Climate change in the spotlight in KZN
Premier Sihle Zikalala is pictured during his address at the KwaZulu-Natal Climate Change and Sustainable Development Council meeting at the ICC on Wednesday.
DURBAN - CLIMATE change can have a devastating impact on agriculture, the economy, health and livelihoods of people, although it cannot be controlled – but with a plan that protects and preserves the environment, the risk when natural disasters strike could be minimised.
This was the message from different climate change stakeholders, who gathered at the KwaZulu-Natal Climate Change and Sustainable Development Council, a structure responsible for co-ordinating responses to climate change in KZN, at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Convention Centre, in Durban on Wednesday.
The meeting was attended by MECs, district mayors, academics, business representatives, traditional leaders, and civil society formations.
Premier Sihle Zikalala, in his opening address, warned that if not addressed, the climate emergency may devastate economies in the same way that Covid-19 has.
He said addressing challenges relating to climate change required a collaborated effort by all stakeholders.
“The climate emergency demands that, in all that we do we must produce, trade, and conduct business and our lives, in a manner that protects the environment,” said Zikalala.
The Economic Development, Trade and Environmental Affairs chief director Sphumelele Nowele presented a draft of the KZN Climate Change Action Plan, which had been developed to ensure that the province copes with natural disasters.
The plan included, among others, disaster risk, human health, water resources, human settlements, and food security.
She said if we are investing in climate change, then these were the sectors to focus on.
“The draft plan is telling us what we should be doing in responding to the disaster plan,” she said.
She added that her department was working with the technical climate change committee to look at these strategies, in a space of two years, and would compile a report.
Zikalala said our generation had the historic task of building climate-resilient communities, reducing the carbon footprint, deploying environmentally friendly technologies, and ensuring a just transition to a low carbon and sustainable development trajectory.
“Part of the just transition means that the support of new, green industries must be accompanied by the development of new skills and the re-skilling of the workforce, so people can fully benefit from the new industries and businesses,” said Zikalala.
Also discussed at the meeting was the implementation of the KZN Climate Change Action Plan, which is specific to the province’s socio-economic and biophysical context.
Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs MEC Ravi Pillay said through the Climate Change Council, the province would escalate the issues of climate change in the same way it has escalated matters related to HIV/Aids, through the provincial Aids Council.
“At the first quarterly meeting, we should get reports per district – like we do at the HIV/Aids Council. Those reports should reflect whether plans have been adopted, whether funding has been received, and how did it get leveraged. All this will become part of the important work of this council,” said Pillay.
sne.masuku@inl.co.za
Daily News
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