Electricity

In this press kit, you will find a selection of the European Parliament’s press releases reflecting MEPs’ priorities for topics on the summit agenda. Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

• Human-induced climate change made the severe 2015–2017 drought three to six times more likely.
• Our new report on Climate Change Impacts in South Africa has found that as Earth warms, people living in South Africa will face reduced incomes, less food and water security and a higher cost of living.
• Our findings, based on a synthesis and review of existing research on climate change, are that climate change and socioeconomic risks threaten to bring about a huge change to this status.
• Combating the impacts of climate change in South Africa requires adaptive measures, such as changing the way we farm, coordination by the government and international commitment to reduce emissions.

Heatwaves

• Farm workers will be exposed to more extreme temperatures working outside and others will suffer from heat stress in their living and working environment.
• Here's how

  Extreme weather threatens the plants and animals that attract tourism, and directly damages infrastructure at nature reserves, adventure destinations and parks.

• Rising temperatures are projected to reduce visitor numbers to South Africa’s national parks by 4% by 2050, affecting the Kruger National Park most.

An agricultural crisis

• Smallholder farms are often located in areas with less fertile soils or limited infrastructure, leaving these farmers more vulnerable to climate change.
• Arable land suitable for growing crops is concentrated in just 12% of South Africa’s land area.
• Therefore, any extreme event that reduces production – such as drought – can be expected to reduce job security and income for farming households and agricultural workers.

Water

• Drought and floods damage transport links, public buildings, and water and energy infrastructure, and challenge the provision of basic services.
• During the water crisis that followed the 2015–2017 drought, for example, reservoirs serving 3.7 million people around Cape Town dropped to 20% of capacity, leading the government to impose water restrictions.

An increase in gender-based violence

• These gender inequalities include a high incidence of gender-based violence and a higher likelihood of poverty among women.
• Research in other parts of the world has also linked rising temperatures with an increase in gender-based violence.

Solutions

Much of the country’s economic future hinges on the speed with which investments in renewable energy can replace coal and provide affordable and reliable electricity. Slowing down climate change will take a huge global effort and progress has been limited. The only alternative is to be prepared and adapt to the projected changes.
Peter Johnston receives funding from United Nations, NORCE, NRF

• The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is seeking a third term in office.
• If one was to go by economic growth figures alone, the Modi government’s performance has been impressive.
• A series of high-profile corruption cases led to a loss of investor confidence in the Indian economy.
• According to the International Monetary Fund, India’s economy is projected to grow at a rate of 6.5% in 2024.
• That is higher than China’s projected growth of 4.6%, and exceeds that of any other large economy.

All smoke and mirrors?

• India’s economic performance is hard to assess as the government has not published official data on poverty and employment since 2011.
• This has led analysts to use alternate data sources that are not as reliable as the large and nationally representative consumption and employment surveys of the Indian government’s statistical agency.
• The results were based on a large consumption survey carried out by the Indian government.

The new welfarism

• The Aadhaar rollout, in particular, has allowed national and state governments to distribute benefits to the poor directly through their Aadhaar-linked bank accounts.
• It has also helped to curb leakage in the delivery of subsidies to poor households, which has long been the bane of India’s welfare delivery.
• Essential goods such as toilets and cooking cylinders, which are normally privately provisioned, were supplied in large numbers by the government.
• This led to what Indian economist and the former Chief Economic Advisor to the government, Arvind Subramanian, called “New Welfarism” in India.

The lack of good jobs

• But it has not been as successful in creating productive jobs for the large proportion of India’s labour force who are unskilled and poor.
• Around 40% of workers remain in agriculture, and only about 20% work in manufacturing jobs or business services such as IT.
• The weak record of the Modi government in creating jobs is surprising given that it has floated many initiatives to kickstart manufacturing.

Kunal Sen receives funding from ESRC, British Academy and DFID.

• Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) stood at EUR 5.2 million in the period under review (previous year: EUR 8.5 million).
• We will also continue to focus on the topic of external growth.
• The ITC segment raised revenue by 26.3 % overall to EUR 15.3 million in 2023 (previous year EUR 12.1 million).
• Organic growth stood at 10.3% and is principally attributable to success in winning new customer business.