Regulating carbon markets in order to fight the effects of climate change has in recent years become an integral part of many economies around the world. Ensuring that policymakers implement market-based climate change legislation according to international best practice is an essential part to guarantee that a carbon market system operates smoothly within a country’s economy. There are many opportunities that exist in South Africa towards developing a lucrative carbon market; however, the information to implement such a system is hard to come by and complex to analyse. This dissertation will aim to shed some light on this relatively new field of the law as it will provide an overview of international best practice within the carbon market sphere. Furthermore, this dissertation will examine the legal nature of a carbon credit; analyse international instruments regulating carbon markets and discuss existing South African policies and legislation related to climate change and carbon markets. This will lead to the ultimate objective of this dissertation: to propose a possible framework for the regulation of a South African carbon market based upon international best practice. This dissertation revealed the imperative need for South African policymakers to implement legislation to conform to international best practice within carbon markets. In this regard the dissertation also revealed that the infrastructure to regulate such a market already exists within South Africa. Only subtle changes to these infrastructure systems will be required in order for to accommodate a functioning carbon market. The study revealed that the only way to convince entities around the world to emit fewer emissions and to contribute towards the fight against climate change is to attach a monetary value to emissions. Associating a price to carbon is the only way to sanction entities that produce emissions and compensate entities that mitigate emissions. A carbon tax coupled with a carbon offset mechanism, as opposed to a emissions trading scheme, would be the best option with regards to establishing a South African carbon policy. This will ensure a fair playing field, as carbon tax liable entities would be held responsible to pay the same fixed price per ton of carbon that they emit. Coupling the carbon tax with a carbon offset mechanism, trading with carbon credits, will incentivise companies to invest in “greener” technologies and to emit fewer emissions. This dissertation revealed that international best practice in the carbon market sphere, still poses significant difficulties such as price volatility associated with carbon credits; validation and verification inconsistencies within the different carbon standards; and supply and demand fluctuations. These difficulties where highlighted in this dissertation and solutions relating to these difficulties were discussed. The time has come for South Africa to enter the carbon market sphere, whether it be through the introduction of a carbon tax or otherwise. This dissertation illustrates that the infrastructure and stakeholders associated to a South African carbon market needs to be developed. If, when and how the government will actually implement such a carbon market system, remains a question to be answered.

Thesis (M. Sc.) -- University of LImpopo, 2019 / Refer to document

Thesis (M.Phil. (Environmental Law and Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2009 / In recent years, a lot has been said about global warming and climate change. Governments and Institutions have been congregating more frequently all over the world. The subject of global warming and climate change is believed to be a ticking time bomb, which can have catastrophic effects on the existence of the human race and other living organisms. This led me to think and ponder about all our coastal towns in South Africa. What would happen if the melting of the glaciers continues and the sea levels rise by over two meters? This surely is a recipe for disaster and hence a look at the Western Cape Province was really necessary to find out on the province and the country‟s preparedness. Climate change has been scientifically proven to be occurring and is being aggravated by industrialisation1. With South Africa being the 19th Green House Gas (GHG) emitter in the world, the government should definitely take action by either mitigating or adapting to these effects.2 Rightly so, something is being done not only at national level, but at a regional and international level. A number of treaties, conventions and protocols to do with climate change and its related effects have been passed and ratified by most countries. The most notable international protocol is the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change‟s (UNFCCC) Kyoto protocol. At a regional level, New Partnership for Africa‟s Development (NEPAD) and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), have come in support of environmental initiatives like the Atmospheric Pollution Information Network for Africa (APINA). The Western Cape Province, in line with most of these agreements and national strategies, have come up with their own polices in trying to mitigate and/or adapt to climate change.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Plant Production)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / Changes in climate and land-use, collectively called environmental changes, have been a source of concern globally, particularly in dryland grasslands, where people still heavily rely on services from these ecosystems. Extreme climatic conditions have been projected to increase both in intensity and frequency globally. In semi-arid regions, drought is anticipated to occur more frequently and to last longer as a consequence of climate change. Moreover, as human populations continue to grow, there is an increase in demand for natural resources that are already diminishing. Consequently, the combination of these factors has a negative effect on the functions and services of the dryland grassland ecosystems. Therefore, to counteract the degradation of these socioeconomically significant ecosystems, it is vital to understand how these systems respond to the long-term effects of drought and grazing. Limpopo province is largely dominated by drylands; comprising arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid ecosystems. In Limpopo province, rangelands and agroforestry systems deliver important ecosystem services. Arable lands, rangeland, agroforestry, and orchards are three major land-use types contributing greatly to local livelihoods within Limpopo’s multi-use landscapes. Motivated by the above mentioned factors this study had the following objectives; (i) to review the impact of climate change on dryland grasslands, (ii) to evaluate ecosystem functioning through the assessment of climate related effects on taxonomic diversity and density demography from the grass layer, (iii) to analyse the effects of drought and grazing on the grass layer and to understand the factors affecting tree populations, particularly tree establishment patterns, (iv) to measure ecosystem service provision from the savanna ecosystem and also, to bridge the knowledge gap on the importance of biodiversity in an ecosystem. To achieve the aforementioned objectives, a comprehensive literature analysis was conducted on the effects of climate change on dryland grasslands to assess the magnitude of this impact and the existing understanding of vegetation dynamics in the face of climate change. The study also took advantage of the large-scale field experiment which evaluated, through precipitation manipulation, the impact of drought on grazed and ungrazed vegetation in the dryland grasslands of Limpopo province, South Africa, labeled drought Act experiment. In the Drought Act experiment, passive rain-out shelters and grazing ex-closure fences were set up to simulate a severe drought in combination with differing resting schemes of the rangeland. This was done in order to assess the effect of previous drought events on herbaceous vegetation. Grazing and drought treatments were implemented across four treatment plots per block, via a full factorial design. The study also took advantage of the steep gradient of climatic aridity in Limpopo province and used a space-for-time substitution to evaluate the effects of climate-induced risks and factors impacting the establishment of encroaching woody species under conditions of climate change. Two climate zones and soil types were selected; semi-arid vs. dry sub-humid zone, and Glenrosa soil vs. Hutton soil. Data analysis was executed using the R statistical software package. The examination of literature revealed that African dryland ecosystems are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change, resulting in biodiversity loss, structural and functional changes to the ecosystem, and a diminished capacity to deliver ecosystem services. Climate change’s most susceptible species and functions have a great potential to be utilized as early warning signs. Furthermore, precipitation manipulation experiments are a great tool for investigating the impact of climate change as they allow for precipitation reduction below the natural range. There is still a general lack of information regarding the effects that extreme climatic conditions have on ecosystems and the mechanisms that determine how ecosystems respond and recover from stress and disturbances. The Drought Act experiment showed that prolonged drought had a substantial and negative impact on the biomass output of the vast majority of taxonomic groups and plant functional types (PFTs). This reduction in biomass production from the grass layer results in limited grazing for livestock, which is a primary ecosystem service provided by dryland grasslands. However, the study revealed that few species and PFTs were resistant to the effects of prolonged drought and grazing. In general, the study showed that long-term drought and grazing winners were primarily forbs and narrow-leaved perennial grasses with low leaf area (LA) and high leaf dry matter content (LDMC). Furthermore, the negative impact of drought on the taxonomic richness and species per unit area and ultimately diversity, worsened as the drought period increased. Additionally, grazing exclusion (resting) was shown to have a negative influence on species richness, abundance, and diversity, especially over long periods of time. Bottom-up mechanisms such as soil type had a greater impact on the establishment, recruitment, and survival of invading woody species than top-down mechanisms such as precipitation. In addition, the significant correlation that was established in the study between the age of trees and the circumferences of their stems, measured at breast height, provided evidence that non-destructive methods of estimating the age of trees are feasible. Further development of non-invasive approaches in the field of dendrochronology is also made possible by these findings. The findings of this thesis indicate, on the whole, that; to gain a better understanding of dryland vegetation dynamics in the face of drought, researchers need to investigate further the impact of climatic extremes on ecosystem functions and services. Moreover, winners and losers of long-term drought can be distinguished by their unique characteristics; hence, taxonomic groups and functional characteristics could be utilized as early markers of veld degradation, which would permit timely management interventions. The negative impact of long-term drought and grazing on the grass layer limits the ecosystem’s capacity to carry livestock and wildlife for extended periods, thus impacting the livelihoods of the people who rely on these ecosystems. In addition, the tendency of higher tree establishment in lower rainfall years suggests that drought could be a driving factor for woody vegetation propagation. The trait-based approach is very instructive when it comes to researching the dynamics of vegetation in dryland grasslands. This is especially true when considering the effects of changing climate and land-use. This study has contributed to a better knowledge of the ecosystem function under changing climate and land-use, which is the basis of enhancing the resilience of different land-use systems and reducing risks to ecosystem functions and services while optimizing production. / NRF, DAAD, UL, SALL net, Universitat Potsdam

This study emanates from the worldwide issue of climate change, as well as the need for all nations to make an effort to reduce their carbon emissions and move towards greener economies. It delves into South Africa's current command-and-control environmental enforcement regime and highlights the pitfalls that allow major air polluters to avoid sanction of any form in many instances. This poor environmental enforcement and compliance effectively means that South Africa is unlikely to be capable of meeting targets set under international agreements. The study confirms that environmental enforcement is inadequately addressed in South Africa. This is attributable to the inherent shortcomings of command-and-control approaches, including that they are inflexible and offer few incentives for firms to modify behaviour to reduce emissions. Poor enforcement of environmental legislation results in negative externalities caused by air pollution being borne by people who did not create such pollution. The study therefore advocates the use of market-based mechanisms as an alternative to traditional command-and-control approaches to environmental enforcement. In light of the South African government's recent publication of the Draft Carbon Tax Bill, carbon taxes as a subset of market-based environmental enforcement mechanisms have the potential to better enforce the polluter pays principle. Mexico, arguably the most forward-thinking developing nation in terms of climate change mitigation, has taken numerous steps towards meeting international commitments, including the implementation of a carbon tax. While South Africa's proposed carbon tax does differ from Mexico's in some respects, the basic premise remains the same and some comparisons can be made in this regard, with accompanying lessons to be learned. Such lessons include that it is imperative that the carbon tax must be set at a high enough rate to meet international commitments whilst at the same time avoiding adverse economic effects, maintaining social welfare and stabilising economic output levels. The proposed carbon tax, while unable to achieve this on its own, is a good place to start and should be utilised in conjunction with the Draft Climate Change Bill to effectively and efficaciously bring about the required change. The proposed carbon tax undoubtedly has the potential to better hold major air polluters responsible for their CO2 and other GHG emissions. / Private Law / LL. M.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)