South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi, is in Nagoya, Japan for the High Level Ministerial Segment of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) that will be held between 27 and 29 October 2010.
The meeting of parties – attended by 193 signatories to the Convention – started on the 18th October with officials’ meetings that paved the way for the High Level Ministerial Segment. The CBD is one of the Rio Conventions from the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. It came into force a year later with the objective of conserving biological diversity, sustainable use of its components and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of utilisation of genetic resources.
The High Level Ministerial Segment that is aimed at mobilising the political will as well as showing commitments and delivering strong messages from the high level representatives towards the implementation of comprehensive and robust measures for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. Deputy Minister Mabudafhasi is expected to deliver South Africa’s country message tomorrow at the High Level Segment.
‘“South Africa, as part of the developing countries and the Africa Bloc remains optimistic that on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS), the talks could and actually should deliver a just and legally binding agreement that we believe is a fair and reasonable direction to take in light of the need for a global regulatory mechanism to govern ABS,” said Deputy Minister Rejoice Mabudafhasi.
South Africa’s approach to the CBD is also informed by its approach to development as articulated in its biodiversity policy and legislative frameworks. The CBD's programme of work is organised around thematic programmes of works which set out key issues for consideration, identify potential outputs, and suggest a timetable and means for achieving these objectives.
South Africa is aware of the synergies between the work on biodiversity done by CBD and that on climate change by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). However, South Africa is taking a cautious approach that should not confound the CBD negotiations with the UNFCCC processes.
The Deputy Minister reiterated South Africa’s commitment to the REDD+ (REDD Plus) partnership, which is a constructive and appropriate opportunity for the developed countries to fulfill their commitments in assisting developing countries with technical support. REDD+ Partnership is an initiative that was launched on the sidelines of the UNFCCC Cop 15 in Copenhagen, by the Australia, UK, USA, France, Norway and Japan to scale up funding and actions of REDD+ activities.
South Africa’s vision is that as far as possible the activities of the Work Programme of the REDD+ Partnership for 2011 and 2012 should remain in synch with the discussions under the UNFCCC. In this regard, “we anticipate that the Work Programme of 2011 and 2012 will provide greater clarity on the sources of finance and also the on the finances that reach developing countries”, concluded the Deputy Minister.
The success of post-2010 international arrangement rests on implementing international norms and effective tools that: (i) recognise the value of biological resources and associated traditional knowledge, and the rights of indigenous and local communities over such knowledge; (ii) ensure fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of these resources and associated traditional knowledge through financial and non-financial mechanisms; and (iii) harmonise levels of ambition for targets for biodiversity and for financial cooperation between developed and developing countries.
For media enquiries:
Peter Mbelengwa
Media Liaison Officer and Spokesperson for the Deputy Minister
Cell: +27 82 611 8197
E-mail: mbelengwap@dwa.gov.za
Albi Modise Chief Director: Communications, Department of Environmental Affairs
Cell: + 27 83 490 2871
