PUBLIC HEARINGS OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS ON THE CLIMATE CHANGE DISCUSSION DOCUMENT, OUTLINING SOUTH AFRICA’S POSITION TOWARDS THE 21ST SESSION OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES (COP21) TO THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE (UNFCCC) IN PARIS, FRANCE, IN DECEMBER 2015.

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) submitted a statement to the Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs in September 2015 regarding South Africa's position for COP21. The CER argues that climate change mitigation is a Constitutional obligation under section 24, and that current state decisions to build new coal-fired power stations directly contradict these legal duties and national climate policies.

• The CER asserts that South Africa's negotiating position for COP21 must align with Constitutional obligations under section 24, specifically regarding the right to an environment that does not harm health or wellbeing and is protected for future generations.
• Mitigating contributions to global warming is framed not merely as a policy choice but as a legal and Constitutional obligation, supported by the duty of care in section 28 of the National Environmental Management Act.
• The CER argues that South Africa is acting at cross purposes by committing to fight climate change while continuing to invest in coal-fired power, specifically citing the construction of Medupi and Kusile power stations.
• The document identifies nine independent power projects applying for environmental authorisations to build coal-fired power stations to meet a 2500MW procurement goal. These include Thabametsi (1200MW), KiPower (600MW), Vedanta (600MW), Transalloys (150MW), Umbani (600MW), Colenso (1050MW), Waterberg Power Company (600MW), Boikarabelo (260MW), and Khanyisa (450MW).
• The CER highlights that many proposed coal projects are located in water-stressed areas within the Highveld Priority Area or the Waterberg-Bojanala Priority Area, where air quality is already poor.
• Effective climate mitigation requires science-based, enforceable emission reduction obligations and transparent monitoring. The CER criticizes the draft National Greenhouse Gas Emission Reporting regulations for lacking facility-level reporting and public data transparency.
• The CER references a legal precedent from the Netherlands (Urgenda v the State of the Netherlands) where the Hague District Court ruled that the government's emission reduction plans were unlawful due to the scale of the climate threat.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (n.d.). PUBLIC HEARINGS OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS ON THE CLIMATE CHANGE DISCUSSION DOCUMENT, OUTLINING SOUTH AFRICA’S POSITION TOWARDS THE 21ST SESSION OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES (COP21) TO THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE (UNFCCC) IN PARIS, FRANCE, IN DECEMBER 2015. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/CER-REPRESENTATIONS-TO-PCEA-CC-COP21-PUBLIC-HEARINGS-20-9-2015-1.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. PUBLIC HEARINGS OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS ON THE CLIMATE CHANGE DISCUSSION DOCUMENT, OUTLINING SOUTH AFRICA’S POSITION TOWARDS THE 21ST SESSION OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES (COP21) TO THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE (UNFCCC) IN PARIS, FRANCE, IN DECEMBER 2015. n.d. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/CER-REPRESENTATIONS-TO-PCEA-CC-COP21-PUBLIC-HEARINGS-20-9-2015-1.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=PUBLIC HEARINGS OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS ON THE CLIMATE CHANGE DISCUSSION DOCUMENT, OUTLINING SOUTH AFRICA’S POSITION TOWARDS THE 21ST SESSION OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES (COP21) TO THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE (UNFCCC) IN PARIS, FRANCE, IN DECEMBER 2015. |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/CER-REPRESENTATIONS-TO-PCEA-CC-COP21-PUBLIC-HEARINGS-20-9-2015-1.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrightsndpublic, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{PUBLIC HEARINGS OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS ON THE CLIMATE CHANGE DISCUSSION DOCUMENT, OUTLINING SOUTH AFRICA’S POSITION TOWARDS THE 21ST SESSION OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES (COP21) TO THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE (UNFCCC) IN PARIS, FRANCE, IN DECEMBER 2015.}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/CER-REPRESENTATIONS-TO-PCEA-CC-COP21-PUBLIC-HEARINGS-20-9-2015-1.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }