If Africa has the potential to benefit from the rise of economic powerhouses outside the US, South Africa would do well to put itself on a low-carbon diet that will allow it to capitalise on markets that are sensitive to the carbon intensity of products. Recent announcements suggest that South Africa is on that trajectory. As reported in Engineering News, "South Africa now joins only a handful of developing countries, including China, Brazil and India, in moving ahead with mitigation programmes under a so-called 'comparability of effort' framework canvassed at the recent global climate change gathering in Bali."
With annual CO2 emissions of 800 million tons, South Africa has a few hard pills to swallow, but Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk sounds convinced that investment in mitigation now will reduce the cost of adaptation later. Unfortunately this will only hold true if the rest of the world does its bit, but if we want to show some leadership in this area, we can't join in the US-China game of "I'll diet if you do".
When we look at economic performance, we've got to start factoring in carbon efficiency as a measure of how well we are doing - if not to fight global warming, then at least to remain competitive in an increasingly carbon-aware world.
The necessary pieces are being put in place. Finance Minister Trevor Manuel announced a tax on nonrenewable energy in his February budget - effectively a carbon tax. Cabinet endorsed a 'strategic direction and framework for climate policy' last month. Van Schalkwyk says the Treasury may create a 'cap and trade' mechanism to control carbon emissions. The Department of Trade and Industry should follow with policy that will reduce energy demand for each unit of economic output. And municipalities are starting to make noises in favour of getting their residents and businesses to work towards the ten percent electricity reduction target that Eskom says is needed to address the supply shortfall. Building standards will start to change, and things like solar water heaters will become mandatory in new houses.
So be warned: it's more carrots, less beef for the lot of you. There's no pudding if you don't eat your veggies.
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