National Climate Change Response White Paper.

This White Paper presents the South African Government’s vision for an effective climate change response and the long-term transition to a climate-resilient and lower-carbon economy and society. This White Paper is guided by principles set out in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the National Environmental Management Act, the Millennium Declaration and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and it is addressed to all spheres of government, the private sector and civil society formations, as well as individual citizens. The main objectives of South Africa’s response to climate change issue set out in this White Paper are: 1) an effective management of inevitable climate change impacts through interventions that build and sustain South Africa’s social, economic and environmental resilience and emergency response capacity; 2) a fair contribution to the global effort to stabilise greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that avoids dangerous interference with the climate system within a timeframe that enables economic, social and environmental development in a sustainable manner.
This White Paper consists of 13 sections: Introduction; National climate change response objective; principles; South African climate change response strategy; approach to adaptation; approach to mitigation; managing response measures; near-term priority flagship programmes; job creation; mainstreaming climate-resilient development; resource mobilisation; monitoring and evaluation; conclusion. In order to achieve the National Climate Change Response Objective, this White Paper defines its response strategy around the following strategic priorities: risk reduction and management; mitigation actions with significant outcomes; sectoral responses; policy and regulatory alignment; informed decision making and planning; integrated planning; technology research, development and innovation; facilitated behaviour change; behaviour change through choice; resource mobilisation. The adaptation approach requires coordination between sectors and departments and identifies short, medium and long term interventions to be addressed in specific sectors. Particularly, in the short term, early warning and forecasting for disaster risk reduction; in the medium term, climate forecasting to identify potential resource challenges well in advance; in the long term, climate projections that define the range of future climate conditions. Sectors where the adaptation approach applies are: Water; Agriculture and Commercial Forestry; Health; Biodiversity and Ecosystems; Urban, Rural and Coastal Human Settlements; Disaster Risk Reduction and Management.
The approach to mitigation balances the Country’s contribution to the international effort to curb global emissions with the economic and social opportunities presented by the transition to a lower-carbon economy as well as with the requirement that the Country successfully tackles the development challenges facing it. Mitigation actions will be developed to achieve the defined desired emission reduction outcomes for each sector and sub-sector of the economy by ensuring that actions are specifically tailored to the potential, best available solutions and other relevant conditions Particularly, the mitigation approach identifies the following key elements: using a National GHG emissions trajectory range; defining desired emission reduction outcomes for each significant sector and sub-sector of the economy; adopting a carbon budget approach to provide for flexibility and least-cost mechanisms for companies in relevant sectors and/or sub-sectors; requiring companies and economic sectors or sub-sectors to prepare and submit mitigation plans that set out how they intend to achieve the desired emission reduction outcomes; the deployment of a range of economic instruments to support the system of desired emissions reduction outcomes, including the appropriate pricing of carbon and economic incentives, as well as the possible use of emissions offset or emission reduction trading mechanisms; a national system of data collection to provide detailed, complete, accurate and up-to-date emissions data in the form of a Greenhouse Gas Inventory and a Monitoring and Evaluation System to support the analysis of the impact of mitigation measures.