S Africa Wants Climate Talks to Set Higher Level for Emission Reduction

The upcoming climate talks in Durban should set a higher level for emission reduction, South African Minister of Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa said on Thursday.

The emission reduction targets which world governments have put on the table were so low that they would set the world on a path of a 3°C to 4°C degree warming, Molewa said in remarks published by local newspaper Cape Towns.

At the climate talks in Mexico last year, governments agreed to keep global warming to a maximum of 2°C - the highest scientists say the world can go to avoid dangerous climate change.

Molewa said the "low level of ambition" to reduce emissions was worrying, and would not enable the world to tackle the challenge of climate change effectively.

The collective targets of nations added together was still insufficient, she noted.

"That level of ambition is still very low. Science tells us we are required to keep temperatures to less than 2°C. Where we are now, we will be between 3°C to 4°C.

"The levels of emission cuts have got to be more than they are today. Whether countries will be prepared to do that is another story," Molewa said.

Molewa said while South Africa was committed to getting a legally-binding outcome for emission reductions, it was unlikely to happen in Durban.

From Nov. 28 to Dec. 9, delegates from nearly 200 countries will meet in Durban for the COP 17, formally the 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 7th Session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the parties (CMP7) to the Kyoto Protocol.

The Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC has been meeting annually since 1995 to assess progress in dealing with climate change.

What COP17 had to deliver was some form of agreement on a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol.

The protocol is the only legally-binding international instrument to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The first commitment phase, where developed nations signed up to legally-binding emission cuts, ends next year.

There are conflicting points of view over the need to extend the protocol. The United States has made it clear that it would not sign up for an updated Kyoto Protocol, while the Europe Union says it can accept a continuation with condition that other big nations show seriousness about major cuts in the coming years.

Canada, Japan and Russia have also refused to sign on for a second commitment period, objecting to the lack of legal constraints on the world's biggest carbon polluters.

Developing countries like South Africa and China want to extend the agreement.

"We really are committed to getting a legally-binding outcome, whether it will be now or in 2020," Molewa said.