About 1 million South Africans could plunge into poverty by 2030, if the country fails to create and implement effective strategies to adapt to climate change.
This is according to a report by the World Bank.
Satu Kahkonen, Country Director of the World Bank in South Africa, said 2 – 3 jobs can be created in responding to climate change, by both the private and public sectors.
She was speaking this morning, at the Climate Resilience Symposium, organized by the National Treasury, the Presidential Climate Commission, the World Bank, and a range of other partner organisations.
The objectives of the symposium, scheduled to end on Wednesday this week, are to integrate climate goals into macro-fiscal and finance policy; improve government coordination by mainstreaming climate change considerations into the intergovernmental fiscal system; profile the National Treasury’s contribution to climate action; and advance and promote policy, advocacy, green growth, and collaboration in addressing climate change challenges across sectors.
Kahkonen commended South Africa for being the first country in Africa to implement a carbon tax, as well as a Just Transition, to cleaner-tech energy.
She said the country needs R140 billion by 2030, to achieve its low carbon target.
The World Bank has helped SA with both technical and financial support in its energy transition thus far, and has assisted with the decommissioning of the 1st power plant in Nkomati.