Climate Change
Last Updated on Monday, 16 January 2012 11:34 Written by Communications Intern Wednesday, 07 September 2011 11:25
Background
The Parliamentary Programme for Climate Change Mitigation in the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) region was launched in April 2009. The programme was a response to the need for Parliaments in the SACU region to play a more prominent role in climate change mitigation and in the development of environment-friendly policies. The programme aims to promote legislation and parliamentary scrutiny as well as regional and African-European parliamentary cooperation in relation to climate change mitigation in the SACU region.
The programme consists of regional seminars and national follow-up workshops where a team of researchers from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) compiled overviews of the coherence between sectoral policies of the countries, assessed the expected socio-economic effects of climate change policies, and identified entry points for National Parliamentary Plans of Action.
Objectives
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Assess sectoral policies and legislation, including the Long-Term Mitigation Scenarios (LTMS) for gaps in addressing climate change at the regional and national level
- Highlight the urgency of policy change and the need for early transition to a low-carbon development path during plenary debates in parliament
- Inform and motivate MPs to exert effective oversight of legislation, policy and budgets in relation to climate change
- Promote the adoption of National Parliamentary Plans of Action (NPAAs)
- Create a cross-portfolio committee on climate change, which plays a role in the implementation of the LTMS
Results
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After the national workshop on climate change organised by AWEPA and IIED, the Botswana Parliament established the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources and the Committee on Climate Change.
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In South Africa, Members of Parliament took the initiative to set up an inter-sectoral parliamentary group on climate change.
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Contacts between Members of Parliament and government representatives working on climate change, climate change experts/academics and NGOs have been established and/ or strengthened.
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MPs have asked questions to the Ministers on implementation of Climate Change policies, increase of renewable energy share, and application of green technologies to new buildings, among others.
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MPs have pressured their Ministers to report back on the UNFCCC meetings in Copenhagen and Cancun.
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Through detailed explanations during the workshops and documents exchange, MPs of the committees dealing with climate change have increased knowledge on the international negotiations and the various agreements and mechanisms on climate change.
Example Activity
The workshop was significant in several respects. All senior parliamentary staff as well as all MPs of the Parliamentary Committee working on Climate Change participated and showed a great interest in the workshop. Two local academics participated in the workshop and shared their knowledge with the MPs. Both MPs and academics later reported that they have continued to cooperate after the workshop, as they agreed. Other follow-up actions identified during the workshop were also addressed afterwards. First, the committee called the Minister to the meeting to brief them on the Copenhagen COP15 conference; second, two new committees were established: the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, and the Committee on Climate Change. In the first parliamentary session after the establishment, these two committees came into action and developed an ambitious work plan for action on Climate Change. They named the project ‘Parliament goes Green’. The Parliament of Botswana asked AWEPA to continue to support them in their Climate Change actions. Botswana MPs will participate in a regional climate change seminar in Cape Town in March 2011, and a follow-up workshop in April 2011 to further familiarise MPs with Climate Change issues.
