Fossil fuels and the environment – alternative universes
[{“type”:”text”,”content”:”It is around this time that the various government departments table their budgets for the upcoming financial year. When presenting their budgets to the national assembly, cabinet members also use the opportunity to reflect on the past yearu2019s successes and shortcomings, and to highlight some of the initiatives and developments for the coming year.nnThe 2021/2022 budgets for the various government departments will be unique due to the health, social and economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic over the past 12-15 months. Government has had to reprioritise its intended activities to deal with the real and anticipated consequences of the ongoing global pandemic. As is to be expected, the department of healthu2019s budget for the 2021/2022 financial year is roughly 12.7% higher than last year.nnThe government departments that closely deal with or affect South Africau2019s natural resources, particularly the departments of forestry, fisheries and the environment (DFFE) and water and sanitation (DWS), have cut their budgets for 2021/2022 by roughly 2.7% and 1.8%, respectively. The department of mineral resources and energy (DMRE) similarly budgeted roughly 1.7% less than for the previous financial year. nnIt is, however, particularly interesting to compare the budget speeches by cabinet members on what should (supposedly) be common policy issues. This yearu2019s budget speeches by Minister Barbara Creecy (DFFE) and Minister Gwede Mantashe (DMRE) on South Africau2019s energy/fossil fuels and climate change planning and initiatives were particularly dissonant.”,”position”:0,”id”:”qwRqyb1DHkiD1SWY”}]