Pretoria – President Jacob Zuma has encouraged all sectors to implement measures to fight climate change.
“If all sectors implement the measures to fight climate change at the same time, together we can build the biggest mitigation buffer against climate change,” President Zuma said at the official opening of the Environment House at the headquarters of the Department of Environmental Affairs, in Pretoria, on Friday.
He said the solution to climate change and global warming problems lied in every sector managing its affairs effectively.
“South Africa has relatively high emissions for a developing country and we should make the most of every opportunity to change this trajectory, hence we have since developed the National Climate Change Response Policy,” President Zuma said.
He said the country’s economy would become resilient to the possible effects of climate change if emission of carbon dioxide and other gases that lead to increasing global temperatures were reduced.
President Zuma said government had released the National Strategy for Sustainable Development to assist all sectors to contribute to the fight against climate change.
The Green Economy Strategy had eight focus areas, namely green buildings and the built environment; sustainable transport and infrastructure; clean energy and energy efficiency; resource conservation and management; sustainable waste management practices; agriculture; food production and forestry.
Others area included water management, sustainable consumption and production.
“With every sector catered for in the Strategy, there should be no excuse not to go green,” President Zuma said.
He said government had shown its commitment to lower emissions and to the Green Economy by building the Environment House.
“With this construction, government has already taken a bold step with the 25 years public private partnership investment worth 8 billion rand in this green building,” he said.
The building had received a 6 Green Star SA rating from the independent Green Building Council of South Africa.
Some of the areas that the building was awarded the 6 Green Star rating for includes efficient energy consumption and use of environmentally friendly materials.
They also include unique and precedent-setting energy consumption mechanism; environmentally friendly transportation modes; efficient and state of the art water saving devices; on-site grey-water treatment works; emissions reduction systems and solar energy innovation systems.
The Green Building Council of SA Chief Executive Officer Brian Wilkinson said the Green House would result in the staff of the Department of Environmental Affairs receiving 150 percent more fresh air than what was required by the law and would save 300 million litres of portable water.
The building received an innovation point for job creation.
“An unfortunate truth is that climate change will affect the poorest countries the most, it’s important that South Africa is one of the leading countries in the developing world that take charge… that we demonstrate active measures to mitigate against climate change,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
