Australia and South Africa welcome the signing on 5 February 2010 of a letter of intent by the Australian Minister for Trade, the Honourable Simon Crean MP, and the South African Minister for Water and Environmental Affairs, the Honourable Buyelwa Sonjica that will frame future bilateral cooperation on climate change matters.
Australia and South Africa have been cooperating on climate change matters under a climate change partnership since 2006. The 5 February signing of the letter of intent formalises continued cooperation under this partnership, which has helped build a constructive relationship through the implementation of practical and co-beneficial projects.
In responding to the challenges of climate change faced by both countries, Australia and South Africa have agreed to identify, develop and implement a further program of joint activities that will focus on the priority areas of:
* economic instruments to address climate change
* climate change impacts and adaptation in the agriculture sector
* climate change and biodiversity
* greenhouse gas emissions reporting and monitoring at national and entity levels.
It was also agreed that Australia and South Africa would exchange experiences and lessons learned on climate change policies and measures with a particular focus on clean coal technologies and regulatory and institutional frameworks.
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Issued by: Department of Environmental Affairs
5 February 2010
