Climate change: South Africa readies itself for COP 21
South Africa’s official stance on climate change, one activist pointed out to Parliament on Tuesday, is not denialist. The South African government is very much on board with the principle that the global climate is changing, and that the effects are being felt in South Africa already. The Department of Environmental Affairs’ Maesela Kekana showed pictures of flooding in Soweto and droughts in other provinces.
“We never had this before,” he said. And, repeatedly: “We are the most vulnerable ones.”
So what is South Africa planning to do about it? Kekana told Parliament that the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) – the plan the country will take to COP 21 in Paris in December – was put together by a negotiating team which involved almost all government departments
Photo Credit: Le Centre d'Information sur l'Eau