Purpose: To advance environmental sustainability and resilience for socio-economic development through the protection and promotion of sustainable use of natural resources in support of accelerated economic recovery.

Sub-programme: Environmental Governance, Planning and Climate Change Purpose:

• To develop instruments, mechanisms and institutions to ensure sound co-operative environmental governance, in the implementation of sustainable development frameworks;
• To conduct environment research in order to generate knowledge that would support sound decision making resulting in innovative approaches to the management of the environment;
• To provide sustainability monitoring and reporting through generation, management and dissemination of environmental information for improved decision making and on-going strategy development, and
• To facilitate climate change management within the province.

Sub-programme: Environmental Governance, Planning and Climate Change

Purpose:To meet the strategic outcomes of minimizing or eliminating the risks to the impacts of Climate Change by embarking on a concerted and cohesive plan that will address the impacts of Climate Change through scientific and technological means based on mitigation; adaptation and increased awareness to vulnerable communities.

Sub-Programme: Compliance, Monitoring and Enforcement Management

Purpose:

• To achieve effective, integrated and coordinated compliance monitoring and enforcement of environmental legislation in the Province
• To conduct investigations relating to environmental crimes

Sub-Programme: Environmental Quality Management

Purpose:

• To facilitate environmental impact mitigation and promote sustainable development;
• To facilitate air quality management;
• To support municipalities in the processing of Air Emission Licensing
• To promote the waste management hierarchy (waste minimization, cleaner production, reuse/recycling, treatment;
• To provide management, strategic and specialist support and direction for pollution and waste management programmes in KwaZulu-Natal.

Sub-Programme: Coastal and Biodiversity Management

Purpose:

• To contribute to the protection of strategic water resources in the province;
• To control the spread of invasive alien plants in communal, public and private terrestrial biomes; and
• Coordinate, facilitate and promote effective integrated coastal management for sustainable coastal development and resource use.

Sub-Programme: Environmental Management Empowerment Services

Purpose: To empower the citizens of KwaZulu-Natal to participate in environmental matters and decision making so as to ensure the sustainable use and protection of the environment of KwaZulu-Natal through appropriate capacity building and empowerment mechanisms.

• Promote awareness of environmental rights and responsibilities
• Implement Environmental Education programmes to assist with the integration of EE into formal education structures; and
• Build environmental capacity within the Province