<
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/south-africa-passes-its-first-sweeping-climate-change-law-2024-07-23/>
'JOHANNESBURG, July 23 (
Reuters) - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa
has signed into law a broad climate change act that will set caps for large
emitters and require every town and city to publish an adaptation plan.
The Climate Change Bill aims to enable South Africa to meet its emissions
reduction commitments under the Paris climate agreement, the presidency said in
a statement on Tuesday.
South Africa, which is the world's most carbon-intensive major economy and
among the top 15 greenhouse gas emitters, is on track to miss those targets
because of to its heavy reliance on coal for electricity.
"This is very significant in that it's the first time that our climate change
response is directly brought into domestic law," said Brandon Abdinor, a lawyer
at South Africa's Centre for Environmental Rights, a non-profit organisation.
"A lot of work needs to be done, but this act puts the basic architecture in
place for that to happen."
The presidency statement did not say when Ramaphosa had signed the law, which
requires every province and municipality to assess climate change risks and
develop a response plan.
Emissions targets will be set for each high-emitting government sector such as
agriculture, transport and industry, and each relevant minister must adopt
measures to achieve them.
The law also says the environment minister must allocate a carbon budget to
large greenhouse gas-emitting companies, setting a limit on their emissions
over a specified time.
The allocations have not yet been set, and the law does not make it an offence
to exceed the limit although climate advocates had wanted this, said Abdinor.
But emitters that exceed their budget are likely to have to pay a higher rate
of carbon tax.
"With mandatory carbon budgets now in place, we expect to see significant
emissions reductions from large companies," Harald Winkler, an expert on
climate policy at the University of Cape Town, said on X.
"Transparency in annual reporting will be key," he added.'
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*** Xanni ***
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mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
