CLIMATE CHANGE weakens ECONOMIC and SOCIAL SYSTEMS

Climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution threaten the environment on which we depend, and they weaken our economic and social systems. Concern for the environmental crisis is no longer confined to multilateral institutions or the non-governmental sector.

BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY, FISHERIES AND THE ENVIRONMENT

In 2022, the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Risks Perception Survey identified climate action failure, extreme weather events, biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse as the top three of the top 10 global risks by severity over the next 10 years.

In the context of these interlinked global risks, the role of scientific research in promoting evidence-based decision-making becomes more important than ever before. Equally important is the role of scientific research in finding innovative solutions to the existential challenges facing mankind.

It is through cutting-edge scientific research that the agenda can be set for future action to mitigate and adapt to climate change and protect our environment. The year 2022 was an important year for the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, as progress was made in developing a White Paper on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of South Africa’s Biodiversity.

This measure and the Game Meat Strategy that was published for implementation present a clear understanding of government’s intentions and aspirations as it promotes the sustainable use of the country’s natural heritage to enable and facilitate transformative socioeconomic development while ensuring that biodiversity is conserved for present and future generations. The overriding message is that the actions taken today must not only secure ecological sustainability into the future but must also promote justifiable economic and social development to reduce poverty, inequality and unemployment, especially for our rural communities.

The White Paper, which is expected to be adopted for implementation this year following a public participation process, focuses on a future in which all South Africans live in harmony with nature, a future in which our biodiversity sector is transformed, and a future in which rural communities benefit from access to our rich natural environment as the country’s biodiversity is conserved. It also aims to maintain and restore ecological integrity alongside setting out important principles to guide future policy, legislation and decisionmaking across the sector.

Partnerships are key to unlocking the full potential of the biodiversity sector. By doing this, the Department can support training and capacity building programmes alongside the development of infrastructure, the donation of wildlife to emerging game farmers, ensuring that indigenous knowledge holders benefit from the use of natural products, and securing a means to attract investment to the sector.

At present, seven of the eight financial solutions to catalyse investment in the biodiversity sector and retain revenue in protected areas are being supported by the BIOFIN programme in South Africa. These solutions were initiated in the 2021/22 financial year and include activating institutional governance and support mechanisms, such as the Finance Solution Project Management Committee and task teams for each finance solution.

An international decision that affects the growth of the biodiversity economy and the conservation estate was the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Declaration at the 15th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity at the end of 2022. This Conference had also adopted the Global Biodiversity Framework, a landmark agreement for nature which sets goals aimed at halting biodiversity loss, the extinction of species and protecting the rights of local and indigenous communities through fair access and benefitsharing of genetic resources.

Through the Game Meat Strategy, there is acknowledgement of the significant contribution made by the diversity of South Africa’s wildlife models, and the potential for wildlife businesses to drive critical elements of the value chain. It supports the move from an informal industry, towards larger commercial ventures that provide for economies of scale.

In the last quarter of 2022, the Department launched the Biodiversity Sector Investment Portal to link investors with bankable projects as a means of growing the biodiversity economy. Development of the Investment Portal by the Department was supported the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) and promotes investment opportunities in the sector while encouraging the development of connections between communities and investor-ready and bankable intermediaries that will ensure the sector is able to contribute to the growth of the economy, as well as the wellbeing of society while conserving our country’s rich biodiversity.

By encouraging investment into businesses that fall within the broader biodiversity economy, much-needed economic and social development can be promoted. It can also secure the country’s critical natural capital.

A key decision of the Kunming-Montreal declaration was, however, a proposal to increase finance to developing countries to drive sustainable investment in reversing the loss of biodiversity as well as prevention of future loss for the planet through implementation of the framework.

While ambitious in its expression of goals and targets, the decision falls short in respect of ambition on means of implementation, including resource mobilisation to close the financing gap of $700-billion, capacity building, technology and technology transfer. This commitment will go some way in assisting developing countries address the burden climate change mitigation and adaptation will place on already vulnerable economies.