The government has so far raised $3.3 billion from multilateral development banks and international financial institutions to support climate change, energy, and just transition goals.
Delivering the 2024 National Budget Speech, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said the National Treasury has a key role to play in mobilizing resources, designing incentives and influencing mainstream climate change policy. Ta.
“As climate-related disasters intensify, a multi-layered risk-based approach is being developed to manage the associated financial risks. We are considering a variety of funding options, including emergency funds, including response funds.
“The National Treasury is reviewing disaster response grants to improve efficiency and create incentives for disaster planning, preparedness and risk reduction. We will also track climate-related spending in public budgets to improve policy, planning and risk reduction. We are also developing a climate budget tagging framework that will influence budget decisions,” the minister told parliament on Wednesday.
He said the support of concessional finance providers such as multilateral development banks has gone a long way in supporting the country's climate adaptation, mitigation, energy transition and sustainability efforts.
“Managing the Climate Disaster Fund requires private sector participation. We are actively participating in climate change negotiations, in line with the Government's calls for reform of multilateral financial institutions.
“We are also working with eight local governments to adapt and mitigate the impacts of climate and weather-related events by providing technical assistance to climate-responsive capital projects,” the minister said. .
According to the 2024 National Budget Review, the Department is finalizing a disaster risk financing strategy centered on innovative financing and risk transfer to effectively mitigate climate impacts.
The strategy will strengthen the country's capacity to finance disaster recovery efforts and expand insurance mechanisms to protect against the financial burden of natural disasters.
“In recent years, with growing concerns about the effects of climate change, extreme weather events have increased significantly, causing economic losses. Between 1980 and 2021, 86 significant weather-related disasters were recorded; It affected more than 22 million people and caused economic losses of approximately R113 billion.
“The 2017 Knysna bushfires, the Cape Town (2015-2018) and Eastern Cape (2015-2020) droughts, and the 2022 KwaZulu-Natal floods had a major impact on agriculture and tourism, and the government This had a negative impact on expenditures and revenues.
“These events are exacerbating economic inequalities, particularly in poorer communities that are highly exposed to drought, floods, wildfires and their impacts,” the document says.
Government gives incentives to electric car manufacturers
In an effort to boost the production of electric vehicles in South Africa, the government will introduce an investment quota for new investments from 1 March 2026.
This will allow producers to claim 150% of their eligible investment spend on electric and hydrogen vehicles in the first year.
“This incentive comes in addition to existing support under the Vehicle Production Development Programme. The government has also re-prioritised R964 million in the medium term to support the transition to electric vehicles. ' said the Minister.
The Electric Vehicle White Paper outlines the government's strategy to move towards wider production and consumption of new energy vehicles in South Africa, starting with electric vehicles.
By 2035, the aim is to transition the automotive industry from primarily producing internal combustion engine vehicles to dual-platform production, including electric vehicles. SAnews.gov.za