Vote 30: Environmental Affairs 2014/15 Budget Dr Scotney Watts Research Unit 1 st July 2014

Department of Environmental Affairs Department is organised into seven Programmes. Each programme is subdivided into sub-programmes or entities 1)Administration; 2)Legal, Authorisations, Compliance and Enforcement; 3)Oceans and Coasts; 4)Climate Change and Air Quality; 5)Biodiversity and Conservation; 6)Environmental Programmes; and 7)Chemicals and Waste Management.

2014/15 Budget Overall, the 2014/15 Budget for the Department rose by R461.6 million (nominal) and by R130.7 million (real Rand terms), relative to the 2013/14 Budget. Intra-departmental variation:  Administration decreased by R123.9 million (nominal) and R162.0 million (real Rand)  Climate Change and Air Quality decreased by R6.1 million (nominal) and R19.4 million (real Rand)

Administration Sub-programmeBudgetNominal increase/ decrease Real increase/ decrease 20/13/142014/15 Management Corporate Affairs Environmental Advisory Services Financial Management Office Accommodation Environmental Sector Coordination Total Overall, these represent nominal per cent change; -20 real per cent change.

Administration(cont...) The Department should clarify, which specific functions (e.g., strategic objectives or performance indicators) within the Corporate Affairs sub-programme would be negatively affected by the current budget cut. How does the Department envisage mitigating this impact?

Legal, Authorisations and Compliance Sub-programmeBudgetNominal increase/ decrease Real increase/ decrease 20/13/142014/15 Legal, Authorisations and Compliance Management Compliance Monitoring Integrated Environmental Authorisations Enforcement Corporate Legal Support and Litigation Law Reform and Appeals Total Overall, these represent 8.2 nominal per cent change; 1.9 real per cent change.

Legal, Authorisations and Compliance (cont...) How would the Legal, Authorisations and Compliance Management sub-programme cope with the reduced budget in the current financial year? Which strategic objectives, performance indicators or targets are expected to be affected by this reduced spending focus? Why the reduction in the Enforcement sub-programme at a time when the environmental sector is under immense pressure from pollution; and natural resource degradation, destruction and depletion? The Department should clarify how enforcement is to be maintained in the face of these challenges.

Oceans and Coasts Sub-programmeBudgetNominal increase/ decrease Real increase/ decrease 20/13/142014/15 Oceans and Coasts Management Integrated Coastal Management Oceans and Coastal Research Oceans and Coasts Specialist Monitoring Services Total Overall, these represent 12.3 nominal per cent change; 5.7 real per cent change.

Oceans and Coasts Programme (cont...) The potential of the oceans and coasts to meet sustainable development objectives is enormous (UNCED, JPOI & the Rio+20 Conference). Budget increased in real Rand terms by R18.3 million over the previous 2013/14 financial year. However, the Oceans and Coastal Research actually decreased by R4.4 million in real terms. The Specialist Monitoring Services sub-programme realised no increase in budget.  How would this affect ocean and coastal research project surveys, establishment of observational platforms and ecosystem process studies?  Clarify how things would be done differently in the Oceans and Coastal Research and the Specialist Monitoring Services to account for this low budget?

Climate Change and Air Quality Sub-programmeBudgetNominal increase/ decrease Real increase/ decrease 20/13/142014/15 Climate Change Management Climate Change Mitigation Climate Change Adaptation Air Quality Management South African Weather Service International Climate Change Relations and Negotiations Climate Change Monitoring and Evaluation Total Overall, these represent -2.6 nominal per cent change; -8.3 real per cent change.

Climate Change and Air Quality (cont...) Overall, the Climate Change and Air Quality Programme saw real percentage decline of more than eight per cent in the current 2014/15 financial year.  This resulted in the reduction in budget of more than R6 million (nominal) and R19 million (real Rand), respectively. How would South Africa’s fair contribution to the global effort to stabilise greenhouse gas (GHG) in the atmosphere be achieved in the face of reduced spending focus on the Climate Change Mitigation sub-programme? Which specific mitigation actions outlined in the departmental Strategic Plan would be affected by this reduction most? How does the Department ensure that this reduction does not compromise climate change mitigation measures?

Climate Change and Air Quality (cont...) The reduction in transfer over the medium-term by the Department to SAWS was to give effect to Cabinet-approved budget reductions. This was expected to have a minimal effect on service delivery as the organisation would be able to raise revenue to compensate for the cuts.  Explain for the benefit of the Committee the manner in which SAWS expects to raise revenue to counter this cut in departmental transfer.

Biodiversity and Conservation Sub-programmeBudgetNominal increase/ decrease Real increase/ decrease 20/13/142014/15 Biodiversity and Conservation Mgt Biodiversity Planning and Management Protected Areas Systems Management iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority SANParks SANBI Biodiversity Monitoring and Evaluation Biodiversity Economy and Sustainable Use Total Overall, these represent 10.4 nominal per cent change; 4.0 real per cent change.

Biodiversity and Conservation (cont...) How would the strategic objective to ensure that “biodiversity is conserved, protected and threats mitigated” be achieved, if spending focus has diminished on critical sub-programmes such as Biodiversity and Conservation Management; Biodiversity Planning and Management; and Protected Areas Systems Management in the current financial year? What specific activities under this strategic objective would stagnate in the current financial year? Explain how “fair access and equitable sharing of benefits from biodiversity” would be promoted in the context of reduced budget in the Biodiversity Economy and Sustainable Use sub- programme.

Biodiversity and Conservation (cont...) Please explain what constitutes a successful natural resource based project in the context of “People and Parks”.  How does the Department expect those natural resources- based projects in Bushbuckridge, Awelani and the one in the Transfrontier Conservation Area to be successful from the surrounding communities’ view point?  How would the zero budget increase (in real terms) for the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority affect its ecological restoration activities and general operations in safeguarding the integrity of the Wetland Park?

Environmental Programmes Sub-programmeBudgetNominal increase/ decrease Real increase/ decrease 20/13/142014/15 Environmental Protection and Infrastructure Programme Working for Water and Working on Fire Green Fund Environmental Programmes Management Information Management and Sector Management Total Overall, these represent 15.3 nominal per cent change; 8.5 real per cent change.

Environmental Programmes (cont...) The budget allocation to the Environmental Programmes rose by R266.4 million in real terms over the previous 2013/14 allocation to facilitate creating the desired job estimates, inter alia. Notwithstanding, the Environmental Protection and Infrastructure Programme and the Green Fund realised real Rand budget cuts of about R75 million and R14 million, respectively.  What justifies these reductions, and what are the likely impacts?  How would the reduction in the Green Fund affect projects and innovation critical for transitioning to a green economy?

Environmental Programmes (cont...) How would the budget reduction in the Environmental Protection and Infrastructure Programme affect attaining of the strategic objective of “improved socio-economic benefit within the environmental sector”? What are the key achievements of the Green Fund in terms of climate change mitigation and adaptation, thus far?

Chemicals and Waste Management Sub-programmeBudgetNominal increase/ decrease Real increase/ decrease 20/13/142014/15 Chemicals and Waste Management Hazardous Waste Management and Licensing General Waste and Municipal Support Chemicals and Waste Policy, Evaluation and Monitoring Chemicals Management Total Overall, these represent 9.9 nominal per cent change; 3.48 real per cent change.

Chemicals and Waste Management (cont...) The spending focus (budget) in the Chemicals and Waste Management Programme over the medium-term would be on developing an appropriate legislative framework and building capacity. Thus, the bulk of the Programme’s budget is concentrated in the Hazardous Waste Management and Licencing; and Chemicals and Waste Policy, Evaluation and Monitoring sub-programmes. Ironically, the General Waste and Municipal Support sub- programme experienced budget cut, notwithstanding the capacity constraints at this sphere of Government. Thank you!