South Africa aims to factor climate-related spending into budget

SOUTH Africa’s Treasury intends using 11 pilot projects that it instituted to track climate-change related expenditure as a starting point to determine how to incorporate environmental factors and objectives into the national budget.

The so-called climate-budget tagging pilot projects, which began last year and are due be completed next month, “will help improve future spending on mitigation and adaptation measures,” and strengthen cooperation between spheres of government when it comes to responding to climate change, the Treasury said in response to emailed questions.

South Africa, the world’s 13th-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, has set a target for net zero carbon emissions by 2050 as climate risks build. The eastern KwaZulu-Natal province suffered the worst flooding in almost three decades during a severe storm in April, and scientists collaborating under the World Weather Attribution initiative have warned that heavy rainfall can be expected to occur more regularly due to global warming