Open letter to President Ramaphosa on the second anniversary of the Climate Change Act

On 23 July 2024, when you signed the Climate Change Act 22 of 2024 into law, South Africa reached an important milestone. After years of public consultation and parliamentary deliberation, South Africa finally passed and promulgated a legislative framework to coordinate its response to climate change in accordance with its international obligation. The Act was widely welcomed because it recognised both the scale of the climate crisis and the need for a coordinated, whole-of-government response to protect vulnerable people and systems while safeguarding the environment for present and future generations. Among those who welcomed the promulgation of the Act were individuals and organisations working to advance the right to basic education. During Parliament’s public consultation process, education rights organisations highlighted the growing impacts of climate change on schools, pupils and teachers. Those submissions resulted in an important amendment to the Bill. Specifically, the basic education sector was included among those required to identify the risks posed by climate change and to prepare a Sector Adaptation Strategy and Plan in terms of section 22 of the Act. Among its key provisions, the Act establishes a sequenced adaptation planning and implementation framework. Each step is informed by, and depends on, the one before it. National adaptation objectives and adaptation scenarios inform the National Adaptation Strategy and Plan. Only once the National Adaptation Strategy and Plan have been developed can sector departments assess their vulnerabilities and prepare Sector Adaptation Strategies and Plans.Accordingly, the Act provides that:Within one year of the commencement of the Act, the minister responsible for Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) must determine national adaptation objectives to guide South Africa’s adaptation to climate change, the development of resilience and sustainable development (section 19);Within the same period, the minister of the DFFE must develop adaptation scenarios that anticipate the probable impacts of climate change over the short, medium and long term (section 20);Within two years of the commencement of the Act, the minister of the DFFE must develop and publish a National Adaptation Strategy and Plan (section 21);Within one year of the publication of the National Adaptation Strategy and Plan, every minister required to do so under this Act (including the minister of basic education) must assess the vulnerabilities of their respective sectors and identify the necessary measures to manage climate risks and implement the appropriate adaptation responses (section 22); andWithin two years of the publication of the National Adaptation Strategy and Plan, those ministers must develop and implement Sector Adaptation Strategies and Plans for their respective sectors (section 22).While parts of the Act were brought into operation in March 2025, the above provisions relating to South Africa’s adaptation framework have yet to commence. This commencement remains dependent on a further presidential proclamation. As a result, none of the timelines in terms of the Act has started to run.This has significant consequences. Each deadline is triggered by the completion of the preceding step, with the result that even if the outstanding adaptation provisions were brought into operation today, Sector Adaptation Strategies and Plans (including for the basic education sector) would only become due in July 2030. Every delay postpones the implementation of essential measures to strengthen South Africa’s resilience to climate change. Allowing any further delay not only prevents South Africa from meeting its international obligations, but also has real-life impacts on the basic education system.Climate adaptation is not only an environmental policy matter. It is a critical response required to reduce vulnerability to climate impacts (and the associated social impacts) while South Africa works towards long-term emissions reductions. It is also essential to fulfilling the purpose and principles articulated in the Act. Increasingly, climate adaptation is the means through which South Africa gives effect to constitutional rights, including children’s rights, the right to basic education, healthcare, fair labour practices and an environment that is not harmful to health or wellbeing. Climate adaptation is thus central to protecting fundamental human rights against the defining threat to present and future generations.Since the Act was signed into law two years ago, the basic education system has continued to contend with multiple extreme weather events leading to disruptions of learning, underscoring that climate adaptation in the basic education sector is an immediate and urgent imperative, particularly as Earth faces a super El Niño event in 2026. Extreme weather is set to intensify, and has already had devastating impacts on the rights of the child and other human rights.The Eastern Cape June 2025 floods that tragically claimed the lives of schoolchildren and damaged about 431 schools are one example. The January 2026 floods in Limpopo that damaged 113 schools and led to a loss of two weeks’ worth of teaching and learning time are another. The most recent incident occurred in May 2026 when more than 120 schools, many of which are public and special needs schools, were closed across the Western Cape due to intense storms and flooding. As climate shocks increase in intensity and frequency, action is required to ensure that the basic education system is not vulnerable to these events and conditions. Mr President, the final step required to bring South Africa’s statutory adaptation framework into operation rests with you. By bringing the relevant adaptation provisions of the Climate Change Act into force, you would trigger the statutory obligations and timelines established by the Act.At a time when communities across the country are increasingly experiencing the impacts of climate change with devastating floods, extreme heat and destructive storms – which are set to worsen amid the super El Niño – no public explanation has been provided for why the very provisions intended to strengthen the country’s climate resilience remain inoperative. We therefore call upon you to operationalise the adaptation provisions of the Climate Change Act as a matter of priority. Yours sincerely,Signed by:Unesco Chair: Education Law in AfricaCentre for Environmental Justice in AfricaSECTION27African Climate Reality Project Socio-Ecological Justice Lab NPC. DM