SA’s climate policy is amplifying, not solving the crisis

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SA’s climate policy is amplifying, not solving the crisis
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OPINION: Our leaders have failed us dismally, again, lowering the target for our greenhouse gas emissions from 440 megatons in 2030 to just 420, as if this promised 5% reduction – voluntary with no binding provisions – is somehow laudable, writes Desmond D’Sa.

– big fossil fuel corporations adamant they had no alternative but to continue producing fuel from coal, oil and gas,– automakers reliant on petrol and diesel engines,– high-energy manufacturers especially in the extractive industries dependent on power for smelting and processing,– financiers using cyber-currency data-mining techniques which today chew up as much electricity as a country the size of the Philippines.

These annual gatherings did not serve the interests of the planet and people, but rather, of ripping more profits from the earth and society. Worse, the South African delegation was often a big part of the problem in the UNFCCC, for example, by obstructing the call by the African and G77 bloc of countries to address the climate crisis seriously.

The scientists conclude that “rapid and far-reaching” changes are needed in the economic system to keep temperature increases below 1.5°C. Instead, the elites have introduced carbon trading, which allows those firms which reduce emissions to sell credits to ‘offset’ the emissions of others which want to keep polluting. Our Treasury has introduced a carbon tax law, with provision for offsets, which is at heart a market strategy. The real cost of CO2 emissions is now estimated at $3000 /ton, new research suggests, but Treasury charges firms as low as $0.42/ton, and even that trivial tax will in future be offset.

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