ONLINE WEBINAR

There is an EIA in my Climate Soup

Climate change is a truly global problem and can only be responded to meaningfully if there is alignment of many disparate actions to a common vision. The more one tries to focus on a particular locale or problem, the harder it becomes to define and disentangle the situation - this has been our experience when compiling an updated response strategy for the Western Cape.

It is therefore important and necessary to integrate the guidance of a climate change strategy into more 'operational' processes such as EIAs. In an attempt to give guidance to this, the National Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment published a Guideline for Consideration of Climate Change in EIAs, AEMs and WMLs for comment in June 2021.

The Climate Change Directorate of the Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning is in the process of detailing an Implementation Plan for a recently updated climate change response strategy that identifies very specific activities linked to responsible parties and timeframes. Having cognizance of the national guideline, we ask whether there are synergies to be explored between the guide and the broader objectives found in the Provincial climate change strategy.