Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
ahead for climate change practitioners working at the local level in South
Africa and Southern countries in general. It is still simply too easy to
avoid engaging with the climate change debate, when the other develop-
mental needs are so pressing.
By the same token, climate change practitioners would be well advised
not to ignore these developmental priorities when trying to refocus local
government's attention onto this new challenge. The consequences of
such oversights are plainly evident in the recent political changes in South
Africa, where inadequate and unequal levels of development and eco-
nomic growth have contributed to the “recalling” of political leadership.
In Africa, as well as in most other parts of the global South, the climate
change debate and the development debate are, and will continue to be,
inextricably linked. The impacts of climate change at several scales
within a municipality are not unique to Durban and pose similar changes
to other developing cities.
This focus on adaptation policies at the local level is also critical given
that national- and international-level policymakers have to date focused
predominantly on mitigation, and adaptation funding is still less than
adequate. However, recent shifts in international conferences and forums
have highlighted that it is now clear that mitigation and adaptation poli-
cies are not alternatives; both need to be pursued actively and in parallel:
“Mitigation is essential and adaptation in inevitable” (UNFCCC 2006).
On the ground, this need to pursue urgent, goal-directed adaptation
plans is complicated by the fact that municipal governments in the South
tend to lack the competence and fi nancial resources, and suffer from huge
infrastructure backlogs as well as a shortage of skills and technology, to
adapt to climate change. Therefore, achieving climate justice is ultimately
contingent on the creation of a working and appropriately resourced
global adaptation fund that can assist local governments in addressing
the impacts of climate change. At the end of the day, while the causes of
climate change are global, the impacts are local and need to be dealt with
at the local level. Local people, using local knowledge and capacity, must
decide on their priorities. Only in this way is climate justice possible.
References
Adger, Neil, Jouni Paavola, Saleemul Huq, and M. J. Mace, eds. 2006.
Fairness
in Adaptation to Climate Change
. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Anand, Rucchi. 2004.
International Environmental Justice: A North-South
Dimension
. Burlington, VT: Ashgate.
