Durban- The World Wildlife Fund for Nature has welcomed the announcement by president Cyril Ramaphosa that the government will be taking action to combat climate change.
Earlier this week, the president released a statement that the government’s cabinet approved the National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy which would guide the government’s response to climate change that would be guided by the Paris Agreement to Combat Climate Change.
“As we work with our social partners to develop an urgent economic recovery programme, we are determined that we should not merely return to where we were before the pandemic struck. We are instead looking at actions that will build a new, inclusive economy that creates employment and fosters sustainable growth.
“An important aspect of this new economy is that it must be able to withstand the effects of climate change. A climate-resilient economy is necessary to protect jobs, ensure the sustainability of our industries, preserve our natural resources and ensure food security. While the dramatic scaling down of human and industrial activity during COVID-19 lockdowns has been good for the environment and natural ecosystems, these activities are now resuming. The coronavirus pandemic is devastating, but unless we act now, the impact of climate change on humanity will be catastrophic,” he said.
Ramaphosa said the response to climate change needed to come from the private sector, government and civil society.
Senior Policy Analyst at WWF-SA, Prabhat Upadhyaya, agreed with Ramaphosa that there needed to be a new economy that could withstand the effects of climate change and ensure that natural resources are preserved and food security ensured. Upadhyaya said the organisation promised that they would do their best to reduce carbon-emissions and build an economy that is resilient to climate change. In a statement, the organisation said that the organisation cannot recover from the Covid-19 crisis only to be “catapulted” to an even bigger crisis of climate change. Even though South Africa was battling Covid-19, the focus on climate change should be unrelenting, the organisation said.
