Transcript Involvement, Actions & Issues

Department of Environmental
Affairs and the MDGs:
Involvement, Actions and Issues
Briefing by DEA to the Portfolio Committee
24 August 2011
FOCUS OF THE PRESENTATION
•To provide a brief overview of the Millennium
Declaration and the associated Millennium
Development Goals (MDG’s)
•To provide a summary of the indicators and targets
under goal 7 (Environmental Sustainability)
•To present information on those indicators that the DEA
reports on i.t.o status, targets and actions
•To highlight critical issues and institutional challenges
when reporting
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INTRODUCTION TO THE MDGs
•
In September 2000, the world’s leaders signed the Millennium
Declaration at the Millennium Summit
•
The eight MDGs with 20 targets and 60 indicators call for
– a dramatic reduction in poverty and marked improvements in the health and wellbeing of the poor.
– Where possible, the MDG targets are given as quantified, time-bound values for
specific indicators to better facilitate the monitoring and reporting process.
•
Countries report to the UN Secretary General on a 5 year basis leading up to the
2015 target (reference year 1990)
•
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The 8 MDG Goals are:
To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
To achieve universal primary education
To promote gender equality and empower women
To reduce child mortality
To improve maternal health
To combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
To ensure environmental sustainability (underpins the achievement of the majority
of the other seven goals)
8. To develop a global partnership for development
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INTRODUCTION CONT…
• MDGs act as guidelines and indicators for measuring levels of
development
• Reference period for MDGs 1990 - 2015
• For South Africa, start of reference period is 1994
1994
1997
2000
2003
2005
2007
2009
2012
2015
• Characteristics of MDGs:
• Time-bound goals
• Quantifiable targets
• Internationally agreed upon indicators
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SUMMARY OF GOAL & TARGETS WITH
INDICATORS
Goal 7 Ensure environmental
sustainability
Target 7a and b: Integrate the
principles of sustainable
development into country policies
and program and reverse the loss
of environmental resources
Reduce biodiversity loss,
achieving, by 2010, a significant
reduction in the rate of loss
Indicators
Proportion of land area covered by forest
CO2 emissions, total, per capita and per $1 GDP (PPP)
Consumption of ozone-depleting substances
Proportion of fish stocks within safe biological limits
Proportion of terrestrial and marine areas protected
Number of species (vegetation) threatened with extinction
Number of legally designated landfill sites
Target 7c: Halve, by 2015, the
proportion of people without
Proportion of population with sustainable access to an
sustainable access to safe
improved water source, urban and rural
drinking water and basic sanitation
Proportion of population with access to improved sanitation
Target 7d: Have achieved, by
2020, a significant improvement in Proportion of households with access to secure tenure
Proportion of urban population living in slums
the lives of at least 100 million
Proportion of households with access to electricity 5
slum dwellers
Proportion of population using solid fuels as primary source
DEA’s RESPONSE TO TWO TARGETS UNDER
GOAL 7
Target 7a: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country
policies and programmes; reverse loss of environmental resources
Target 7b: Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant
reduction in the rate of loss
Specific indicators focussed on include:
•CO2 emissions, total, per capita & per $1 GDP
•Consumption of ozone depleting substances
•Proportion of terrestrial and marine areas protected
•Number of species (vegetation) threatened with extinction
•Number of legally designated landfill sites (Domesticated indicator)
•Proportion of fish stocks within safe biological limits (not reported on in 2010
country report as no methodology available at time)
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DEA’S INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSE TO
TARGET 7a AND 7b
•Section 24 of the Constitution: All South Africans have a right to an
environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being and to have the
environment protected for the benefit of present and future generations.
•The Department is compelled to take reasonable steps to prevent pollution
and ecological degradation, promote conservation and secure ecologically
sustainable development and use of natural resources
•Developed National Framework for Sustainable Development (NFSD)
•Developed the draft National Strategy for Sustainable Development
(NSSD)
•Various policies and Acts developed and implemented to protect and
enhance the environment
•National Environmental Management Act
•National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act
•National Biodiversity Framework
•National Environmental Management: Waste Act & National Waste
Management Strategy
•White paper on Climate Change Policy
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Current status, targets and actions
as related to each indicator
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CO2 EMISSIONS, TOTAL, PER CAPITA & PER
$1 GDP
Category
1994 Baseline
2010 Status
CO2 emissions 358 930
in total (Gg)
433 527
(2007)
CO2 emissions 8.86
per capita (Mt)
8.82
(2007)
CO2 emissions 1.29
per 1$ GDP
(Kg)
0.98
(2007)
Earliest available data at
the time
Target
A 34%
reduction of
“Business as
Usual” by 2020
and 42%
reduction by
2025
Achievability
Possible
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WHAT STEPS ARE BEING TAKEN
(CO2 emissions, total, per capita and per $1 GDP (PPP))
• Long Term Mitigation
Scenarios in place – climate
change policy direction
• Greenhouse Gas Inventory
• 2nd National Communication
• White paper on Climate
Change Policy
• Integrated Resource Plan
• Fiscal Instruments draft policy
& the Carbon Tax discussion
paper
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CONSUMPTION OF OZONE DEPLETING
SUBSTANCES
Category
HCFC
1994
Baseline
2010 Status
205.1
209.2
(2008)
(ODPTons)
14.4
(2003)
0
(2009)
MeBr
601.2
225.9
(2008)
(ODPTons)
BCM
(ODPTons)
Target
Freeze by 2013
and phase out by
2040
Achievability
Likely
Phase out by
2015
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WHAT STEPS ARE BEING TAKEN
Consumption of ozone-depleting substances
• ODS Regulations and the hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC) survey
and management plan
• Report and database on ODS consumption
• Development of an Integrated Permitting System for export/imports
under MEAs:
– Allows for International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) to
become the point of contact for all importers and exporters, and relevant
regulatory departments to be consulted as required in the process.
– System for implementation of the Harmonised System (HS) codes is
underway.
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PROPORTION OF TERRESTRIAL AND MARINE
AREAS PROTECTED
Category
1994
Baseline
2010 Status
Target
Terrestrial (%)
5.18
6.20
(2010) 9
Marine (%)
0
6.54
(2010) 14
Achievability
Possible
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WHAT STEPS ARE BEING TAKEN
Proportion of terrestrial and marine areas protected
•
•
•
•
National park expansion strategy
National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act
National Protected Areas Database
National Biodiversity Framework:
– providing for an integrated, co-ordinated and uniform approach to
biodiversity management in South Africa,
– It highlights the major pressures on biodiversity in South Africa,
– identifies priority actions for conserving biodiversity ,
– and sets out the implications of these priority actions for agencies that will
lead their implementation.
The NBF forms the blueprint for conservation of biodiversity in
South Africa.
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NUMBER OF SPECIES (VEGETATION)
THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION
Category
1994
Baseline
2010
Status
Target
Achievability
Reduce the number
of Species
threatened with
extinction(Target as
set out in the
Outcome
10 Delivery
Please note that due to a change in calculation
methodology
these values differ
slightly from those presented in the officialAgreement
MDG report
Document)
Vegetation
(Number)
727
(1996)
2577
(2009)
Possible
•
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WHAT STEPS ARE BEING TAKEN
Proportion of species (vegetation) threatened with extinction
• National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan in place
• National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act in place
– Lists of threatened species & those needing protection
• Protected Species Regulations
– regulate the movement and subsequent activities involving listed wildlife
species on a national basis.
• National park expansion strategy in place (protecting habitat for
species)
• Contracting private/communal owned land as conservation areas
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NUMBER OF LEGALLY DESIGNATED
LANDFILL SITES
Category
1994
Baseline
Number
No Data
2010
Status
817
(2010)
Target
Increase the number
of permitted landfill
sites by 80% by 2015
(Target as set out in
the Outcome 10
Delivery Agreement
Document)
Achievability
Possible
• Please note that this indicator is a Domesticated Indicator (reported on in the 2010
MDG report but not part of the original MDG goal 7 indicator list)
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WHAT STEPS ARE BEING TAKEN
Number of legally designated landfill sites
• National Environmental Management: Waste Act & National Waste
Management Strategy
• Training programmes being rolled out for landfill site managers
• Currently, there are approximately 300 landfill sites that are unlicensed.
• So far DEA has assisted municipalities to have 117 waste disposal sites
licensed.
• Criteria to reduce this backlog through means that include:
a) exempting qualifying sites from full EIA processes;
b) pursuing the less capital intensive authorization routes; and
c) dealing with some of the sites through the contaminated land provisions
of the waste act to save costs.
– meeting the target of 80% landfills licensed will depend on the
availability of resources, currently estimated at R980million.
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INSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGES FACED
DURING REPORTING
• Unavailability of methodology on some indicators
• No permanent reporting structure - StatsSA is in a
process of establishing a permanent coordinating body
• Unavailability of data (relating to frequency of data
updates)
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RECOMMENDATIONS
• Portfolio Committee to take note of presentation,
progress and actions
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