FIRST TO THIRD RESPONDENTS’ WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS

This document contains written submissions by the First to Third Respondents (representatives of the South African Department of Environmental Affairs) in a High Court case brought by Earthlife Africa Johannesburg. The respondents argue that the grant of an environmental authorisation to the Thabametsi power project was lawful and rational, despite the absence of a comprehensive climate change impact assessment (IA) at the time of approval.

• The respondents argue that no domestic legislation, regulation, or policy in South Africa expressly mandates a climate change impact assessment as a prerequisite for granting an environmental authorisation, nor is such a requirement imposed by international law.
• The South African government is developing a national mitigation framework to address climate change, which includes defining desired emission reduction outcomes (DEROS), establishing company-level carbon budgets for significant emitters, and requiring mitigation plans from affected sectors.
• The Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for Electricity 2010–2030 determined that a mix of generation technologies was necessary for energy security, including 6.3 GW of coal, 17.8 GW of renewables, and 9.6 GW of nuclear power.
• The Minister of Environmental Affairs upheld the environmental authorisation for the Thabametsi project, finding that climate change impacts were adequately considered for the purpose of the grant, although not comprehensively assessed.
• The Minister imposed condition 10.5, requiring a climate change IA to be conducted after the authorisation was granted to gather emissions data for monitoring and to determine if future amendments to the authorisation conditions are necessary.
• The respondents contend that imposing climate change IA requirements on a project-by-project basis would be counterproductive and potentially unlawful, as the government intends to cascade emission targets from a national level down to sectors and companies.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2017). FIRST TO THIRD RESPONDENTS’ WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DEA-Heads.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. FIRST TO THIRD RESPONDENTS’ WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS. 2017. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DEA-Heads.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=FIRST TO THIRD RESPONDENTS’ WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS |date=9 February 2017 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DEA-Heads.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centreforenvironmentalrights2017first, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{FIRST TO THIRD RESPONDENTS’ WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2017}, month = feb, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DEA-Heads.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }