Climate Change Act, 2024 (Act No. 22 of 2024)Preamble |
WHEREAS everyone has the constitutional right to an environment that is not harmful to their health and well-being, and to have the environment protected for the benefit of present and future generations through reasonable legislative and other measures that secure ecologically sustainable development and the use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development;
AND WHEREAS anthropogenic climate change represents an urgent threat to human societies and the planet and requires an effective, progressive and incremental response;
AND WHEREAS the Republic—
| (a) | has a role to play in the global effort to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions identified by the international community as the primary drivers of anthropogenic climate change, and for which the implementation of appropriate mitigation responses is urgently required; |
| (b) | is especially vulnerable to those impacts of climate change which require urgent and appropriate adaptation responses; and |
| (c) | has made international commitments and obligations, including to communicate and implement an effective nationally determined climate change response, encompassing mitigation and adaptation actions, that represents the Republic’s fair contribution to the global climate change response; |
AND WHEREAS climate variability in the Republic, including the increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, will affect, amongst other things, human health, access to food and water, biodiversity, habitats and ecosystems, the coast and coastal infrastructure and human settlements;
AND WHEREAS anticipated impacts arising as a result of climate change have the potential to undermine achieving the Republic’s developmental goals;
AND WHEREAS implementing an effective climate change response is a national sustainable development priority as set out in the National Climate Change Response White Paper, while the Republic’s Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement, as may be varied from time to time, anticipates—
| (a) | the realisation of significant socio-economic and environmental benefits in a manner that is driven and customised in the light of national circumstances, developmental, transformational, empowering and participatory, dynamic and evidence-based, balanced, cost-effective, integrated and aligned; and |
| (b) | support for a just transition to a climate-resilient, equitable and internationally competitive low-carbon economy and society, that takes into account the risks and opportunities that are expected to arise as a consequence of implementing the national climate change response; |
AND WHEREAS responding to climate change raises unique challenges to effective governance as its impact transcends and challenges traditionally sectoral governance approaches, which require a nationally driven, coordinated and cooperative legal and administrative response that acknowledges the significant role of the provincial and municipal spheres taking into account the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act, 2005 (Act No. 13 of 2005);
AND WHEREAS climate change policy needs to be implemented in the context of sustainable development objectives and the achievement of national development goals, it is desirable to develop a legal and institutional framework for the implementation of the Republic’s national climate change response, in order to address these matters,
BE IT THEREFORE ENACTED by the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, as follows:—