Long walk to greendom

COP17 will add some much-needed pace to South Africa's "Long Walk to Greendom", says Irvan Damon, ambassador for the Sustainable Energy Society of Southern Africa (Sessa) ambassador.

He said his organisation had embraced the opportunities provided by COP17 to add impetus to creating competitive green industries, local green-collar jobs and embracing a low-carbon culture.

Damon said South Africa's green growth depended on several things, including commitments made by its president.

At COP15 in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2009, President Jacob Zuma committed South Africa to reducing the growth of its emissions from a "business as usual" track by 34% by 2020 and 42% by 2025.

In his state of the nation address earlier this year, Zuma also urged the "green economy" to help create "tens of thousands of green-collar jobs".

But these targets must be achieved in the context of an industrial policy still heavily reliant on carbon-intensive industries supporting many jobs.

"But it's doable," said Damon, "if we all just adopt the attitude of wanting to be 'in it to green it', whether it be big businesses, government, our schools or our homes."

He said COP17 had its roots in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) treaty. More recently, a number of nations approved an addition to the treaty: the Kyoto Protocol, which has more powerful and legally binding measures.

The major difference between the convention and the protocol is that the convention encouraged industrialised countries to stabilise greenhouse gas emissions; the protocol commits them to do so. It sets binding targets for 37 industrialised countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These targets amount to an average of 5% against 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012.

At COP15, Zuma argued that the convention should adopt a two-track negotiation process: one for industrialised and another for developing nations.

Damon said: "COP17 will bring together representatives of the world's governments, international organisations and civil society with the object to advance, in a balanced fashion, the implementation of the convention and the Kyoto Protocol, as well as the Bali Action Plan [agreed at COP13 in 2007] and the Cancun Agreements [reached at COP16 last December].

"COP17 puts the spotlight on sustainability and is a major opportunity for South Africa to embrace ideals of the convention, and plot its own path forward in terms of meeting President Zuma's pledges," Damon said.

International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, the incoming COP17 president, has encouraged all South Africans, including labour, business, civil society and all other stakeholders, to work together to make COP17 a success.

Damon said: "For South Africa, as well as other developing countries around the world, economic development, competitiveness and decent jobs are paramount concerns, not only at COP17, as vulnerability to climate change is a direct consequence of poverty."

Director of climate change and sustainability services at KPMG, Neil Morris, said he believed COP17 had more chance of having practical outcomes than COP15 in Copenhagen and COP16 in Cancun. He is reported on www.greenbusinessguide.co.za as saying the world was moving towards a low-carbon development path, and local business had to adapt.

Morris said: "A fundamental transformation of our energy systems and our energy use will be required. Businesses operating in developed as well as in developing countries can't ignore these trends and need to prepare.

"New opportunities are emerging for low-carbon investment in developing countries such as SA. There is a signal of renewed confidence to investors in carbon markets, but uncertainty remains on the shape of new market mechanisms."

Andy le May, the managing director of icologie, an organisation promoting sustainable development, said business opportunities lay in staying in step with the demands of an increasingly eco-conscious consumer base.

"Business could start exploring where mitigation and adaptation activity can create economic growth and jobs, and also work on engaging with the government on subsidies and tax breaks for sustainable products and business," he said.

Damon said: "Until recently, business and civil society have been merely observers to the convention and the protocol: the time is ripe for them to take an active role. This is the opinion of many, including Deloitte director and South African lead for sustainability and climate change, Duane Newman."

The Deloitte director had said business wasn't involved enough in running sustainable operations, and was on the wrong level. "Duane said there should be a broader business discussion on sustainability throughout an entire company, and not just at the top management levels, as often happens - and has warned that the focus in the legislative arena would soon move to 'green economic empowerment'," Damon said.

"I agree wholeheartedly, and want to encourage both businesses and consumers to familiarise themselves with what will be happening at COP17, and to become part of the solution."

Damon said: "Thousands of participants, from government representatives to observer organisations, take part in sessions, while parties to the convention who are not parties to the protocol may participate as observers in the meeting of the parties. All in all, COP15 attracted over 24000 delegates, including some 10590 government officials and 3221 accredited media members, and similar numbers are anticipated for COP17.

"As an organisation, we are delighted to have the opportunity to reach out and interact through our participation in the 2011 South African Climate Change Response Expo, taking place in parallel with COP17 in Durban."

Damon said: "This is the World Cup of Climate Change; let's show the world what we've got; let's be in it to green it!"