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The Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs is satisfied with South Africa’s preparations for the 24th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP 24) that is scheduled to be held from 2 to 14 December 2018 in Katowice, Poland.
Today the committee received an update on the current status of the negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and progress on the implementation of the Paris Agreement. The committee is also pleased that the country has set key priorities stemming from the Paris Agreement where the South African leadership played a critical role. Priorities such as enough mitigation ambition to avoid dangerous human-made climate change, to have enough international financial, technology and capacity building support to make the whole system work and to have effective transparency to build trust and share experiences. These priorities are critical in ensuring that as a country, South Africa plays its part in participating globally in fighting climate change.
The Chairperson of the committee remarked that the Katowice climate change negotiations are very critical in the implementation of the Paris Agreement. The Katowice COP 24 is mandated to adopt the Paris Agreement Work Programme, which should set out the mechanism for the full implementation of the historic Paris Agreement and for this reason, it is the committee's wish that the global climate negotiations succeed for the sake of humanity.
The committee has noted the alarming report of the scientific advisory body to the UNFCCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which confirms that it is now evident more than ever before, that climate change is currently the greatest threat to humankind and that dramatic changes by all countries are urgently required in order to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.
