Is it too soon to celebrate South Africa’s Climate Change Act?

On Nelson Mandela Day, South Africa’s first piece of framework climate change legislation – the Climate Change Bill – was signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa. Published as the Climate Change Act on Tuesday 23rd July, it has been a long time in the making, after first being introduced to Parliament in 2022.

There is cause for celebration – but there is also a major caveat. While the framework for climate change measures and regulations now exists as a statute, the Act will only come into effect on a date fixed by the President by proclamation in the Gazette. This means that, for now at least, the framework exists in principle only.

International Obligations

As a signatory to the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change and its goal to keep global temperature increases below 1.5°C by reducing carbon emissions, South Africa’s Climate Change Act puts into law the parameters in which it plans to meet this target. The Act reaffirms the country’s commitment to reduce emissions and to introduce regulation of climate change impacts through three primary routes: mitigation, adaptation and institutional arrangement. 

South Africa is the largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter on the African continent, 11th largest in the world, and has one of the highest per capita emissions rates globally. Energy-related emissions by Eskom, largely from the burning of fossil fuels, account for 81% of South Africa’s net total GHG emissions. In order to meet the country’s now legislated nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and obligations to the Paris Agreement, the Climate Change Act sets out very clear mitigation policies: 

• The Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment in consultation with the Cabinet is tasked with the creation of a national GHG emissions trajectory (by a yet to be determined date), which will be reviewed every 5 years.
• For the first time, a monitoring process will be put in place to measure the output of GHG emissions by different sectors and sub-sectors, which will be subject to specific targets. 
• The Minister is also responsible for publishing a list of GHGs which are believed to cause or exacerbate climate change.
• Most significantly, the Minister must allocate a carbon budget to any person that conducts an activity that falls within these carbon-emitting parameters. If a carbon budget has been allocated,  a greenhouse gas mitigation plan must be submitted.

The Good and the Bad

While these policies are progressive and positive, there are criticisms too. The Act does not provide for penalties in the case of an emitter exceeding a carbon budget. However, current legislation states that big emitters are subject to pay a greater amount of carbon tax. 

As far as adaptation measures go, the Minister of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment is responsible for determining a national adaptation plan. This plan will take into consideration the communities most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change so that adequate adaptation measures can be enforced, creating more resilient communities across the country. 

In terms of institutional arrangements, the Act takes a holistic approach with regards to accountability and involvement since it requires every organ of state affected by climate change to review and (if necessary) revise/amend policies to fall in line with those set out in the Act. It further outlines provincial and municipal responses to climate change, thus incorporating all three tiers of government.  

The Climate Change Act is certainly a powerful signal to the international community that South Africa intends to play its part in the fight against climate change, while ensuring that mitigation is undertaken and adaptation measures are in place. With the legal framework now set, the measure of its success will be determined by political will: though falling under the ambit of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment, the Act has broader implications for other ministries, including Electricity and Energy. Let us hope the respective ministries see the value in ‘singing from the same hymnbook’ to ensure not just the survival and resilience of the next generation, but of humanity at large.