Simphiwe Ngwenya is Senior Manager: Climate Mitigation, Presidential Climate Commission
Sustainable transport systems are important for reducing inequality and unemployment because they can be used as a tool for accessing opportunities.
An efficient and affordable transport system is a crucial lever for access to basic human needs, socio-economic development and environmental sustainability.
Such transport systems should provide safe, inclusive, efficient, affordable and clean passenger and freight movement as we transition to an economy that aids our commitment to the Paris Agreement.
In South Africa, road is the third highest source of emissions after electricity and synthetic fuels and refining. Within transport, road emissions account for the lion’s share of emissions (97%) followed by domestic aviation, waterborne navigation and rail respectively.
The Presidential Climate Commission is collaborating with the Department of Transport to support their development of the Just Transition Plan for the sector, which is in progress. We will continue to engage social partners and stakeholders to advance the policy debate and discussions for inclusive and affordable low carbon mobility.
South Africa’s transport industry plays a vital role in the country's economy. It also encompasses a range of modes of transportation that are crucial linkages between business, healthcare, education, consumers and markets demonstrating our economic performance intrinsic link to transportation through rail, airlift and road - a 6.5% contribution to the national gross domestic product.
Due to South Africa’s transport sector deep integration into its economy, global and local changes in transport will have big implications for the country due to the inevitable declining demand for liquid fuels, which will have knock on impacts for speciality chemicals.
Financing vehicles will become more complicated as the second-hand market for new energy vehicles (NEVs) is established and the second-hand market for internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, vehicle parts and fuels declines.
Therefore, the transition to NEVs is one that brings decarbonisation opportunities for road transport.
This shift also poses challenges, say from a financial perspective, characteristics that are not unique to this transition. The pace and scale for this transition should be managed for us to realise the opportunities and continue our vehicle exports to markets that have announced measures like ban on imported ICE vehicles by 2035.
Reducing emissions from transport is important for contributing our fair share to achieve our Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) targets and the Just Transition.
This is despite the fact that private vehicles are the prominent mode of transport in the country. The majority of South African households use public transport for their daily commute to work, with mini-bus taxis accounting for about 63% of public transport trips followed by buses (22%) and rail accounting for 15% of commuters.
Rail (freight and passenger) and port capacity declines remain a severe constraint for domestic and regional trade. Moreover, the recent challenges with rail infrastructure has not only led to an increase in demand for road driven means of passenger transport, but it has also increased the number of heavy-duty vehicles on our roads.
In the absence of other efficient and public transport means, local mobility will continue to be dominated by mini-bus taxis, passenger vehicles as well as light and heavy commercial vehicles.
Low carbon mobility and the just transition must be used to birth new value chains and facilitate job sustainability in the auto and logistics sector.
We must reduce emissions from road travel to meet our climate commitments as this will have several co-benefits such as increasing the pace and scale of NEV penetration, affordable transport costs, and promote the construction of inclusive and green infrastructure.
There is a need for integrated transport planning that is underpinned by sustainable mobility and infrastructure fit for a low carbon economy and mobility, linked to the design of our cities and communities. This is highlighted by Chapter 10 of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, which talks to the need for dense cities to facilitate low carbon mobility.
Globally, innovative technologies that bolster emissions reduction from transport are improving, with the need to enhance technologies that support low carbon mobility.
However, locally consumer awareness and support is yet to mature partly because of South Africa’s socio-economic situation such as the high costs of low emission vehicles, existing behaviour and spatial planning amongst others.
The transition to NEVs needs to be managed with clean electricity generation, an understanding of the demand side pressures on the electricity system and sufficient charging infrastructure (both long and short distance travel).
From an industrialisation perspective, we must prioritise affordability, increased EV usage and localisation of the auto value chain like battery manufacturing, supported by the correct policies, taxation and incentives aligned with the rapidly changing transport landscape
Spatial inclusivity needs to be entrenched in the transition to support socio-economic justice in a low carbon transport system.
Locally, the debate is whether these city plans and aspirations will improve or worsen historical spatial exclusion and the vulnerability of many South Africans, bearing the health and social impacts of the current transport system and the hard exorbitant costs and long travel distances they experience daily.
Simphiwe Ngwenya is Senior Manager: Climate Mitigation, | Presidential Climate Commission
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