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NORMS AND STANDARDS FOR PROMOTING SOUND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
Meeting mitigation targets will require South Africa to implement a range of policies and measures. To give effect to its Constitutional mandate of protecting the environment and promoting sustainable development, the department has over a period of time developed comprehensive environmental management legislative/regulatory framework. This regulatory framework, apart from acts of Parliament (environmental laws) and regulations; consists also of policies, norms and standards and other tools.
CYCLING | NON MOTORISED TRANSPORT (NMT)
BEST PRACTICE GUIDELINE:
CYCLING ACADEMIES
OCTOBER 2023 [PDF - 41.65 mb]
The cycling academy at the most basic level is a safe space where children and adults can learn to ride a bicycle. The cycling academy model provides an opportunity to start having conversations about alternative means of transport. It's an opportunity to introduce cycling to youth when they are still at a very impressionable age and an opportunity to make difference in a community. While the impacts may seem small at a local community level, the ripple effects of small things can create significant impacts. This guideline aims to inspire you to take those first steps.
SUMMARY » Afrikaans | English | Sesotho | isiZulu [PDF - 3.5 mb]
SUMMARY » Folding guide [PDF - 2.5 mb]
THE NON-MOTORISED TRANSPORT (NMT)
FEBRUARY 2015 [PDF - 78.31 mb]
The vision for NMT is that it is also seen as a desirable mode of transport because of its convenience and safety. When given a meaningful choice among different possible modes of transport, NMT should be selected with a sense of comfort and pride. Cycling or walking in and around communities is both safe and reliable, for school children, leisure cyclists and those commuting to work on a daily basis. For each commute, wherever the destination or purpose of the commute, it is possible for NMT to be the mode of choice.
GREEN BUSINESS | FINANCE
GREEN BUSINESS GUIDELINE:
SMALL, MEDIUM AND MICRO ENTERPRISES, START-UPS AND ENTREPRENEURS
NOVEMBER 2022 [PDF - 1.3 mb]
Green businesses, also called sustainable businesses, seek to balance profit with the health of the planet. Green businesses incorporate principles of sustainability into their business decisions in order to reduce their negative impacts on the global or local environment. They do this by selling environmentally friendly products.
TECHNICAL HANDBOOK:
ISSUANCE OF SUSTAINABLE MUNICIPAL BONDS IN SOUTH AFRICA
MARCH 2022 [PDF - 2.97 mb]
The handbook sets out detailed, accessible, practical steps involved in sustainable bonds issuance and discusses the associated tasks and activities for South African municipalities. It enables them to have a view of the comprehensive process for the preparation, issuance, and management of a sustainable bond.
CARBON BUDGET METHODOLOGY DOCUMENT
MAY 2021 [PDF - 1,507 kb]
This document sets out scope of mandatory carbon budget implementation and details frameworks to be used to calculate and allocate carbon budgets. download doc
BIOGAS GUIDEBOOK FOR SMME SCALE INDUSTRIAL BIOGAS PLANTS
OCTOBER 2021 [PDF – 2.1 mb]
Purpose of this guidebook is to promote biogas technology to SMMEs. download doc
SA - NDC | SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT | ADAPTATION
SOUTH AFRICA'S FIRST NATIONALLY DETERMINED CONTRIBUTION (NDC) UNDER THE PARIS AGREEMENT
SEPTEMBER 2021 [PDF - 1,333 kb]
By this communication, South Africa updates and enhances its nationally determined contribution under the Paris Agreement (PA). South Africa's intended nationally determined contribution was submitted on 25 September 2015 prior to COP 21, and became our first NDC (RSA 2016), following our ratification of the PA. This document is not our second NDC – this will be communicated in 2025.
NATIONAL STRATEGY:
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION
AUGUST 2020 [PDF - 6.6 mb]
The National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy (NCCAS) provides a common vision of climate change adaptation and climate resilience for the country, drawing from the National Development Plan, the National Strategy for Sustainable Development, the adaptation commitments included in its Nationally Determined Contributions, sector adaptation plans, provincial adaptation plans and municipality adaptation plans.
GENERIC ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME (EMPr):
OVERHEAD ELECTRICITY TRANSMISSION / DISTRIBUTION
FEBRUARY 2018 [PDF - 1014,9 kb]
The objective of this generic EMPr is to prescribe and pre-approve generally accepted impact management outcomes and actions which can commonly and repeatedly be used for the avoidance, management and mitigation of impacts and risks associated with the development or expansion for overhead electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure.
NATIONAL FRAMEWORK:
CLIMATE CHANGE MONITORING AND EVALUATION (M&E)
MAY 2015 [PDF - 1.79 mb]
The NCCRP and NDP highlight importance of understanding SA's progress in moving towards envisaged climate resilient and lower carbon economy and society. Both policies call for setting up mandatory national monitoring, evaluation and reporting system for climate change information. Objective of this document is to present a description and framework of South Africa's climate change response monitoring and evaluation system.
NATIONAL STRATEGY:
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND ACTION PLAN (NSSD 1)
NOVEMBER 2011 [PDF - 2.8 mb]
The NSSD 1 presents an understanding of sustainable development and explains the route that is being taken. It presents an action plan and indicators for the implementation of the strategy. It is not prescriptive, but is enabling in orientation and will be used to review sustainability programmes. The strategy calls for an interdependency approach across sectors and action on sustainability.
NATIONAL FRAMEWORK:
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA (NFSDSA)
JULY 2008 [PDF - 580 kb]
The national framework for sustainable development seeks to build on existing programmes and strategies that have emerged in the first 14 years of democracy. It aims to identify key, short, medium and long–term challenges in our sustainable development efforts, sets the framework for a common understanding and vision of sustainable development; and defines strategic focus areas for intervention.
EMISSIONS | GREENHOUSE GASES (GHG)
METHODOLOGICAL GUIDELINE:
QUANTIFICATION OF GREENHOUSE GAS (GHG) EMISSIONS
AUGUST 2022 [PDF - 420 kb]
The purpose of the methodological guidelines is to provide additional guidance and commentary to assist data providers in estimating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for reporting on the GHG reporting module of the National Atmospheric Emission Inventory System (NAEIS). Guidance is provided to reporting companies on methodologies to apply when quantifying GHG emissions from activities listed in table 5:2 of this guideline.
draft FRAMEWORK:
SECTORAL EMISSION TARGETS
JUNE 2021 [PDF - 864 kb]
The purpose of this framework is to outline an approach that DFFE would follow when coordinating the process towards allocation and implementation of sector emission targets (SETs) with the line sector departments, provinces and local governments. This framework document is for stakeholders who are interested in understanding how sector emission targets will be developed to fulfil the government's GHG emission reduction ambitions.
ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK:
NATIONAL CLIMATE RISK AND VULNERABILITY (CRV)
JUNE 2020 [PDF - 5.49 mb]
This framework, provides a holistic focus on the full spectrum of adaptation measures, plans and strategies thus constituting a new approach to vulnerability assessments. The framework is aimed at any actor in South Africa setting out to assess CRV. It provides a flexible yet structured sequence of steps and set of options that ensures that, whichever CRV assessment context, scale or focus, a standard set of concepts and questions have been taken into consideration.
IMPLEMENTATION OF CLIMATE SMART AGRICULTURE (CSA) IN SOUTH AFRICA
ACTIONABLE GUIDELINES:
VOLUME 1
OCTOBER 2020 [PDF - 5.3 MB]
The CSA enabling environments are inclusive of agriculture marketing, climate information services, indexed-based insurance, CSA knowledge dissemination, gender and social inclusion. A detailed background to the CSA guidelines in the form of a situation analysis is given in volume 1 of this report. It provided a basis for the development of the actionable CSA guidelines.
ACTIONABLE GUIDELINES:
VOLUME 2
OCTOBER 2020 [PDF - 4.8 MB]
Volume 2 of this guideline report describes actionable guidelines for CSA practices whose implementation would contribute to the rolling out of CSA in South Africa. The CSA practices included soil and water management, crop production (cereal production, sugar production, fruit and viticulture production), urban agriculture, rangeland management, and agroprocessing.
ACTIONABLE GUIDELINES:
VOLUME 3
OCTOBER 2020 [PDF - 3.6 MB]
Information on enabling environments for climate smart agriculture (CSA) is given in volume 3 of the guideline report. Information in volume 3 is targeting policy makers responsible for formulating policies that will create a conducive and supportive environment for the speedy implementation of climate smart agriculture in South Africa and thus accelerate the greening of the country, inclusive of agriculture marketing.
In the agriculture sector, climate smart agriculture (CSA) is now widely accepted as the best approach for addressing the effects of climate change in agriculture. It is defined as agriculture that sustainably increases productivity, resilience (adaptation), reduces/removes greenhouse gases (mitigation), and enhances the achievement of national food security and development goals. CSA promotes the transformation of agricultural systems and requires the transformation of agricultural policies to increase food production, to enhance food security, to ensure that food is affordable (low input-cost) while ensuring sustainable natural resource management and resilience to a changing climate.
LEGACY | EVENTS GREENING
LEGACY:
NATIONAL GREENING 2010 FRAMEWORK
NOVEMBER 2008 [PDF - 918,97 kb]
This document provides a clear indication of the areas on which we need to focus and the actions we all need to take in order to achieve our objectives in these focus areas. It is a precursor to a more detailed document that outlines specific greening requirements for official venues. The document on greening requirements sets targets to be met in a particular venue and greening measures that will lead to attainment of these targets.