President Cyril Ramaphosa says that South Africa needs to accelerate its transition to a cleaner economy, warning that extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense while the country’s biggest trading partners are shopping around for ‘greener’ pastures. While these events have a devastating impact on human lives, health and safety, they also carry massive risks for economic activity—the fallout of which risks carrying the human cost even higher. The president said that the extreme weather is evidence of the effects of climate change worsening, with heatwaves, severe storms, flooding and even uncharacteristic cold sweeping through parts of the country over the past few years.

GUEST: Dr. Peter Johnston, climate scientist at the University of Cape Town