The green economy inventory, one of three key programmes initiated by the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (Page) in South Africa, will be completed by the end of June.

Page national coordinator Najma Mohamed on Wednesday told delegates at the Sustainability Week, held in Tshwane, that this was a major milestone for the South African chapter of Page.

“The green economy inventory for South Africa will present a snapshot of the country’s progress towards a green economy transition,” she said.

She added that the inventory was a stock-taking initiative to gauge how far the country had come within the green economy space in the last five years, with a key focus on where investments were going and what was happening on the ground.

“It is an inventory of [green economy] initiatives to see whether jobs are being created and what potential social and economic benefits the local green economy has delivered [to date].”

She explained that the initiative acted as a guide to see where there was potential for further opportunities, as well as to see what type of technical support Page could offer the country [in the green economy space].

She pointed out that the other two Page initiatives that were being implemented in South Africa were the green economy learning assessment and the South African green industry and trade sector analysis.

“The green economy learning assessment will review existing institutional capacities to identify opportunities for action to strengthen green economy learning in South Africa,” said United Nations Institute for Training and Research climate change specialist Amrei Horstbrink.

She noted that Page wanted to engage with national universities so the next generation of policy makers in South Africa could implement knowledge about the green economy into their daily work activities.

“We are having our first roundtable discussions with universities on Thursday to come up with an action plan,” she said, adding that Page wanted to integrate initiative concepts into economics, agriculture and engineering courses.

She stated that Page would also identify priority learning needs in key sectors.

Meanwhile, the South African green industry and trade sector analysis would undertake an assessment of sectors that offered particular opportunities for green industrial development and exports.

“There are good, concrete activities around energy efficiency projects in South Africa. We want to bring different partners together on a government level and provide a forum for people to work better together in the green space, as well as scaling up our own activities,” Horstbrink said.

Mohamed pointed out that Page had a specific vision for growing South Africa’s green economy and ensuring its sustainable development.

Page also looked at specific sectors, regulations and policies that were needed to make a real difference to expanding South Africa’s green economy.

The development of resource-efficient, low-carbon and export-oriented industry could position South Africa in the development of green technologies, reduce dependencies on imports of clean technologies and ancillary services, and leapfrog brown technology segments.

Green industry promotion could also allow for integration into value chains for environmental goods and offer new trade opportunities that offer environmental, social and economic benefits to citizens.

“These foundational activities will support improved collaboration and coordination on green economy planning, learning and implementation processes in the country, as well as assist in the identification of country priorities.

“If government is willing to invest in and support green economy initiatives through Page, [the implementation] process will be clearer and more efficient,” Mohamed concluded.