CLIMATE CHANGE
Carbon tax delay risks SA’s exports of the future
Even a small negative effect on growth could be enough to tip SA back into recession
The latest emissions gap report by the UN Environment Programme shows a "catastrophic" gap between the pledges made by countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the steps taken to cap global warming. SA failed to introduce a carbon tax as planned for January. Local climate-change experts are concerned that the delays may cast doubt on the government’s commitment to climate-change mitigation. A draft Carbon Tax Bill was published in November 2015 with an implementation date of January 1. A revised bill was promised by mid-2017 and Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba says it will be published "soon". The country, which is a signatory to the UN’s Paris Agreement on climate change, has committed to a 34% emission reduction by 2020. Cova Advisory joint MD Duane Newman says the carbon tax was included as a key policy instrument in SA’s written commitments on how to achieve its emission reduction targets. Climate Change director Andrew Gilder says the tax is aimed at generating revenue, ...
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