In anticipation of next week’s Cabinet announcement, law clinic the Centre for Environmental Rights has requested that President Cyril Ramaphosa make environmental governance a priority and appoint committed Ministers to lead institutional reform. The CER has written to Ramaphosa with recommendations for the Presidency to create a Climate Change portfolio and a new Department of Energy and Climate, and has also advised that the Department of Water and Sanitation not merge with another department. With climate change severely threatening the planet, the CER wants the new Cabinet to prioritise climate considerations across all spheres of government and to be proactive in dealing with the threat, which the CER says the government has done very little to address, thus far.
