South Africa will be facing more frequent disastrous fires because of climate change, Working on Fire – Kishugu Project Manager, Trevor Abrahams, has warned. The organisation has applauded the submission to Parliament of the Climate Change Bill by environment minister Barbara Creecy on October 24, 2023. Working on Fire – Kishugu Joint Venture, implements the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment’s Working on Fire Programme.
The bill, now under parliamentary consideration, aims to curtail greenhouse gas emissions by setting sectoral targets towards achieving zero emissions. It also empowers the national government to allocate increased funding for climate change programmes, especially at the local level. Local level funding would increase the resilience of vulnerable communities to the effects of climate change.
In September 2022, Abrahams presented the Working on Fire input on the Climate Change Bill to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. Emphasising the urgent need for preparedness, Abrahams forewarned that the escalating threat of climate change is poised to escalate wildfire occurrences significantly. “South Africa will be facing more frequent disastrous fires due to climate change,” Abrahams said. He referred to fires in the North West Province, where just over 200 WOF firefighters, two helicopters, and one spotter plane had to help in the extinguishing of this fire which had burnt more than 90 000 hectares.
Abrahams articulated the connection between global warming and the imminent rise in temperatures over the coming decades, creating drier conditions conducive to more frequent and intense fires. He highlighted the Climate Change Bill as a crucial legislative instrument in mitigating the profound impact on South Africa, particularly on agriculture and marginalised communities.
“Extreme weather events, marked by flooding, droughts, and unprecedented wildland fires, are becoming distressingly commonplace. Of particular concern are projections indicating that the developing world may bear the brunt of these adverse effects of climate change,” warned Abrahams.
The recent spate of catastrophic flooding in KwaZulu Natal, Western Cape, and extreme wildfires in North West, Free State, and Northern Cape underscored the immediate and tangible impacts of climate change, Working on Fire-Kishugu JV said in a statement. They quoted AgriSA’s estimates of the agriculture sector’s losses as being in the billions, along with the tragic loss of 12 lives in extreme wildfires.
The Working on Fire Programme’s 5300 firefighters, increasingly deployed to combat major fires outside traditional seasonal boundaries, call for urgent and concerted action to address this escalating threat.
“Legislative provisions should be aimed at addressing the institutional, mandate, and resource basis of this aspect of South Africa’s response to the threat of wildland fires,” Abrahams said. He said Working on Fire’s response should include specific provisions for developing mitigation strategies against the negative impacts of climate change including disaster management, community preparedness, education, and communication.
Working on Fire – Kishugu Joint Venture will be holding a Fire Symposium to be held by on November 8, 9 and 10 at the Skukuza Conference Centre in the Kruger National Park. The symposium aims to provide a platform for greater collaboration on the African continent and international wildland fire forums.
The 2022 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report ‘Spreading like Wildfire: The Rising Threat of Extraordinary Landscape Fires’, warned that climate change and land-use change are making wildfires worse. The report anticipated a global increase of extreme fires, even in previously unaffected areas.
At the November symposium, wildfire management practitioners, wildfire scientists, weather experts, and provincial and local disaster management practitioners will discuss preventative measures in the face of escalating wildfires made worse by climate change.
