President Cyril Ramaphosa says climate change is a social, scientific, and economic concern in equal measure.
He goes on to say that disruptions brought on by climate change affect economic growth.
This is after the Western Cape was hit by storms over the weekend which have caused devastation to homes, communities, businesses, and infrastructure.
The recent storms that affected the Western Cape have caused an infrastructure crisis, affecting over 160,000 people.
The weather conditions also temporarily brought container ship traffic to a complete halt at the Port of Cape Town which also delayed agricultural products.
Ramaphosa addressed the 2024 climate resilience symposium at the CSIR International Convention Centre in Pretoria on Monday.
In his address, he said this impacted the agricultural sector and for that, there is a knock-on effect on the economy as a whole.
“This is just one illustration of the fact that climate change is as much an economic issue as it is a scientific, social justice, human rights, and development issue,” Ramaphosa said.
“It has a direct and material impact on activity across the economy. Disruptions caused by climate change increase the cost of doing business, undermine competitiveness, and dampen employment growth,” he said.
“These disruptions result in lower tax revenue and increased expenditure on disaster relief, health care, and social support for affected communities. Extreme weather causes damage to infrastructure like roads, bridges, railways, power lines, and ports, all of which incur substantial repair and recovery costs.”
But Ramaphosa assured the country that the symposium will respond to both the shocks of climate change and the opportunities to use the just transition to build a more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable economy.
According to the president, the symposium will focus on the integration of climate goals into macro-fiscal and finance policy and mainstreaming climate change considerations into the intergovernmental fiscal system.
“It is society’s most vulnerable who bear the brunt of climate change because they have limited means to prepare for, cope with, and recover from, climate-related adverse events,” he said.
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Centre declared the Western Cape a disaster region on Friday.
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