President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law the Climate Change Bill, which sets out a national climate change response, including mitigation and adaptation actions, which also constitutes South Africa’s fair contribution to the global climate change response.

The Climate Change Act, as endorsed by the President, enables the alignment of policies that influence South Africa’s climate change response, to ensure South Africa’s transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy and society is not constrained by policy contradictions, the Presidency notes in a statement.

The law also sets out to enhance South Africa’s ability and capacity over time to reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions and build climate resilience, while reducing the risk of job losses and promoting opportunities for new job opportunities in the emerging green economy.

The Act has the aim of strengthening coordination between national sector departments and providing policy and decision-making to enable South Africa to meet the commitments in its nationally determined contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement.

The NDC is a set of commitments South Africa has made under the international Paris Agreement to reduce GHG emissions as part of climate change mitigation.

South Africa is one of more than 190 members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change who are party to the eight-year-old Paris Agreement.

South Africa’s mitigation measures are a response to climate change impacts that are increasingly experienced across a number of sectors including water resources; agriculture and food production; forestry and fisheries; human health; energy generation; industry; human settlements and migration; disaster management; biodiversity; and terrestrial ecosystems.

These impacts will disproportionately affect poor communities and vulnerable groups and could affect South Africa’s ability to meet its development and economic growth goals, including job creation and poverty reduction, the Presidency warns.

The Climate Change Act sets out the functions of the Presidential Climate Commission, which includes providing advice on South Africa’s climate change response to ensure the realisation of the vision for effective climate change response and the long-term just transition.

The law also stipulates the role provinces and municipalities will play in mitigation efforts.