John Yeld
8 August 2007
Sasol's Secunda plant - the largest synthetic fuels facility in the world - is often also cited as the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, Parliament's environment portfolio committee has been told.
Increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are the major cause of human-induced climate change.
During a briefing yesterday by senior officials from the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and the SA Weather Bureau, committee members also heard that South Africa is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Africa, and ranks 25th in the world and 11th in the developing world.
But when assessed in terms of tons of carbon dioxide produced per $1 000 of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), South Africa overtook the US as early as 1981 and has remained well ahead of both that country and India.
Judy Beaumont, senior policy adviser for climate change in the department who told the committee about the Secunda plant, also explained that South Africa had an extremely greenhouse gas emission-intensive economy, mainly because of its very heavy reliance on burning coal as the primary energy source.
"So we're not doing too well," she said.
The figures on South Africa's high emission rates were queried by the ANC's Aubrey Mokoena, who said the US was known to be the world's biggest polluter.
"If I told that to people in the street (that South Africa produced more CO2 pollution than the US), they would laugh at me."
Deputy director-general Joanne Yawitch replied that the data was taken from the UN's International Panel on Climate Change.
"But we might need to review it it was done some time ago," she conceded.
Gareth Morgan of the DA wanted to know when South Africa's first comprehensive inventory of greenhouse gas emissions would be completed and how accurate it would be.
"It's not something the department (of environmental affairs) is speaking about often and there's not a huge amount of detail given. And how do we measure the numerous small emitters (of greenhouse gases)," he asked.
Yawitch explained that data was being collected at two levels: in the long-term scenario planning initiative for dealing with climate change, which involved statistical modelling of emissions' trajectories, and actual data collection by a service provider who had been appointed.
This data was unlikely to be available before April or May, she said.
"There are international greenhouse gas (counting) protocols for specific sectors, but for small emitters it's an estimation.
"It is quite a complicated process, and the most difficult sector as I understand it is the transport sector, because vehicles emit very differently We might need some more expertise in transport."
Yawitch also said there should be sufficient information about long-term climate change mitigation scenarios and their cost implications for cabinet to approve a long-term climate policy some time next year or in 2009 - ahead of a renegotiated Kyoto Protocol, designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Committee chairman Langa Zita took a swipe at the administration of US President George Bush, who refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, at the start of the hearing.
"I think everyone now knows there is climate change It's caught up to everyone, including people staying in the White House," he said.
But Zita also noted that a high-level meeting to discuss climate change had been scheduled for Washington in October, ahead of the next conference of parties meeting (COP 13) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change being held in Bali, Indonesia in December.
He suggested the US might present a new commitment to greenhouse gas emission reductions at this meeting.
"We (developing nations) cannot be held completely responsible (for climate change) because we didn't pollute the world."
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