The long-term greening of the economy needs new thinking to address deep-seated production and consumption issues, said science and technology minister Naledi Pandor, at the Green Economy Summit, in Sandton, this week.
She noted investment in social and policy sciences was an important factor in developing planning tools for a green economy.
Pandor stressed that the country needs to expand science and technology research to support a green economic growth plan. A key requirement for achieving this is a strong synergy between industry and government, she noted.
The Department of Science and Technology (DST) is working to strengthen and extend the Technology Innovation Agency's green industry portfolio, said Pandor, to support innovation-led industrial development in areas such as energy and green materials.
“The DST is playing a significant role in shaping a new growth path for the economy. It is a path that includes greater emphasis than ever before on knowledge and sustainability as drivers of long-term economic development,” she said.
Dr Mike Toman, lead climate change economist and manager of the Environment and Energy Team in the World Bank's Development Research Group, noted that a green economy is both an economic challenge and a growth opportunity.
He said there's a question of how and when to take advantage of expanding markets and technological innovation possibilities in order to accelerate economic growth. “At the core, it's an economic challenge, and if addressed as such it will provide growth possibilities.”
Toman stressed the need for economic incentives to support the development and uptake of green technologies. He noted that giving people better signals of the real costs of their consumption can bring about changes in behaviour and create a market for technological improvement.
“These price signals will reinforce the costs of resource consumption and in turn create demand for more energy-efficient technologies, in addition to the efforts at government level to promote basic research and development. It creates a market for technological improvement, as well as creating economic incentives for reduction.”
Simon Upton, director of the OECD's Environment Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development, stressed that a green economy is not an end state, but about trends and trajectories.
“Necessity is the mother of all invention and, with the global population heading to nine billion with an increasing demand for food and water, innovation is something being focused on much more now.”
He noted there's plenty of technology that's already commercially viable, which is not being put in place. ”Innovation policy is key, and governments need to start thinking about long-term goals when considering the development of new technologies.
“Countries which innovate themselves and get involved in the upskilling and understanding of technological innovation are more likely to have clean technologies take root.”
Renewed efforts
Pandor also emphasised the need for a specific plan to expand the country's capacity in renewable energy. She noted that SA has a 2013 renewable energy target of 10 000GWh.
In order to reach this target, SA needs to invest more aggressively in renewable energy research and development.
“We need a renewable-energy policy,” said Pandor, noting that only last week, the Global Wind Energy Council stated Africa was lagging behind its global counterparts in the development of wind energy.
“SA, with 10MW, is well behind Egypt with 400MW, in terms of capacity - and, therefore, missing out on billions from clean-energy projects,” she quoted the council as saying.
“We need foresight studies. We need to know how to expand our current capacity and what we want it to be in three years' time. We need to know how much to invest to be able to reach that capacity,” stressed Pandor.
“At the heart of a green economy or green growth strategy there should be ambitious targets for boosting electricity generation through renewable energy technologies.”
Minster of economic development Ebrahim Patel noted that, as a country, SA faced considerable environmental challenges. ”Two-thirds of exports come from energy-intensive industries. Our spatial development is characterised by sprawl and segregation. Our electricity is carbon-intensive - 93% from coal - and our liquid fuels are one-third coal-based.”
At the same time, he noted, SA has many comparative advantages, such as a “world-leading” resource of solar energy and a long coastline with significant wind energy potential, a sophisticated scientific capacity, and history of successful development of new technologies.
“Our opportunities lie in many new areas ranging from development of new energy-efficient materials to large solar and wind energy plants to green manufacturing operations, including car manufacturing.”
He said his department is working with the Industrial Development Corporation, which has budgeted R8.3 billion for renewable energy generation, and is also busy finalising the percentage of renewable energy that would be mandated and financed through a viable feed-in tariff.
“It will be necessary to build partnerships between business and labour on our green vision and tap into their resources and capacity to realise national goals,” he said. “The private sector must be a key driver of investment and entrepreneurship in the green economy.”
Achim Steiner, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, said: “The green economy is not some abstract image of the future or a destination, it's already happening.”
He added that governments need to adopt more systematic approaches to enabling a green economy, and that SA is in a privileged position as Africa's largest economy to drive technological innovation. “The energy sector provides an extraordinary opportunity for leap-frogging.
“The green economy is not some alternative nirvana; it's a more intelligent way of challenging economic assumptions that deplete resources. We have to begin challenging resource allocation initiatives that are unequally enabling current generations to live at the expense of future generations.”
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