The Draft Green Transport Strategy will soon be published for public comment after it was approved by Cabinet earlier this month.
Minister of Communications, Ayanda Dlodlo, said after a post-Cabinet media briefing that the strategy would form the cornerstone of policy development within the transport sector with a view to lowering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
She pointed out that while transport systems formed the backbone of South Africa’s economy by enabling the movement of people and goods, emissions from the transport sector accounted for 10.8% of the country’s total GHG emissions, with road transport being responsible for 91.2% of these emissions.
“South Africa has pledged a GHG emissions reduction target of 34% by 2020 and 42% by 2025,” said Dlodlo, noting that this strategy would promote green mobility to ensure that the transport sector “supports the achievement of economic growth targets while meeting social needs and protecting the environment”.
Minister of Transport, Joe Maswanganyi, highlighted that the strategy was aligned to the new National Road Policy which, amongst others, would see the promotion of motor vehicle manufacturing and assembly in South Africa to mitigate life cycle CO2 emissions of imported vehicles and ensure a well-resourced road network that provided sustainable employment opportunities for the maintenance and expansion of paved and unpaved road infrastructure nationally.
