local and international sources, has been negatively affected, as the effectiveness of projects is difficult to determine without clear targets to measure against.

The DEADP further raised that a conditional grant from National Government to provincial and local governments would be needed for them to deal with climate specific challenges most effectively.

National Government must step up and put measures in place to help mitigate and adapt to climate change. The effects of climate change, such as a lack of access to water and the threat to food security, will have a disproportionate effect on the poor, as they do not have the resources to privately insulate themselves from these effects.

The DA recognises the seriousness of this issue, and will fight to make sure the residents of the country do not once again suffer the consequences of poor planning and apathy from the ANC.

Issued by Andricus van der Westhuizen, MPP - DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Agriculture, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning