Ramaphosa calls for integrating climate action into government policy

President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for climate action to be integrated across all spheres of the state’s work and urged Commissioners of the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) to prioritise outstanding tasks, including the redevelopment of the Komati community in Mpumalanga, which was left without an economic recovery plan after the power station was decommissioned.

Addressing the inaugural sitting of the PCC, Ramaphosa urged the commission to work in close partnership with key ministers and their departments to ensure that climate action is fully integrated into national priorities — from energy and finance to trade, labour and cooperative governance.

He said South Africa has set ambitious goals for climate action, aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Ramaphosa said the Commission’s first five-year term report, presented in December, provided a clear basis for defining the country’s priorities for the next five years, until 2030.

“Climate change is an existential threat to the future of humanity and the planet. We must act globally with others to ensure that we do not breach 1.5 degrees of warming above pre-industrial levels. We must reduce carbon emissions at a pace and scale appropriate to our national circumstances. We must simultaneously climate-proof our development and infrastructure while strengthening resilience and disaster management capabilities,” Ramaphosa said.

He emphasised that climate action and development must be aligned to support the country’s growth and prosperity while protecting workers’ jobs and livelihoods.

Ramaphosa noted that South Africa is already experiencing the effects of climate change, which are predicted to intensify rapidly toward the end of this decade and beyond. He warned that this could significantly impede growth and collective prosperity.

“It is likely to undermine our efforts to address inequality, poverty and unemployment. Addressing climate change must therefore go hand in hand with improving living conditions for all. Those most vulnerable to climate change — including women, children, people with disabilities, the poor and the unemployed — need to be protected.”

Ramaphosa said the birth of the PCC in December 2020 marked a turning point in South Africa’s climate agenda, as it created a permanent, independent, multi-stakeholder body to advise on the country’s response to climate change.

He said the PCC was established to ensure South Africa’s climate transition is just, inclusive and responsive to the needs of vulnerable communities, and that it is based on the best available scientific evidence.

“South Africa needed an independent, credible body that could convene diverse voices, provide sound evidence and help the country navigate one of the most complex policy challenges in its democratic history,” he said.

Since its inception, the PCC has played a central role in South Africa’s climate policy landscape and has emerged as an important platform for consensus-building in the country’s just transition journey, Ramaphosa said.

“By bringing together government, business, labour, civil society, youth and academia, the PCC has fostered inclusive dialogue and solutions to some of the country’s most complex and contested climate and development challenges. It has helped align diverse interests around common goals such as phasing down coal, investing in renewables and protecting livelihoods,” he said.

He added that the commission has sought to ensure that policy decisions are evidence-based, socially legitimate and widely supported.

“The just transition is an opportunity to rebuild trust with communities and to address practical issues relating to jobs, local economies, skills, social support and governance, among others. As the Commission, our work is to ensure a just transition to a low-carbon economy while helping South Africa become more resilient, strengthening its global competitiveness, and reducing poverty, inequality and unemployment. To do this, we need to build consensus through social dialogue,” Ramaphosa said.

He said South Africa is at a pivotal moment in its energy transition, where energy security and climate action must be mutually reinforcing.

“A stable, diversified electricity system is the foundation of growth, investment and job creation, especially as we propel the country towards green industrialisation. The Just Energy Transition Partnership must now move from commitment to delivery. We must translate pledges into visible progress on the ground,” the President said.

He added that there is a need to accelerate renewable energy deployment, strengthen and expand transmission infrastructure, enable storage solutions and create space for greater private sector participation.

Ramaphosa said the country looks to the Commission for guidance on ensuring that the energy transition advances energy security while reducing emissions and maximising economic opportunities arising from a low-carbon transition.

“At the same time, we look to this commission for guidance on how our communities can adapt and become more resilient to the ever-increasing effects of climate change,” he said.

He said the pathway to the targets set out in South Africa’s Nationally Determined Contribution must reinforce growth, inclusion and job creation.

“As we continue to seek sufficient financial investment to reduce our carbon emissions, we must increase the share of funding for adaptation. This is essential to secure the development gains the country has achieved,” he said.

Ramaphosa urged that as the country works to reduce its carbon footprint, it must ensure that the transition does not disproportionately affect the most vulnerable, particularly those who depend on industries such as coal mining for their livelihoods.

BUSINESS REPORT