There is no denying South Africa (SA) is in the grip of climate change. According to experts, climate change is already wreaking havoc in the country, citing the recent flooding. According to them, the sudden rise in temperatures and heatwaves, unpredictable rainfall patterns, prolonged droughts and water scarcity all points to a worsening situation unless government implements and adopts adaptation measures across all nine provinces. Some provinces, particularly KwaZulu-Natal, have shown vulnerabilities with both provincial and local governments having been exposed.
Climate change adaptation measures
But how ready is SA to deal with climate change and what measures are in place to achieve counter the challenges? How can the country align its national policy with a well-thought out implementation plan? These were some of the fundamental questions scholars, experts and climate change practitioners wrestled with at the 2025 Science Forum South Africa. All agreed the country has sound adaptation policy frameworks. However, poor implementation is limiting intervention capacity address climate change disasters.
Lack of climate change finance
Professor Stephanie Midgley, specialist in climate change at the University of Cape Town, said implementation of adaptation measures needs advance planning, not reaction. She pointed out some of the barriers to poor implementation such as inadequate finance and lack of expertise at provincial and local levels.
National government has done well in terms of formulating policy, but Prof Midgley says this is not enough, especially if policy is not properly executed. She added that there is no clear implementation of adaptation plans or measures at local levels to lessen the impact of climate change disasters. This is a particular problem at local government, the frontline. She said there are also capacity constraints at all levels.
The role of private sector
Mookho Monnapula, a meteorologist and climate change expert, discussed the private sector’s role in dealing with climate change. She said while there is private sector awareness about the need to introduce climate change mitigating measures, most businesses link this to return on investment (ROI). When the private sector invests in a particular project, ROI is at the top of the list. Monnapula said the fact that climate data is also not readily available or sometimes not credible; it is difficult for the private sector to use it into their financial planning. Some of the ways of addressing some of these challenges, she suggested, is to build a pipeline of bankable adaptation projects, the use of blended finance and risk sharing instruments, as well as translating climate risks into financial risks.
Mobilising youth and women
Mobilising communities and integrating their activities into local governments could help deal with some of the weaknesses related to poor implementation of climate adaptation measures, said Mahlako Mashabela, an environmentalist who has first-hand experience of working with communities. She said there is a growing grassroots awareness and willingness to play a role in addressing challenges related to climate change.
“Based on my experience, it is at management level where there seems to be lack of enthusiasm to introduce mitigation or adaptation measures”, she said. She called for greater youth and female participation in communities, saying these are the people who bear the brunt of the climate change disasters. Measures she cited to address certain issues include regular cleaning of storm water channels to avoid flooding and soil erosion as measures to prevent flooding in communities.
