Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister, Dr Dion George, has assured of South Africa’s commitment to meeting its undertakings under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Paris Agreement.

George said South Africa is working on its second Nationally Determined Contribution, and the country has also committed to updating and submitting its first Biennial Transparency Report.

‘We will contribute our fair share and not make false promises that we are unable to keep,’ George said.

George was speaking at the Brazil, South Africa, India and China (BASIC) Ministerial Meeting held on Sunday, ahead of the 8th Session of the Ministerial Meeting on Climate Action (MoCA) taking place in Wuhan, China.

The Ministers responsible for climate change from the BASIC countries gathered for 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 includ
e 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.

In his opening remarks, George said South Africa is focused on implementing ambitious actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including through the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET-IP).

The implementation of this plan includes actions around electricity, electric vehicles and green hydrogen and, said the Minister, South Africa is interested in partnering with BASIC and other countries towards its implementation.

‘The Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) with some developed countries is only a small component of our much larger energy transition plan, which in turn is only one sector of the all-of-economy and all-of-society just transition we seek in line with the COP28 UAE Vision.

‘Our Parliament has adopted a Climate Change Bill [and] since 2011, when we outlined South Africa
‘s response to climate change in our National Climate Change Response White Paper, we have been putting in place the components of an integrated response. Now, this Bill will integrate all of these components into a robust legal framework, and mainstream climate action across government,’ George said.

For South Africa, progress is required in terms of emission reduction obligations, adaptation commitments and the means of implementation ‘to ensure that we are on track to achieving the 1.5-degree target, and that support for both adaptation and loss and damage will address all likely outcomes’.

The Minister said the country believes that COP29 should enable enhanced, effective and sustained international cooperation on both adaptation and mitigation (equally treated), to achieve the missing ambition in climate actions to date.

‘Developed countries’ commitment to providing adequate support to developing countries, is key for the Paris Agreement to be truly applicable to all. The global North should ensure no
backtracking on support obligations,’ the Minister said.

Ministerial on Climate Action

Meanwhile, MoCA, which is taking place on 22 -23 July 2024, is a key moment for ministers and senior climate diplomats to gather, coming shortly after the UNFCCC intersessional in June.

The meeting will be a chance to elevate sticky issues in climate negotiations to a higher political level.

MoCA is one of the platforms created at the initiative of individual States in support of the UNFCCC negotiations that seeks to identify issues of convergence and divergence at a political level, with a view to bridge building and exploring potential landing zones ahead of the COP.

Convened by China, the European Union (EU) and Canada, MoCA was initiated in 2017 to support the Paris Agreement and the multilateral climate process.

Source: South African Government News Agency