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SA to apply pressure at COP26 meeting

• Support needed for transition from fossil fuel and to weather effects of climate change better

Lisa Steyn steynl@businesslive.co.za

As SA prepares for the UN Climate Conference (COP26) next month, a delegation of government representatives, including environmental affairs minister Barbara Creecy, will press developed nations to provide financial support to SA and other emerging economies. This is needed not just to transition from fossil fuel but to weather the effects of climate change better, an effort that could run into trillions of dollars. The event, which begins in Glasgow on October 31, has been dubbed “the Ambition COP”, said Creecy, who on Friday provided an overview of SA’s expectations of the event.

As SA prepares for the UN Climate Conference (COP26) next month, a delegation of government representatives, including environmental affairs minister Barbara Creecy, will press developed nations to provide financial support to SA and other emerging economies.

This is needed not just to transition from fossil fuel but to weather the effects of climate change better, an effort that could run into trillions of dollars.

The event, which begins in Glasgow on October 31, has been dubbed “the Ambition COP” said Creecy who, on Friday, provided an overview of SA’s expectations of the event.

While the COP26 buzz in SA has largely been about a proposed green deal for Eskom, in terms of which the utility could accelerate the closure of its coalfired plants in return for grants and concessional finance, there is far more SA hopes to put on the table at the conference. SA is calling for enhanced action on funding for developing nations to adapt and build resilience in the face of climate change.

“All of us across the globe are starting to live through the implications of climate change. And for African countries and poor developing countries, the implications and the cost of adaptation and building resilience is enormous,” Creecy said.

“We want to make sure that of the finance that’s available, half of it must be for adaptation, and half for mitigation.

“Because in developing countries, for many of them, the major problem they face is an adaptation problem rather than a mitigation problem.”

Developed nations have not honoured a $100bn commitment to fund an energy transition in emerging economies. But this is in any case inadequate.

Creecy said Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) research suggests developing countries will need $3-trillion to $4trillion to finance adaptation and mitigation. “But we are not seeing the developed countries coming to the party with regard to the finance,” she said.

“We need to start with a floor of $100bn. We need to start to move that floor to $750bn a year by 2030.”

The problem is not just lack of finance. There is no secure financial stream reaching developing countries for adaptation. SA also wants to address article six of the Paris Agreement, which it believes should be leveraged to ensure a share of proceeds from carbon trading is used to finance adaptation.

“We don’t think that it’s possible to rely on voluntary contributions to deal with adaptation. We need a secure and predictable means of financing and we think it could be achieved under Article 6.2,” said Creecy.

For the first time, adaptation and strengthening of resilience of countries to climate change is a formal agenda item at COP. SA has proposed for discussion a target for “climate resilience”. The goal is that 50% of the world population should be climate resilient by 2030, and 90% by 2050. Creecy said the concept of climate resilience is flexible. “In SA, one of the aspects of climate resilience is access to water. If you are dealing with another country, one of the aspects of climate resilience might be protection from flooding.”

Also to be addressed are technical issues regarding differing formats, transparency and time frames. “It’s very important that we’re all using the same accounting system, so that we are able to compare apples with apples,” Creecy said.

The question of mitigation is likely to colour discussion heavily as nations face pressure to significantly reduce their carbon emissions targets. SA will deliver on this front as it recently committed to a far more drastic emissions cut under its cabinetapproved “nationally determined contribution”. In terms of execution, Creecy said what can be achieved beyond the minimum commitment depends on the financial support for SA.

While some have been left wondering how SA’s new emissions targets — as well as a possible accelerated decommissioning of coal plants — gels with the government’s energy policy and continued commitment to coal power, Creecy said the policy implications and required actions would be tackled as several ministerial work streams have been set up to address aspects of the revised nationally determined contribution.

While pro-coal comments from mineral resources & energy minister Gwede Mantashe have sent mixed messages to the public, Creecy said Mantashe’s concerns revolve on energy security, valid concerns as there are many instances of developed countries that rushed into decommissioning now experience “energy complexities”.

She also said that it is important to ask questions about how SA would be supported if it takes a decision to abandon its vast coal wealth.

The revised nationally determined contribution is a cabinet decision, which binds “all cabinet members and all departments”, Creecy said.

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2021-10-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-10-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

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