SA 'has climate change plan'

2007-04-19 15:06

Cape Town - Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk has rejected a claim he is doing nothing concrete about climate change, saying plans by government to deal with the threat of global warming are well in hand.

Earlier on Wednesday, Democratic Alliance (DA) environment spokesperson Rafeek Shah claimed the minister had "dropped the ball" and was not doing his job in this regard.

"As the lead minister on climate change, Van Schalkwyk spends a lot of time talking at international conferences on the need for 'serious and immediate' action. But he has yet to actually produce anything concrete," Shah said.

Despite warnings contained in numerous reports about the implications of climate change for South Africa, the most recent being the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) fourth assessment, South Africa did not even have a climate change strategy, he said.

"Van Schalkwyk needs to urgently explain what his plan is to, firstly, mitigate the consequences of South Africa's industrial development on the environment and, secondly, minimise the effects of predicted climate change," Shah said.

Van Schalkwyk's office said in a statement the DA needed to do its homework before issuing statements.

It repeated details of a "Climate Roadmap", unveiled by the minister last month, and said plans currently in hand to deal with climate change included:

An inter-ministerial committee overseeing a "long term mitigation scenario process". Excellent progress was being made on this, and once completed a "high-level roundtable of government, civil society and captains of industry" would be held to consider a national response to climate change;

Leading researchers finalising the fourth assessment report of the IPCC, which would result in a special report-back seminar "to analyse the regional and national implications";

The department of science and technology finalising a climate change technology needs assessment, and a national climate change research and development strategy, "in the next few months";

The department of minerals and energy making "strong headway" in implementing a national energy efficiency accord; and,

The department of agriculture developing a climate change response plan.

- SAPA