Briefing the portfolio committee on forestry, fisheries and the environment, Environment Minister Barbara Creecy and deputy director-general of climate change and air quality management Maesela Kekana outlined South Africa's positions and desired outcomes for the major UN climate summit.

In a briefing to Parliament's portfolio committee on forestry, fisheries and the environment on Tuesday, South Africa's negotiating team for the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) outlined their focus for the conference in Dubai from 30 November to 12 December.

According to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, the COP28 outcomes should support the implementation of the Convention and its Paris Agreement which seeks to hold the global average temperature increase to below 1.5°C above pre-industrial temperatures. Beyond this threshold and especially beyond 2°C of warming lies what is sometimes referred to as "dangerous climate change".

At the meeting on Tuesday, Environment Minister Barbara Creecy and Maesela Kekana, the deputy director-general of climate change and air quality management, shared insights into the country's official positions and desired outcomes.

They also explained that South Africa will emphasise:

Continuing the momentum of global economic reforms, including those of multilateral development banks, and significant debt restructuring for developing countries;Addressing the speed and trajectory of progress toward a sustainable, just and equitable society, bridging the gap between pledges and actual implementation;Advocating for a specific, substantially scaled-up, long-term financial goal for...