Climate Change Act 2024

President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Climate Change Act (Act 22 of 2024) on 18 July 2024. This marked an important milestone for South Africa as this ‘Act’ will become a critical aspect for provincial and municipal organs of state and enterprises that have a footprint in South Africa, most notably with regards to South Africa’s fair contribution toward a Net Zero future.

Climate variability in terms of both frequency and intensity have called for specific climate adaptation and resilience measures as well as monitoring and measuring of climate commitments, and importantly to ensure a just energy transition to help achieve a low carbon economy.

Deloitte has compiled a point of view to help you better understand the implications of the Act and what actions would need to be considered to meet the Act’s requirements. Importantly, the Act is interwoven with several other statutory acts which provide a deeper credence of the implications and what they mean regarding the navigation of the regulatory landscape e.g. link to Section 24 of the National Constitution and the National Environmental Management Act (but there are several other acts that must be read in tandem). We unpack what this means for you in a balanced and practical point of view. We also provide a timeline guide to help you understand what the way forward may look like given the approval of this Act.

Our Deloitte Team looks forward to engaging further on the thoughts shared in the point of view and which call to action should be considered, actioned and continuously improved to ensure our fair contribution to a Net Zero future by 2050.