Pictured: Darryll Killian, partner, SRK Consuliting

There is a common thread running through South African discourse of late, from President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation address to Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s 2013 Budget Speech. That link is the National Development Plan’s Vision 2030 document.

In recent years SRK Consulting has seen a concerted effort to bring the National Development Plan (NDP) to life and align state, business and civil society resources behind this vision. Despite the naysayers, examples of such cooperation have a long history in various government departments, particularly within the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), the institution mandated with protecting South Africa’s natural resource base for the country’s future generations.

It has been our experience of working closely with the DEA for more than a decade that government has taken its role as steward of South Africa’s environmental and sustainability transformation to heart and has worked hard to create a strategic roadmap and a way forward for the country.

South Africa’s commitment to environmental issues dates back to before the first democratic elections in 1994, when South Africa stood by the commitments made in 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The global sustainability agenda – or Agenda 21 – was born out of this UNCED discussion and remains a global blueprint for action. Initially signed by 178 governments in 1992, Agenda 21 had grown to 191 nations by the 2002 gathering in Johannesburg, on the 10^th anniversary of the first signing. Dubbed Rio+10, the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development saw the adoption of the Johannesburg Declaration and Implementation Plan which recommitted nations to sustainable development and multilateralism.

South Africa has continued to support the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), which was established in 1991 to annually review and set policies. When, in 2012, Brazil hosted the UNCED (Rio+20) to take stock of this progress, the South Africa government  through the DEA – was a vocal participant in the global call for environmental change and the fostering of sustainable practices. In fact, South Africa had already demonstrated its commitment to a green economy by signing the Green Economy Accord on 17 November 2011, as part of the outcome of the New Growth Path which aimed to create 300 000 jobs by 2020.

As a steady partner to the DEA on this critical journey, SRK  helped set the initial roadmap towards conscious national development and growth by compiling the country’s first comprehensive national state of the environment report, the 2006 South African Environment Outlook. Since 2005 we have   also worked closely with the DEA to develop a National Framework for Sustainable Development (NFSD) and offer support to the department both from a reporting and framework-development perspective. The NFSD process culminated in the adoption by Cabinet of the first National Strategy for Sustainable Development and Action Plan for the period 2011 to 2014, also referred to as the NSSD1. The NSSD1 marked the continuation of the national partnership for sustainable development.

In 2010, the DEA appointed SRK to assist in engaging national and regional stakeholders to ascertain the structure and scope of a revised South Africa Environment Outlook, due for release in 2013. This is testament to the technical standard, appeal and ethos of the 2006 report and shows a continued commitment by government to tracking, assessing and reviewing progress on this environmental and sustainability journey.

In 2012 another seminal DEA report was initiated  the synthesis country report on South Africa’s progress made  since the adoption of the wide-ranging Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI) and Agenda 21. Drawing on insights gleaned from assisting in writing the country report on behalf of the DEA for the 18^th session of the Commission  on Sustainable Development (CSD-18), SRK created a document which shows how active South Africa has been on certain issues. Furthermore, the CSD-18, JPOI and Agenda 21 review showcase very effectively South Africa’s strong development of legislation and policy.

Over the years, there has been a specific focus with the DEA towards key issues which today find accord in the work of the National Development Commission and in the pages of the NDP. Chief among them include the eradication of poverty, which stands head and shoulders atop government’s agenda and which underpins South Africa’s Vision 2030. The South African government’s role in addressing this most critical local and global challenge requires a balanced understanding of the crucial link between mankind and the Earth’s natural resources.

Over and above the need to increase the income of the poorest, generate funding and promote national programmes to give women and the youth equal access to decision-making, is an appreciation for the changing patterns of consumption and production in South Africa, Africa and the world. The JPOI, in particular, calls on corporate and government structures to be accountable for decision-making and to implement sustainable consumption and production efforts at all levels.

There is recognition at the highest levels of government of South Africa’s rich biodiversity and the need to preserve and protect our natural ecosystems; the importance of an integrated water management system; the impact on human health of issues such as climate change and population movements; and an overall focus on promoting sustainable development throughout Africa. The Presidency’s Outcomes Strategy, aimed at strengthening public sector delivery, requires the protection and enhancement of environmental assets and natural resources as part of Outcome 10. The delivery agreement for Outcome 10 was signed by the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs in September 2010 and committed DEA institutions to addressing protecting our natural resource base.

While the man in the street may not be fully versed on the contents of the JPOI or the CSD Country reports South Africa’s involvement in these reports and global processes shows South Africa’s commitment to collaboration and partnerships. It’s this approach, coupled with a sincere desire by government to pick up on key issues and follow through on commitments made in Rio+20, which has stood South Africa in such good stead on the world stage.

We believe South Africa’s sustainable policy framework is progressive, world-class and is driven by passionate and focused individuals within government. The next hurdle is putting policy into action through involving the various tiers in government.

* Darryll Kilian is a Partner and Principal Environmental Scientist and Lyn Brown is a Principal  Environmental Scientist at SRK Consulting.