Cape Town - Western Cape Premier Helen Zille says the “green economy” has the potential to help solve the country’s biggest problems of poverty and unemployment, but there is a need to get red tape out of the way.
Zille was speaking on Wednesday on the first day of the Sustain Our Africa Summit at the V&A Waterfront, which ends on Friday.
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She said the country already had the advantage of the sun, wind and ocean which could be harnessed to create “green” jobs. “We have the oil wells of the green economy here,” she said.
That was why the provincial government was looking to develop a “green hub” in Atlantis.
“We are hoping investors will come… there’s enormous interest but we need to get the red tape out of the way.”
She said the summit was important because ideas being discussed there were once “fringe ideas” and it was important to make them more mainstream.
Deon Robbertze, co-founder of Sustain our Africa, said the idea for the conference was born a year-and-a-half ago when he realised people did not understand what sustainability meant.
“If you put together a questionnaire with 10 questions on sustainability issues facing us, people will fail.
“People do not understand the issues. We are trying to help them understand… and inspire them to come up with solutions,” said Robbertze.
Some of Wednesday’s speakers included journalist Leonie Joubert who spoke about why cities made people fat and sick.
There was also a debate on whether restoring the environment could restore the economy.
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