Counting the cost of Prince Charles’ advice

Britain’s Prince Charles urged international organisations and summits "to bring together the narratives of climate change, sustainable development and economic stability -- surely the very bedrocks of national security.” He told an audience at Cape Town University that he was heartened by the university’s decision to appoint a pro vice chancellor for climate change – an idea he hoped would catch on elsewhere.

Calculating the real cost of the planet’s current use of natural capital formed the basis of his speech, reported CNN.

The prince said that these various narratives “are currently encapsulated -- although separately and distinctly -- in the forthcoming COP17 in Durban, the Rio+20 conference and G-20 meetings."

One starting point, he said, could examine data "on energy, water, agriculture, biodiversity and climate change to compose a full picture of what is actually going on, and then to use this picture to calculate the real cost of our current use of natural capital.

"Surely an evaluation of that cost on an on-going basis is the bare minimum we need if we are to develop effective policies that address food security, poverty and climate change, and so build properly resilient economic systems -- green economies, if you will -- that have the capacity to adapt to what will, from now on, be very rapidly changing circumstances?.”

He urged the world to create a framework that is sensitive to the relationship which exists between food security, water security, energy security and indeed national security, and to the issues of how human well-being can be achieved without further loss to the planet’s ecological integrity.

Who does the counting?

Although the prince should be applauded for making the global village aware of the importance of counting the cost of the current use of natural capital, the question should be asked. Who is doing the counting?

You have different interest groups, different role players and different agendas, which is obviously complicating and could be compromising the integrity and effectiveness of the whole COP17 conference starting in Durban on  28 November.

For example: according to Chamber of Mines figures, coal became South Africa’s largest mining activity in 2009, generating R65 billion in revenue against R49 billion from gold.

In a report that will be released soon, the SA Coal Road Map will help the country plan what to do with its coal deposits over the next few decades.

Many sectors, like the mining industry and parts of government, feel that South Africa is not extracting enough value from its coal endowment as other countries do, reported the Financial Mail.

South Africa ranks fourth-largest in the world in its coal reserves of 30.4 billion tons, but seventh-largest in production, at 250.6 mt in 2009.

At current rates of extraction, South Africa has about 40 to 50 years of coal supplies.

Government, in releasing its IRP2 strategy for future electricity generation mix, said 48%t of South Africa’s energy should come from coal by 2030, compared to 93% presently.

Greenpeace SA says in a report on the real cost of coal this is all too much, and the externalised cost of the Kusile coal-fired power station would be about R60.6 billion per year. (Source: Financial Mail, 4 November 2011).

That is  equivalent to 97 cents to R1.88 per kWh, which means the indirect costs of the station are at least a third more than the 65c per kWh that Eskom’s customers will pay in 2012/2013.

Eskom has declined to comment on the Greenpeace report and referred to its previous statements on climate change and pollution control.

Eskom has a six–point plan to contribute to global efforts to combat climate change, including reducing its reliance on coal over time, installing clean coal technologies at new coal-fired power stations, improving its own and its customers’ energy efficiency and researching other ways to reduce carbon emissions.

The question must be asked if the world’s developed nations will be prepared to put their money where their mouths are and provide the R100 billion developmental costs that would enable South Africa and other countries in the developing world to accelerate clean-energy research and development efforts.

In the meantime, the eThekwini municipality has revealed a ground-breaking project as part of its greening programme to offset the carbon footprint of Durban’s hosting of the COP 17 conference.

Debra Roberts, eThekwini’s deputy head of environmental planning and climate protection, said the initiative, dubbed Ceba (Community Ecosystem-Based Adaptation), was partnered by the Wildlands Conservation Trust.

“The Durban Ceba Initiative is one of the most exciting elements of the city’s broader COP17 greening programme. It has been adopted as the official voluntary offset mechanism for COP17. Delegates, corporates and residents of Durban will be able to contribute towards the project by buying Ceba credits to play their part in helping offset the environmental impact associated with hosting COP17,” she said.

“Each Ceba credit will cost about R80 and the money raised will be used for the official Ceba greening site along the Umbilo River catchment area.

“Unemployed people from the neighbouring communities will then be employed as green collar workers to first remove alien plants and trees.

“Part of the money will be used to plant indigenous trees along the Umbilo River, with the pilot reforestation site located at Paradise Valley, near Pinetown. The project is a community-centred climate adaptation model based on generating African solutions to climate change.

“We want this project to not only benefit the ecological sustainability of the river, but the social sustainability of poor communities along it,” Roberts explained.

She said initial funding for the project would come from the city, corporates and through the Wildlands Conservation Trust.

“The removal of alien plants and trees alone would cost at least a couple of million rands. The funds raised through Ceba credits would see COP17 delegates, businesses and even ordinary Durbanites being able to actively contribute to this pioneering climate change adaptation initiative,” said Roberts.

She said the project would result in offsetting about 16 000 tons of carbon, which would more than cover the conference’s local carbon footprint.

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