The Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Mrs Edna Molewa today departs for Warsaw, Poland to participate in the nineteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 19), under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The UNFCCC COP19 began in Warsaw on 11 November 2013, and will conclude on 22 November 2013.
Two years after the Durban United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP17), where negotiations were underway on the next steps to be taken to ensure an effective global response to the global challenge of climate change, COP19 is critical for setting the stage for achieving a global agreement in Paris at the end of 2015.
Under South Africa’s COP Presidency, COP 17 achieved the historic agreement on the Durban Platform and the initiation of negotiations on a new global legal instrument, applicable to all countries, to be adopted by 2015 and to be fully operational in 2020.
As recently stated by Minister Molewa, “South Africa expects that COP19 in Warsaw will most likely be a challenging meeting.” Highlighting South Africa’s expectations of the meeting, the Minister added: “The talks must ensure that progress is made with the implementation of decisions already taken under the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol. In addition, SA believes that work must advance under the Durban Platform so that negotiations on a new legal agreement can be concluded by 2015. This means that Warsaw must achieve agreement on a clear plan for negotiations towards COP20 in Lima, at the end of 2014, and COP 21, in Paris, at the end of 2015.”
South Africa aims to continue to secure the Durban legacy by showing leadership, and seeking creative solutions that build the necessary bridges between what often seems to be contradictory positions. To this effect South Africa will put forward its candidature to co-chair the Durban Platform negotiations in 2015.
The Minister goes to COP19 guided by South Africa’s National Climate Change Response Policy, which sets out the nation’s vision and framework for an effective response, and the long-term, just transition to a climate-resilient economy and society. SA’s policy objectives are to effectively manage the inevitable climate change impacts through interventions that build and sustain South Africa’s social, economic and environmental resilience and emergency response capacity; as well as to make a fair contribution to the global effort to stabilise greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations within a timeframe that enables economic, social and environmental development to proceed in a sustainable manner.
Responding to climate change is a cross-generational challenge. As part of this response, SA is working to reduce vulnerability to climate change impacts through interventions that build and sustain the country’s social, economic and environmental resilience and emergency response capacity.
The country is also at work to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Also, as with our participation at global forums such as COP19, SA is engaging intensively in the international climate change negotiations, to secure a fair, effective and multilateral rules-based global climate change regime.
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