President Cyril Ramaphosa has reiterated that South Africa will decarbonise at a pace and scale that is affordable to the economy and society.

‘If we act too fast, we risk damaging huge sections of our economy before we have built alternative energy and industrial capabilities. At the same time, not acting now risks our economic stability,’ President Ramaphosa said on Monday.

The President was speaking at the Climate Resilience Symposium, which is underway at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) International Convention Centre, in Pretoria.

READ | Climate resilience tops agenda at symposium

Held under the theme, ‘Moving the needle on climate change and just transition: The role of the National Treasury’, the three-day symposium, taking place from 15 – 17 July 2024, aims to integrate climate goals into macro-fiscal and finance policy.

It also aims to improve government coordination by mainstreaming climate change considerations into the intergovernmental fiscal system, amongst others.

In his address, President Ramaphosa stressed the importance of strengthening systems for adaptation and mitigation, building resilience in communities, and accelerating the decarbonisation efforts and the pace of the just energy transition.

‘The reality we must confront is that the carbon-intensity of our economy is unsustainable and for decades our reliance on coal was a competitive advantage because it allowed us to produce electricity cheaply, but the world has changed and this dependency has come to pose significant risks,’ President Ramaphosa said.

Source: South African Government News Agency