The Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries has outlined a set of objectives, interventions and outcomes to enable the country to give expression to its commitment to the Paris Agreement.

The National Climate Change Adaption Strategy (NCCAS) outlines the required climate action and demonstrates progress on climate change adaptation, says Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Barbara Creecy.

The ten-year plan will be reviewed again after five years and again in the tenth year.

The NCCAS was developed in consultation will all relevant stakeholders and has been approved by Cabinet.

The strategy aims to reduce the vulnerability of society, the economy and the environment to the effects of climate change.

The NCCAS gives effect to the National Development Plan’s vision of creating a low-carbon, climate resilient economy and a just society.

The 2015 Paris Agreement elevated the importance of climate change adaptation through the establishment of a global goal on enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change.

Creecy says climate change adaptation remains a critically important area for developing countries, expressing the hope that when the United Nations Convention on Climate Change’s Conference of the Parties 26 conference takes place next year, after being postponed this year owing to Covid-19, there will be a commitment for higher ambition on all the elements of the Paris Agreement: mitigation, adaptation and means of implementation.

To achieve this will require additional, predictable and adequate finance, technology and capacity building, and mitigation and adaptation support, including securing carbon market share of proceeds. There is also a need for parties to support clear global adaptation goals with timelines as in the Paris Agreement.

"Adaptation to climate change presents South Africa with an opportunity to transform the health of the economy and build resilience, thus strengthening the social and spatial fabric, and enable the country to remain globally competitive,” Creecy states.

It will ensure that food production is not threatened, infrastructure remains resilient and that continued sustainable economic development is enabled.

Creecy concludes that the strategy is an important step forward for South Africa.

“We now have a common reference point for climate change adaptation efforts in South Africa in the short to medium term, providing guidance across all levels of government, sectors and stakeholders affected by climate variability and change.”