Durban — KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube, who is also the co-chairperson of the Under2 Coalition representing the Africa region, and the CEO of The Climate Group, Helen Clarkson, signed the Global Climate Leadership memorandum of understanding (MOU) during the Under2 Coalition general assembly on Tuesday.
The MOU is a commitment by climate leaders to pursue an emissions reductions trajectory consistent with achieving net zero emissions by 2050 as a coalition, and individual net zero emissions as soon as possible, in line with the most recent science.
Some of the specific areas of action, co-ordination and co-operation outlined in the MOU are as follows:
• The parties agree that for actions related to this MOU, co-ordination and co-operation will be beneficial and will strengthen the efforts of participating states.
• To collaborate and co-ordinate on messaging, transparency, accountability, public outreach around climate change, mitigation of GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions, adaptation, and the subject matter of this MOU.
• That this MOU will work to share innovative models for financing and supporting climate adaptation, including public-private partnerships, resilience funds, and competitive approaches and to review the ongoing relevance of the MOU every five years, in line with the Paris Agreement’s five-year cycle of increasingly ambitious climate action.
Speaking about climate change at the KwaZulu-Natal legislature, the DA’s KZN spokesperson on economic development, tourism and environmental affairs, MPL Heinz de Boer, said ideas and suggestions fell short in terms of actual implementation. He said the most vulnerable of society found themselves living, farming or raising families on geographically unstable land.
De Boer said climate change simply worsened the spiralling inequality – as farmers continued to lose crops and livelihoods, driving entire communities to urban regions or even other countries. He believes that no amount of public education on climate change will restore investor confidence in the leading ANC faction.
“Education and information is critical in setting the agenda of the populace. Recent oversights have revealed the failed state of education in KwaZulu-Natal. Broken classrooms, school rape and using an inhumane plastic toilet over a stinking pit are par for the course in our public schools,“ he said.
De Boer said no child is truly interested in high-level climate change discussions when they face real-life hardships such as not having piped water, electricity and a dignified home to live in.
“How are the youth to be empowered on environmental degradation when their thoughts are focused on where their next meal is coming from?” he asked.
Rising sea levels, plastic nurdles on beaches and sewage in rivers were not the priority of a populace that faced an expanded unemployment figure of close to 60%.
De Boer said as noble as the concept of climate and environmental education sounded, this government couldn’t even get municipal recycling right, fix sewers or secure flood disaster funding from its national comrades.
Neither could they get maths and science ingrained in schools, he said.
Daily News