South Africa's Concerns About Climate Change And South-South Cooperation

Climate change is closely bound up with the sustainable development of South Africa,in consideration of its real-world consequences or the common threat as it is to the human society.As South Africa is going through an accelerated process of industrialization and modernization,the foreign trade is expanding and citizens' living standards as well as rigid demands pushed up.Thus,the global environmental issues are getting even more unignorable in South Africa,especially when the resource consumption is taking place.The “dual significance” of climate change in South Africa is growing more and more obvious,that South Africa is obviously undergoing more negative impacts due to climate change compared with more other countries.And on the other hand,South Africa has to and still would work with the rest of the world to cope with the threat.Climate change is an issue that requires attention of South Africa as well as global efforts.Among all emerging economies,South Africa is not fighting alone.All countries depend on each other.Unfortunately,climate change,more than a singe environmental problem,is also a political and economical game,which makes it far more challenging for South Africa as a comparably weaker player to defend its own interests.Nonetheless,the South Africa never withdrew on the climate problems,dealing with it among all other tricky issues such as poverty and disease,infrastructure construction,ecological unbalance,resource lack,science and education and so forth.The government is well aware of the urgency of the environment matter,and all other nation and society's issues are,in fact,internally linked with the environmental status.In recent years,South Africa has made its position clear on the climate change issue on many occasions at home and abroad through engaging in international talks and negotiations,enacting national and provincial policies as well as legislating laws and regulations,fulfilling targeted implementations and programs,and so on.The study methods applied in this thesis includes literature review,case study,summarization and induction,interdisciplinary perspectives,exploratory research,etc..The full text will be discoursed in four distinctive parts,when the general present situation of climate change of Africa in general and of South Africa in particular is set as the basic background,the measures South Africa has taken to combat climate change as well as the relevant China-South Africa cooperation as the research target,and diverse topics and perspectives like Ecology,International Politics,Law,Economy and Trade,Sociology and Welfare Studies included in the research areas.Thus,a more comprehensive conclusion is expected to be drawn.The study has the following findings.First,the multiple impacts of climate change on South Africa has been reflected not only in the changes of land-forms and geological features directly,but also in the development of many domestic industries.Moreover,climate change has increased the instability and difficulty of South Africa's long-term planning in industry structure,(has)exacerbated domestic problems like sanitation & health,economic inequality and so on,and is even likely to worsen issues like illegal immigration indirectly.Understandably,the above facts and inferences might promote neither South Africa's overall social stability nor its further development.Second,South Africa actively responds to climate change.Concretely speaking,the government has:(1)revised and improved the national and provincial laws along with the supporting laws;(2)introduced policies in order to encourage energy saving & emission reduction and green industry;(3)made active interventions to minimize the negative influences that climate change had on ecological balance and national health;(4)strengthened scientific research capacity to support meteorological monitoring and disaster management works;(5)emphasized on public awareness and education for high-potential young talents cultivation in environmental management.Third,China and South Africa has developed extensive cooperation on international,African and bilaterally Sino-South African bases.Globally,China and South African work together to narrow national differences in benefits and speak up for the developing countries.Within the African land,the two countries collaborate to coordinate for common interests of the African countries and to reach a consensus,and meanwhile to enhance both leaderships on the continent.Furthermore,both sides have established an intermediary-free partnership to reach win-win results,whichwould not only assist South Africa in climate change management,but also help China to build up experience for further participant in global climate governance.In brief,in the expectation of providing references for researchers,policy makers and others who may be interested,to serve the needs for academic studies and investigations conductions,practical improvements implementations and so forth,the following are conclusions out of the comparison,analysis and research.At present,South Africa is still more of a “victim” of climate change among all countries.Thus,to improve South Africa's speed and efficiency in tackling climate change,the enhancement of multilateral coordination,notably international negotiations,and domestic governance is yet indispensable.In addition,Sino-South African cooperation in climate change has just begun to take shape.According to public information,there still is a vacancy for a concrete long-term strategy.As the international situation undergoes more and more complex and profound changes,there would coexist the opportunities and challenges represented in an even more intricate form.