Environmental Policy for South Africa - Gov

1 GENERAL NOTICE DEPARTMENT OFENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND TO~SMNOTICE 749 OF 1998 White PaperoonEnvironmental Management Policy for South AfricahSUd bythe Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourismmy 1998018894-1iSTAATSKOERANT, 15 MEI 1998No. 18894 3 White PaperonEnvironmentalManagementPolicy forSouth AfricaDepartment of Environmental Affairs and TourismMay 19984 No. 18894 GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 15 MAY 1998\CONTENTS4 Contents..3459 Introduction..13 Vision..13A new vision..Mandate for Environmental management Policy .

2 ::Mission statement..20principles..Stmtegic Goals and Objectives..Achieving Policy Goals & Objectives..strategic Goals..Goal 1 Effective Institutional Framework & Legislation ..Goal 2 Sustainable Resource Use & Impact Management ..Holistic & Integrated Planning & Management..Goal 3 Goal 4participation in Environmental Governance ..Goal 5 Environmental Education & ErnpCWerment ..Goal 6 Information Management for Sustainable DevelopmentGoal 7 International Cooperation..2525272931343536373839 Governance..Constitutional Setilng.

3 3941 WII of righ*..Essential requirements for Effective Environmental Governance .. 43..46 Lead AgentCoodlnation of Functions51..An Integrated& Comprehensive Management SYStem ..53 Concluding remarks..61..ISTAATSKOERANT, 15 MEI 1998No. 18894 5 Appendix 1 Background and Trends..62 Appendix 2 Glossary..82 Appendix 3 Acknowledgements..87!STAATSKOE~N~ 15 MEI 1998No. 18884 7..- ..ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSIThe Ministry and Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourismacknowledges the contribution of the millions of South Africans who haveparticipated over the last three years in developing a new environmentalmanagement Policy for South Africa .

4 Although we don t know all of your nameswe thank you and look forward to your continued participation in theenvironmental management of our country. We also acknowledge the role of theManagement and Advisory Team (MAT) which steered the process, the drafiersand referees for the two discussion documents, the Green Paper and the WhitePaper. A filler list of people who contributed to Consultative NationalEnvironmental Policy Process (CONNEPP) appears in Appendix 3 at the end ofthe White Paper. In addition we would like to record our gratitude to the donorswho made CONNEPP possible the International Development Research Centre(IDRC) and the Danish Cooperation for Environment and Development(DANCED).

5 Finally, we wish to convey our thanks to the CONNEPP Secretariatfor their dedication and , 15 MEI 1998No. 18894 91 INTRODUCTIONThe introduction defines the concept of environment that govemunent uses in itsnational Policy on Environmental management. It describes the scope and purpose ofthe White Paper and the Policy and sets out the consultative process used indeveloping the is the government s national Policy on Environmental management. It sets outthe visio~ principles, strategic goals and objectives and re~latory approaches thatgovernment will use for Environmental management in South purpose of Policy is twofold.

6 To Morm the public what government s objectives are and how it intends to achieveits objectivesto inform government agencies and state organs what their objectives are and toguide them in developing strategies to achieve those of the environmentBecause the environment means difTerent things to different people it is necessary tostart by defining what it means. In this Policy the word environment refers tothe biosphere in which people and other organisms live. It consists ofm renew~le ~d non-renewable natural resources such as air, water (Ilesh andmarine), land and all forms of lifen nat@ ecosystems and habitats andn ~systems, habitats and spatial surroundings modified or constructed by people,including urbanised areas, agricultural and rural landscapes, places of culturalsignificance and the qualities that contribute to their are part of the environment and are at the centre of concerns for itssustainability.

7 Culture, economic considerations, social systems, politics and valuesystems determine the:M intera~ion between people and natural ecosystems and habitatsn use of natural resources andm wIues and meanings that people attach to life forms, ecological systems, physicaland cultural landscapes and and purpose of the White PaperThe White Paper contains the governments s Environmental management Policy anddescribes the context in which it has been developed. The White Paper has thefollowing sections:n ~ introduction that sets out the concept of environment used in the Policy , thescope and purpose of the Policy and the consultative process used in developingthis policy10 No.

8 18894 GOVERNMENT GAZEITE, 15 MAY 1998,..a new vision for Environmental poIicy and the mission of the Department ofEnvironmental M&m and Tourism with respect to the new policythe Policy principles tia IIWX be aPPfied ~ develop~g ad testing poliq ~dsubsequent actions including decision making, legislation and regulationgovernment s strategic goals and supporting objectives to begin addressingmajor issues king Environmental management and the sustainable use of resourcesand for meastig the success of Policy implementation~overnm@ s wwod to govemmcq Setting out the POWWS and responsibilities~f the different-spheres and agencies of government id the regulatory approachto environment I deals with the background and trends.

9 Giving an overview of the mainenvironmental issues in the country that Environmental Policy must address and oflocal and international trends that poficy must take into 2 contains a glossary of essential terms used in the Policy .,Appendix 3 contains an acknowledgement of all those who have contributed to thedevelopment of government s new Environmental management of the policyThis is an overarching iiunework Policy . Specific subsidiary and sectorrd policies tocarry forward the detailed tasks of everyday governance will fd within thisframework.

10 They must subscribe to the visio~ principles, goals and regulato~approach set out in the ftarnework Policy applies to all government institutions and to all activities that impact onthe this Policy government undertakes to give effect to the many rights in theConstitution that relate to the environment. They include rights relating specificallyto the environment as well as those relating to governance such as the legal stardhgof parties, administrative justice, accountability and public participation. The policyfkrtherrnore deiines the essential nature of sustainable development as the combinationof social, economic and Environmental factors.