Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation: Is the South African Transport Sector Ready for Change?

Abstract

Climate change was once seen as mere speculation, it is now accepted that, without concerted effort by governments to honor their undertakings made under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change of 2015, the negative impacts of climate change and the 2050 Net Zero targets will not be realized. At the COP28 World Summit, it was recognized that many governments had not honored their greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction commitments, with the economic decisions which they had made leading to an increase in the rate of GHG emissions globally. Contracting Parties agreed that, with the rapidly increasing global atmospheric temperatures, Net Zero goals would not be met without the phasing out of fossil fuel usage. While no clear time frames were provided, this constituted a major step forward. The South African Department of Transport Southern African Transport Conference (SATC) issued a call for recommendations regarding the measures to be taken to prepare the transport sector for climate change adaptations. In this paper the possible impacts of climate change are discussed, with specific reference to road, rail and coastal infrastructure. With escalating climate change impacts on the transport sector, the paper provides insights and recommendations on how terrestrial and coastal transport infrastructure can be protected, monitored and upgraded to prevent and limit climate change related damage. Recommendations are also provided on possible mitigation measures that would be required to increase the pace of transition towards renewable energy adoption within the transport sector.