President Cyril Ramaphosa has highlighted the devastating effects of climate change on health, the environment as well as the economy.
Writing in his weekly letter to the nation, Ramaphosa says many South Africans are already feeling the impact of climate change such as drought and floods.
He also says high levels of pollution have affected certain communities in Mpumalanga resulting in increased respiratory illnesses.
According to Ramaphosa those who depend on the ocean for a living are in trouble because fish stocks are depleting.
Ramaphosa says the country needs to transition from carbon emissions to avoid the possibility of restriction of imports.
In addition, he says investors might also be reluctant to invest in fossil fuel powered industries. He says banks and financial institutions are already under pressure from shareholders not to invest on enterprises that depend on fossil fuels.
The President says at transition is urgently needed. He however says it must be a just transition as sectors like agriculture, tourism, mining, energy, transport, manufacturing and the biodiversity economy might be negatively affected by that transition.
From The Desk of The President – Monday, 11 October 2021 – https://t.co/Jv6Ka4jesu The latest report from the world’s leading climate scientists has warned that the pace of global warming is rapidly increasing, and Sub-Saharan Africa has been experiencing temperature increases pic.twitter.com/t3JAtHd0aN
— Presidency | South Africa 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) October 11, 2021
