Today, we had an opportunity to interact with two critical stakeholder and partner groupings in KZN, being the Executive Council of the Provincial Government, led by Premier Zweli Mkhize and  representatives of  C17 (the civil society secretariat) responsible for mobilisation of South African civil society and social movements ahead of the Durban Conference.

We had an opportunity of presenting our preparations to the provincial executive, followed by constructive discussions with the executive council giving us the assurance that the province was ready to host and support national government-led efforts to find developmental opportunities to the challenge of climate change, and to rally behind the emerging national climate policy as espoused in the daft “White Paper on Climate Change”.

The discussions concluded on the need to scale-up the greening and legacy projects being mooted for the COP17, to ensure that, the impact of the conference on the people of KZN, maintained and sustained, beyond the conference, this should include, benefits for small players industries like tourism, arts, culture etc.

The KwaZulu Natal province through the Provincial Planning Commission was already abreast with its long term planning , which will mainstream  a Carbon Outlook for the province, as well as integrated adaption actions and plans.  The province will further host the Provincial Climate Change Summit on 27 September 2011 to consolidate its contributions to the national negotiating position and the white paper, both of which are in final draft, ready for presentation to the national cabinet for approval.

The Summit is one in a series of those planned across the country in collaboration with various provincial governments, with the sole purpose to educate, inform, engage and raise awareness about climate change.

The Minister and the delegation from the Department also had the benefit of receiving a briefing from C17 Civil Society Secretariat on preparations for the NGO activities taking place in the lead-up to COP 17.

In the context of declining donor-support for non-governmental organisations, representatives of civil society raised their plight for technical support and financial contributions to ensure that the voice of non-state actors is not lost.  One of the issues raised by civil society was the need to continue to consult on the key targets and programmes as envisaged in the Climate Change Policy, as well as joint programmes and partnerships to raise awareness and the development of local community-led and driven projects in climate adaptation.

We assured the NGO community, that government will support both the Global Day of Climate Action (Peoples March) on 3 December 2011 and other events and activities during the COP, because we believe that as we meet at the Durban ICC, voices of peoples of the world must continue to alert us to the urgency of the challenge we face.

The department has committed to establish a Participation Fund to substantially contribute to the costs of South African youth, women, rural communities, media and NGO participation, in global NGO preparations alongside the remaining pre-COP negotiations meeting, taking place in September and October.

With three months remaining ahead of COP 17, we believe that the interest of South Africa and those of the developing countries should not be compromised in Durban, and should endeavour to bring every stakeholder voice to the ears of our negotiators in securing a balanced outcome.

For Media Enquiries Contact:

Blessing Manale: Deputy Director General: COP17 Outreach and Communication
Cell     : 083 677 1630
Email: bmanale@environment.gov.za
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STATEMENT BY THE HEAD OF SOUTH AFRICAN DELEGATION URGING CANADA TO ENTER THE SECOND COMMITMENT PERIOD OF KYOTO PROTOCOL

 South Africa would like to urge Canada to reconsider their position not to enter into the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol.

South Africa believes the Climate Change talks must be inclusive to assist the process of ensuring a balanced outcome to emerge from the current talks. The effects of climate change are real and already here with us. South Africa would like to call on Canada and other developed countries to ensure that they heed the call made by the developing countries particularly in Africa and the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) who feel the brunt of Climate Change effects.

The Kyoto Protocol is an important first step towards a truly multilateral rules based legally binding global emission reduction regime, that will stabilise GHG emissions, and provides the essential base for international agreement on climate change involving the participation of all countries in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and capabilities.

The Kyoto Protocol is an international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The major feature of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets up multilaterally agreed rules governing binding targets for the 37 industrialised countries for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These amount to an average of five per cent reduction in GHG emissions below 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012.

For Media Enquiries
Albi Modise
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