Ramaphosa says natural disasters are affecting the country's public finances

JOHANNESBURG - President Cyril Ramaphosa says the increasing frequency of natural disasters is having a serious impact on the country's public finances.

Writing in his newsletter on Monday, Ramaphosa says disasters on one hand affect economic growth and lower tax revenues. 

He says they also require increased expenditure on disaster relief, health care and other forms of social support for affected communities on the other hand.  

But in an effort to find solutions and protect the country in the face of climate change, the National Treasury will host a symposium this week on financing the country’s climate response. 

Ramaphosa returns to Cape Town for the opening of Parliament this week to a city that's been battered by heavy rains and severe flooding. 

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The president says the severe storms that have lashed parts of the Western Cape over the past week are a devastating reminder that extreme weather is becoming more frequent and intense. 

He says the National Treasury's symposium this will be in partnership with the Presidential Climate Commission. 

Ramaphosa says the "critical" seminar brings together representatives from government, industry, academia, civil society as well as climate experts to discuss how to ramp up climate action across the economy. 

The president says the symposium on building resilience in the country's economy is informed by both national and global realities, adding that developing countries carry "the least responsibility historically" for the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.