President Zuma yesterday addressed the Green Economy summit in Johannesburg. Indicating that creating decent work is one of the priorities of his government he concluded that “We believe that by stimulating investment in green industry we will be able to contribute to the creation of decent work.”
Zuma also said a substantial increase in investment would be necessary to achieve climate change mitigation and adaptation, and that SA was seeking a global agreement that the bulk of this investment should come from countries which bore the greatest historical responsibility for climate change — the developed world.
Job creation was seen by the government as a key benefit of investing in greener sectors and in less carbon-intensive technology.
We were heartened by the recognition of the need to make a transition to a green economy evident in the President’s speech and hope to see government departments take collective action to create an enabling environment for this to happen, and happen quickly!
Link to the Green Economy Summit: http://www.sagreeneconomysummit.co.za/4programme.html
Link to President Zuma’s full speech: http://www.info.gov.za/speeches/2010/10051909251001.htm
