'Ubuntu welcome' for COP 17 delegates
10 October 2011
With less than 50 days to the kick-off of the UN climate summit in Durban, South Africans have been urged to get ready to welcome about 20 000 high-profile delegates from 194 countries in the "ubuntu style" they demonstrated during the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
The 17th Conference of Parties (COP17) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) takes place at Durban's International Convention Centre from 28 November to 9 December.
Speaking at the 50-day countdown to COP17 - including the 7th meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP7) - in Soshanguve on Saturday, International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said climate change had become "the most pressing sustainable development issue of our times.
"We all feel the impacts of climate change in the increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, coastal erosion and flooding as a result of rising sea levels, increase of the occurrence of certain diseases, loss of biodiversity and economic impacts, and an increase in the number of environmental refugees," she said.
Finding consensus among the diverse group of the 194 member states of the UNFCCC would be no simple task, the minister acknowledged. "The conference in Durban will not be an easy meeting," she said.
'Accountable to the global citizenry'
"However, it will be in Durban where parties will be held accountable to the global citizenry - ordinary people that suffer daily from the impacts of climate change and who have high expectations from their leaders to show leadership by being responsible, but also bold enough to find effective solutions to the threat that climate change presents to their livelihood, quality of life, dignity, and in many cases, their very existence on Earth."
COP17 afforded an ideal opportunity to shape the future global response to climate change, the minister added.
"As the incoming COP17/CMP7 president, we have appealed to parties arrive at COP17/CMP7 with the willingness to compromise and yield from their current positions.
"There is a resurging sense that agreement and progress in Durban are possible if parties are willing to shoulder their responsibilities and properly fulfil their leadership roles."
Nkoana-Mashabane said that during her recent visit to Panama - where a session of the UNFCCC in preparation for Durban took place - it was evident there that there was urgency among negotiators and groups to finalise a text to serve as the basis for negotiations in Durban.
This, she added, gave her renewed hope that an acceptable and credible outcome could be reached in Durban.
"It is therefore our duty ... to spare no effort to make sure that parties to the convention find common ground and that they are able to agree on a fair, transparent and credible outcome we all want."
Nkoana-Mashabane said South Africa was well on track with its preparations for the event, including aspects such as accommodation and venue preparation, security, protocol support and transport.
