SA Wants Doha Climate Conference to Move Negotiations Forward

The South African government wants the upcoming climate change conference in Doha to move the negotiations forward, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Maite Nkoana-Mshabane said on Tuesday.

It is also important to ensure that environmental integrity and credibility of the process can be maintained and that the outcomes of COP17/CMP7 are implemented, Maite Nkoana-Mshabane said in a statement issued here.

The minister said she will lead a delegation to Doha, Qatar, for the COP18/CMP8 Conference, scheduled to take place from Nov. 26 to Dec. 7.

Nkoana-Mshabane was President of the 17th Session of the Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 7th Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP17/CMP7), held in Durban, South Africa late last year.

"As we hand over to Qatar, it is important that we remind ourselves of the achievements that were recorded in Durban, which are comprehensively documented in the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action," she said.

The first is the closure of the Ad hoc Working Group –Long term Cooperative Action, as agreed to in Durban. This should entail the adequate treatment of unresolved political issues, as well as comparability of effort by those countries who are not party to the Kyoto Protocol, the minister said.

In the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Kyoto Protocol, South Africa will be working towards the adoption of the amendment to Annex B of the Kyoto Protocol, which will establish the second commitment period, according to the minister.

In the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action, South Africa will pursue the adoption of a plan of work to enhance ambition, not only in mitigation but also in adaptation and in the means of implementation as well.

Though at different stages of maturity, it is vital that progress is made in all three ad hoc working groups to ensure that the outcome in Doha is balanced and successful, she stressed.