LISTEN | Your children will not be able to escape the impact of climate change, say experts
Image: Mfundo Mkhize
It is too late to avoid the impact of climate change which, according to experts at the Centre for Environmental Rights, can already be felt across the country.
After SA experienced devastating flooding in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape which devastated infrastructure, displaced thousands and led to the deaths of 435 people, President Cyril Ramaphosa visited the flood-stricken areas. He said the flooding was a result of climate change and SA would need to improve its disaster response.
According to Centre for Environmental Rights climate advocacy lawyer Brandon Abdinor and environmental futures and strategist researcher and consultant Prof Nicholas King, the president was correct.
Listen to what they had to say:
King, who has conducted much research and modelling on the subject, outlines the dramatic effects we can expect in coming years. These effects include increased droughts, floods, food and water insecurity and socioeconomic upheaval as a result of limited resources.
He says these effects are already prevalent and SA’s youth will need to adapt to a different and hard reality.
Abdinor says SA is not taking the problem seriously enough. While he commends the good works being done by certain sectors of society and says SA has a lot of progressive policies in place, the turnaround time and active implementation of such policies does not reflect the reality that the consequences of climate change are not a distant consideration but are now on our doorstep.
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