Cabinet has noted the findings of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism's (Deat's) Long-Term Mitigation Scenario (LTMS) study, and have mandated the department to put forward implementation plans by the third quarter of 2008, to fast track the process of translating strategic options into policy directions.

Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk on Thursday said that the LTMS study regarding climate change, would inform future policy decisions, and would eventually inform a legislative, regulatory and fiscal package to give effect to South Africa's long-term climate policy at a mandatory level.

South Africa, as an emerging economy, sought to protect the climate while meeting the developmental challenges of poverty alleviation and job creation.

Van Schalkwyk announced the completion of the LTMS study in his speech to the National Assembly recently, and said the study found that if South Africa continued a business-as-usual approach, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions would quadruple by 2050 and, in the process, South Africa would become an international pariah.

Van Schalkwyk also said that substantially reducing GHGs was possible, and highly desirable in some cases, but would not be easy. "Most immediate interventions are affordable," he said.

He added that all of South Africa's actions and interventions to reduce electricity demand were fully aligned with many of the described LTMS interventions, and have a positive impact on the country's carbon footprint.

"The LTMS lays a firm basis for a progressive National Policy on Climate Change. It will culminate in a National Climate Summit and Science Conference early in 2009. During this summit, we will formally launch the policy process that will translate the LTMS into fiscal, regulatory and legislative packages as well as sectoral implementation plans. The national summit will involve the key government departments, industry, labour, NGOs and others," Van Schalkwyk said.