Collaboration between all stakeholders will be crucial to ensure sector protection.
Janse Rabie, Head of Natural Resources, AgriSA
Earlier this year, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) published draft sectoral emission targets (SETs) for various sectors, including agriculture, for the period 2025-2030.
The draft SETs form part of South Africa’s National Determined Contribution (NDC) obligations in terms of international mitigation measures in response to climate change under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).1 South Africa’s agricultural sector has specifically been included in the SETs (the other sectors being energy, mining, transport, human settlements, forestry and trade and industry).
The achievement of SETs is dependent on governmental policies and measures (PAMs) to achieve greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Put differently, this means that for agriculture, the DFFE requires from the Department of Agriculture to formulate and implement measures to achieve greenhouse gas reductions to assist in achieving an overarching NDC figure for all South Africa.
PAMs have either to be newly developed, and/or existing ones need to be enhanced. The Department of Agriculture is required to achieve this reduction through utilising existing PAMs, including:
• The Conservation of Agriculture Resources Act
•The Climate Smart Strategic Framework
•The Conservation Agriculture Strategy
•The Climate Change Sector Plan
•The Agriculture Sector Implementation Plan
The proposed SETs for affected sectors are highlighted below:
The SET report records that agricultural emissions have generally decreased, with total emissions in 2022 being 9% lower compared to 2000 levels. This reduction can specifically be attributed to a decrease in livestock population numbers. However, the primary contributor within the agricultural sector remains enteric fermentation (68% of the total agricultural sector emissions).
The draft SETs are a significant development for the entire South African economy and will necessarily impact the agricultural sector. Apart from the specific agricultural SETs, agriculture will certainly also be affected by the SETs and the required PAMS for electricity, water, transport, trade and industry and the environment.
It can also be reasonably assumed that SETs will be raised even further following the current period (2025-2030) in order for South Africa to achieve its goal of zero emissions as stated in Low Emission Development Strategy 2050. SETs will almost certainly become a permanent feature of how food is produced and throughout the food value chain.
Following initial comments to the SETs submitted in June 2024, AgriSA, Agbiz and other stakeholders began organising our respective constituencies and members in earnest.
Numerous engagements have already taken place with the Department of Agriculture as well as the DFFE to interrogate and understand the implications of the current draft SETs and how PAMs will need to be applied (and in all likelihood be developed). Ways of constructively working with one another have already been established and are anticipated to evolve as time goes by.
It is clear that collaboration between all stakeholders will be crucial to ensure that the interests of the sector will be protected through the crafting of transparent and realistic SETs and PAMs.
- At the time of their publication on 26 April 2024, the SETs were determined for purposes of South Africa’s National Climate Change Response Policy (NCCRP) 2011. The obligation to publish SETs also became regulated upon the entry into effect of the Climate Change Act, 22 of 2024 on 23 July 2024. ↩︎
