Climate Change Mitigation Potential in South Africa: A National to Sectoral Analysis

Abstract

This paper discusses some of the impacts attributed to climate change that are likely to hit Southern Africa as a result of increasing global greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. As South Africa is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and is currently ranked first in Africa, the paper assesses the country’s greenhouse gas emissions profile and possible future projections of emissions and their implications. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) scenario in South Africa and how the country can benefit from other emission trading schemes being practised in different regions of the world are also looked into.