‘SA will solve climate change’

Sir Nicholas Stern, author of the pioneering Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change said this week that many of the technologies that will help solve the problem of climate change would come from South Africa, because of the country’s ‘world class” scientific community ‘pursuing innovative technology”.

But South Africa’s over-reliance on coal was also a recurring theme during Stern’s whirlwind visit to South Africa this week. Stern warned that the country will have to find innovative ways to reduce the heavy carbon footprint of coal use.

On Wednesday Stern briefed the Cabinet on climate change, reiterating his message that doing nothing about it is simply not an option.

He told the Cabinet that climate change would be an economic disaster for South Africa and that ‘Africa will be hardest hit”.

One of the messages he had for the Cabinet and South Africa’s electricity supplier, Eskom, was that it was critical that facilities for carbon capture and storage be developed. Available technology can capture carbon dioxide from power or other energy producing plants for underground storage, for example, in disused mines.

‘If carbon storage does not work, serious questions will be asked about the sustainability of coal,” Stern said.

Eskom, which produces 92% of South Africa’s electricity — mostly from coal-burning power stations — is the world’s fourth-largest power company. But it is hesitant to install carbon capture technology, reasoning that it is still too expensive.

At present no power plant in the world operates with a full carbon capture and storage system, though China may soon finalise its first such plant.

Carbon capture and storage costs currently run at about R1000 for a ton of carbon, much too high for it to be viable in South Africa.

Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk told the media this week that the government was considering looking at carbon capture technology, but that it was still too early to make a final decision on whether it was suitable for South Africa.

Van Schalkwyk added that South Africa’s geological structure could make it difficult to create carbon storage areas.

‘But we don’t have enough evidence on the table at the moment to make a decision,” he said.

Stern subsequently told a discussion group at the South African Institute of International Affairs in Johannesburg that he was impressed with the way the South African Cabinet was thinking through issues.

‘Every part of the economy and life will be affected by climate change,” he said.

‘The South African ministers were eager to discuss how they could make a difference in their field.”

Van Schalkwyk used Stern’s visit to launch South Africa’s own climate change roadmap, which involves close consultation with every tier of government, including municipalities and the different government departments.

Stern said Van Schalkwyk was an important figure in global discussions on climate change and South Africa had the potential to bring opposing factions such as China and the US together.

‘You are a very influential country because of your history,” he said, adding that Africa as a whole was a powerful moral voice.