SOUTH AFRICA WINS A STANDING OVATION FROM THE INTERNATIONAL GREEN ECONOMIES COMMUNITY

“It felt so good to be a South African! Our National Department of Environmental Affairs hosted a very important International Conference to the highest standard!” Marie-Tinka Uys, Executive of the Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Region Non Profit Company, who attended the conference, said.

The 3rd Ministerial Conference of the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) was hosted at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from 10 to 11 January 2019.

The 3rd Conference, under the theme Advancing Inclusive and Sustainable Economies, follows two successful conferences, the first in Dubai in 2014 and the second in Berlin in 2017.

PAGE was launched in 2013 as a response to the call at Rio+20 to support those countries wishing to embark on greener and more inclusive growth trajectories. It places sustainability at the heart of economic policies and practices to advance the 2030 United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development, and supports nations and regions in reframing economic policies and practices around sustainability to foster economic growth, create income and jobs, reduce poverty and inequality, and strengthen the ecological foundations of their economies.

PAGE brings together five UN agencies – UN Environment, International Labour Organization, UN Development Programme, UN Industrial Development Organization, and UN Institute for Training and Research – whose mandates, expertise and networks combined can offer integrated and holistic support to countries on inclusive green economy, ensuring coherence and avoiding duplication.

PAGE represents a mechanism to coordinate UN action on green economy and to assist countries in achieving and monitoring the emerging Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG 8: "Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.”

South Africa was among the pioneers in adopting the green economy strategies. The hallmark was the signing of the Green Economy Accord in 2011 and the adoption in 2012 of the National Development Plan 2030, which committed our country to an “environmentally sustainable and equitable transition to a low carbon economy.”

As such, South Africa has put in place many programmes and policy frameworks in the recent past, to translate the NDP Vision 2030 into action. “South Africa is currently implementing programmes to promote energy efficiency, green transport, sustainable housing and climate resilient agriculture” the Department of Environmental Affairs’ Minister, Ms Nomvula Mokonyane said at the official opening of the Conference. She emphasised that “PAGE should transition from policy development to action on the ground, meaning growing good while reducing bad. This will entail catalysing economy wide transformative actions such as enhancing the natural capital, promoting renewable energy, keeping rain forests, wetlands, rivers and oceans functional”.

“The Conference asked the right question,” Uys said: “How can we create jobs, reduce inequalities, protect the environment and grow the economy? The answer is that it is very similar to eating an elephant: bit by bit, but it speaks to the following:

1. We can restructure our economic and financial systems to transform them into drivers of sustainability and social inclusion; the two prerequisites for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and targets of the Paris Agreement on climate change. 
2. We can shape the future of work. We already see trends of advancing technology and automation and how they are accelerating across societies and countries. We have an unprecedented opportunity to harness their potential for better, higher-skilled, and fairer jobs – but only if our institutions are robust and innovate at the speed of change. 
3. We can radically rethink the ways we consume and produce. Taking a full life-cycle approach to rethinking the things we make and use on a day-to-day basis can revitalize economies and take pressure off our natural resources. The private sector, and in particular micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises are already leading a new wave of entrepreneurship and innovation driving the new circular economy.”

When asked her what impressed her the most at the paperless (all information on a cell phone app), no plastic conference (water bottles were refilled at water points) conference, Uys said: “I am so proud of the young South African Conference Moderator, Ms Nozipho Mbanjwa. She was amazing and she represented for me the future of our country!”