Law clinic punts green Cabinet

In anticipation of this week’s Cabinet announcement, the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) has requested that President Cyril Ramaphosa make environmental governance a priority and appoint committed Ministers to lead institutional reform. A Mining Weekly report notes that the CER has written to Ramaphosa with recommendations for the Presidency to create a Climate Change portfolio and a new Department of Energy and Climate, and has also advised that the Department of Water and Sanitation not merge with another department. With climate change severely threatening the planet, the CER wants the new Cabinet to prioritise climate considerations across all spheres of government and to be proactive in dealing with the threat, which the CER says the government has done very little to address thus far. The proposal of a Climate Change portfolio within the Presidency will help government respond better to climate change, the CER believes. The alternative of a new Department of Energy and Climate will also demonstrate to South Africans that the ANC and Cabinet recognise the threat that climate change poses and show that energy decisions will be linked to SA’s future in a changed climate.