Climate change is everybody’s problem, so now is the time to take it seriously

CLIMATE change has been around for many years.

It is only because it has become more obvious these days that people are becoming more aware of this.

So says Scottburgh resident and community activist, Jeff White, who attended the recent Durban Climate Change Strategy meeting.

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This meeting was chaired by members of the eThekwini Municipality Energy Office.

“The strategy has been in place since 2015 and data collection and monitoring systems have been instituted to record changes and to ensure that this complies with recognised international standards,” said Mr White.

“The population of the entire Durban area amounts to some 3.8 million people, with a high unemployment rate and a large informal settlement and it was thus classed as a large sprawling city.”

Durban was however recognised as the greenest city in the world and was in contact with other cities globally with regard to developments and progress with the Paris Agreement of 2015.

Mr White said that it has been recognised that the largest emitters of greenhouse gasses fall within the groups of transport (40.8 percent), industrial (33.4 percent) and residential (12.9 percent).

“The eThekwini group has contact at national level with the carbon tax act and disaster management act, and has political influence through the office of the mayor of the city.”

The group’s progress to date has been to develop various themes upon which to concentrate efforts.

These including cleaner transport, food security, health issues, water and sanitation, preservation of biodiversity and sea level changes.

At the meeting, lists of major themes were displayed and delegates were encouraged to view these and add their suggestions.

“I was disappointed however as I, along with many others, had attended in the hopes of finding a positive plan for the area and to see if we could help or participate in shaping this objective,” he said.

“It was evident that there was little imagination about climate change and people could not visualise the complexities of the problems associated with it.”

Mr White stressed that now was the time for action and not discussion.

“From this time onward, municipalities will only be reacting to circumstances and conducting damage control rather than being proactive in a deteriorating situation.”

There are still many outstanding repairs around the city from the most recent storm damage.

A more local example is the R102 Pennington road which collapsed after heavy rainfall, as well as the informal settlements which were badly damaged.

“The poorly maintained storm water drains that were blocked have contributed to the problems,” he said.

Taking all of this into consideration, Mr White expressed his concerns, saying he was worried about what would happen if and when we faced a major natural disaster and greater damage was experienced.

“What is needed is a radical re-look at climate change as a whole, for many do not give this issue the proper respect it demands.

“We need an action plan with the right people involved who are not afraid to make decisions, and make things happen before it’s too late.”

Mr White asked communities to start taking climate change more seriously.

“People shouldn’t disregard the fact that anything could happen in any area at any given time… be prepared.”

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