Forestry, Fisheries and Environment Minister Dr Dion George. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/Independent Newspapers
Durban — There will be a number of key matters up for discussions around South Africa at the 8th Session of the Ministerial on Climate Action (MoCA) under way in Wuhan, China, until tomorrow.
The Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Dr Dion George, is attending the bi-annual meeting to discuss key issues related to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations at the upcoming Conference of Parties (COP29).
These include the need to finalise the rules around carbon markets, adaptation indicators, the Just Transition Pathways Work Programme, the Mitigation Work Programme, and the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on finance.
George said that it was important to ensure a balanced agenda that addresses issues critical to developing countries and to pressure developed countries to fulfil their commitments.
The BASIC group (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) plays a pivotal role in unifying developing countries and providing leadership in climate negotiations. George said that South Africa traditionally played a key role in the UNFCCC process, helping to secure consensus outcomes, including through special co-facilitation and chairing roles being conferred to successive South African Presidents and Ministers at Climate Summits and COPs over the past two decades.
He said that such meetings were important because the negotiations were often deadlocked at the technical level due to geopolitical tensions and the national interests at stake.
According to George, South Africa reaffirms its unwavering solidarity with fellow members of the Global South, and he regarded the BASIC group as a key strategic platform for articulating and advancing the interests of developing countries towards a more sustainable, just and equitable international order.
In his speech at the 8th ministerial meeting, he said climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our generation. Already, southern Africa is amongst the most impacted regions due to multiple factors, including heavy dependence on climate-sensitive sectors, low adaptive capacity, poverty and underdevelopment, and limited access to finance and technology.
He added that we cannot make our societies more sustainable and resilient and avoid loss and minimise damage without the appropriate scale of public finance that does not exacerbate the indebtedness of our countries, or without the support of the private sector.
“South Africa, like most other African and developing countries, is facing a very serious economic situation, with pressing development challenges including high unemployment and poverty rates. The climate crisis is adding another setback on our development path, and we appeal for international solidarity and support,” George said.
“At the same time, the economic transition to a low-carbon future presents an unprecedented opportunity for transformative change. We are faced with a number of transitions, including the energy transition – driven by changing economics and technology; a transport transition towards electric mobility; transitions in industry and agriculture; and transitions which are driven by climate change impacts in agriculture and other sectors. We are clear that we must leave no one behind and ensure that workers and communities benefit from these transitions and are not its victims.
“We are therefore fully committed to the vision of the COP28 UAE Consensus of all-of-economy and all-of-society just transition pathways that address both the international and national dimensions of climate justice and international equity. Fair-trade and reform of the global financial architecture are amongst the key international enablers.”
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