Barbara Creecy, minister of forestry, fisheries, and the environment, has expressed concern about some industrialised nations turning back to coal as a result of their challenging domestic conditions.
At the same time that the Glasgow Climate Pact urged countries to phase out unchecked coal power and wasteful subsidies for fossil fuels,
We cannot allow developed country parties to reverse course. Developed nations must keep setting the example with bold initiatives.
The ultimate test of a nation’s capacity for climate leadership is not what it does when it is convenient or comfortable, but rather what it does when faced with difficulty or conflict, the Minister stated on Monday.
In Berlin, Germany, Creecy was speaking at the start of the 13th Petersberg Climate Dialogue.
“African countries presently lose three to five percent of their GDPs due to climate change.
Africa is regionally facing dramatic climate effects that the continent played a very small part in producing.
“A just, equitable transition in the developing world must be supported at the Conference of the Parties (COP 27).
We must quickly adapt while constructing our resilience for the future.
With the right amount of public funding that doesn’t increase Africa’s debt, we can only prevent loss and lessen damage, the minister said.
According to Creecy, South Africa is stepping up its climate action within the framework of just transitions and sustainable development.
We have completed our Just Transitions Framework, which will serve as the cornerstone for our long-term climate action, since the Conference of the Parties (COP 26).
In order to accomplish this, we have established a Task Team with our Partner nations—Germany, France, the UK, the United States, and the European Union (EU)—to draw an investment strategy for the Just Energy Transition Partnership, or JETP, launched in Glasgow.
The Climate Bill, which is presently before Parliament, establishes the legal foundation for the implementation of our nation’s climate pledges by the entire government, business, organised labour, and civil society.
But since COP 26, there hasn’t been much progress made in the UNFCCC’s international negotiations on important issues, which worries us greatly.
Process-related issues continue to ensnare talks on loss and damage, finances, adaptation, and the right transition.
Certain developing nations received harsh criticism in Glasgow last year for highlighting their specific circumstances in respect to some of the goals of the Glasgow Climate Pact.
However, less than six months after Glasgow, we are seeing many affluent nations return to coal as a result of their unfavourable domestic conditions, she said.