The report was officially released in September by South Africa’s Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa, at a ceremony which also launched a new community based Green Fund Project called ‘Farming the Wild’ in the uPhongolo Local Municipality.
The study assesses the impacts of green investments in four of the country’s key economic sectors: agriculture, energy, transport and natural resource management. Based on the government’s current targets and expenditures, the report identifies possible opportunities for achieving government targets in each of these four sectors.
The report finds that a green economy approach – such as investing in low-carbon technologies, green buildings, and renewable energy – can create more jobs than a business as usual approach, while supporting the same level of economic growth, yet with lower emissions of greenhouse gases and less environmental damage.
However, based on a green economy, target-specific scenario, it also confirms that additional investment may be needed to meet the country’s growth target stipulated in the National Development Plan of 4 to 7 per cent rise in GDP per year between now and 2020.
Some key findings in the report include:
- Investment in a green economy can contribute to 46 percent more restored land by 2030, and greater water availability, without reducing land required for the agriculture sector. In addition, it could create jobs for 737,000 people compared to 568,000 under a business-as-usual scenario.
- In the agriculture sector, investment in ecological practices could increase crop yields by as much as 23.9 percent by 2030, while avoiding further CO2 emissions. However, the report states additional land for agriculture would still be required to meet the needs of the projected population growth.
- Green investment in the transport sector is currently insufficient to meet the country’s 2005 energy efficiency goal of 9 percent by 2015. However, under a green economy scenario, efficiency improvements could reach 5.5 percent by 2030, partially offsetting the projected growth of population and GDP.
- Applying the green economy model in the energy sector could result in a reduction in energy demand, while increasing the country’s electricity diversification mix, but it still falls short of the National Development Plan goal to have 33 percent of country’s electricity demand covered by renewables by 2030. Thus, a more aggressive investment strategy is needed to meet this target.
With regards to employment, the report finds that job creation is dependent on the investment option chosen. For example, if investment in the energy sector is prioritized, it could create the most jobs. But if green investments are spread equally across all sectors, then the agriculture sector has the most potential for employment creation.
To download the report click here.
Article Source: Green Africa Directory