Kgalema Motlanthe, at the Socialist International (Si) Conference, Cape
Town
2 March 2009
Secretary General of the Socialist International, Mr Luis Ayala,
President of the African National Congress, Mr Jacob Zuma,
Members of the SI Commission for a Sustainable World Society,
Government Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Distinguished representatives of different political parties,
Excellencies,
Comrades and friends,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen
On behalf of the government and the people of South Africa, I take this
opportunity to embrace you all as well as extend a warm welcome to you.
I am truly honoured and privileged to have a moment to speak to you ahead of
your discussions on issues that are pertinent to our generation and to
posterity.
This meeting takes place at a time when the world is faced with serious
challenges brought about by the global financial crisis. While the extent of
this crisis is still to be determined, the world is already feeling its
devastating impact which is characterised by among others, a decline in the
global economy and massive job losses.
What, on the surface started off as a crisis among a few lending
institutions has exploded into a global credit crunch, with severe consequences
for production and trade.
The wisdom of hindsight suggests that this crisis could have been avoided if
all of us, especially the countries where the crisis started, had acted in time
to strengthen domestic regulation and supervision of the financial system.
The reality is that the crisis is with us and our focus should be on
mitigating its impact on our people and finding a sustainable and co-ordinated
solution.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Today you will be discussing issues related to sustainable development,
particularly the challenges posed by climate change and global warming.
The problem of climate change and other environmental challenges that the
world faces today were, to a large extent, caused by our behaviour and failure
as nations to take appropriate measures to preserve our planet.
As you know, Africa is one of the regions least responsible for climate
change, yet Africa is the most affected and Africa is also the least able to
afford the costs of adaptation. Our continent will remain vulnerable even if,
globally, emissions peak and decline in the next 10 to 15 years.
We believe that it is only once adaptation is accorded a higher priority in
our deliberations, that any agreement on the strengthening of the International
Climate Architecture can be considered balanced.
This is what came out very clearly when we hosted the 12th session of the
African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) in Johannesburg last
year. Our Environment Ministers do and must continue to provide the leadership
to translate public will into political will, and political will into action
and implementation.
Over the last decade, we have taken important steps in the right direction.
These include mainstreaming and integrating environmental concerns in other
areas of work in our respective governments and developing new scientific and
policy capacities. However, despite these achievements, there are also signs of
a stagnating and fragmented global regime for the environment and sustainable
development.
For us, the proliferation of environmental agreements, funds and entities
call for greater co-ordination and significantly increased resources. It also
calls for the further strengthening of Africa's voice and strategic leadership
in the debate on international environmental governance. We believe that Africa
working in concert with other countries should increasingly be in the forefront
of these debates, thereby ensuring that our concerns and interests inform
United Nations environmental reform.
Immediate challenges, which have particular relevance to this meeting,
include the improvement of coherence and co-ordination between different UN
agencies and bodies; eliminating the fragmentation of implementation,
scientific work and policy development; and addressing the huge resource gap
that has led to discrepancies between commitments and actions.
As government, we believe that the overriding challenge is to provide our
people with a better life and to eradicate the scourge of hunger and poverty.
It is therefore our sincere hope that this meeting will advance society towards
an efficient system of managing climate change and creating conditions for
sustainable development.
We feel greatly honoured that this meeting, taking place in South
Africa forms part of a programme of activities for 2009 which, I understand,
includes meetings of the Commission in China and in the USA, both in Washington
D.C and at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Ladies and gentlemen
Like many others, I know that your meeting is going to demonstrate that you
are also providing leadership in safeguarding the environment for future
generations, and meeting the multi-faceted challenges posed by climate
change.
I wish you a fruitful and enjoyable stay in our country and success in your
deliberations.
Forward to Leadership, Friendship and Solidarity!
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
2 March 2009
Source: SAPA
