24 September 2013 -
The Minister of Water and Environmental
Affairs, Mrs. Edna Molewa has called for
the community of nations to arrive at an
agreement that recognises that desertification,
land degradation and drought (DLDD) is a
reality which has impacted negatively on
the livelihoods of humanity in a manner
that cannot be ignored anymore.
Minister Molewa was
addressing a High Level Segment of the eleventhsession
of the Conference of the Parties (COP 11)
to the United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification(UNCCD)held in Windhoek,
Namibia. South Africa is a signatory to
the United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification which it ratified in 1997.
The objective of the
Convention is to combat desertification
and mitigate the effects of drought in countries
experiencing serious drought and/or desertification,
particularly in Africa, through effective
action at all levels, supported by international
cooperation and partnership arrangements,
in the framework of an integrated approach,
with a view to contributing to the achievement
of sustainable development in affected areas.
COP11 is considering
an extensive agenda that includes the Ten
Year Strategic Plan and Framework within
the context of the report of the Committee
for the Review of the Implementation of
the Convention (CRIC) and the report of
the Committee on Science and Technology
(CST).
With climate change
and a global population set to reach 9 billion
by 2050, land and soil experts are getting
alarmed that the land resource may come
under excessive pressure to meet growing
food, water, energy and other demands. In
the context of the outcomes of Rio+20, the
global community is expect to deliberate
and take policy decisions that affirms why
it is more economical for countries and
the international community to put the measures
needed to avert land over-exploitation sooner
rather than later.
“It is better to deal
with the root causes of land and ecosystem
degradation rather than the symptoms, in
other words, if you can put in place appropriate
policies and practices that lead to the
prevention of degradation, this will be
the most efficient option than attempting
rehabilitation. We need to draw parallels
between the effects of climate change and
the resultant land degradation and drought,”added
Minster Molewa in her address.
Desertification is predictable,
avoidable and often reversible through the
restoration of degraded lands where feasible.
There are many strategies that can be adopted
to help save lives and livelihoods in drought-affected
communities. By reframing policies in terms
of drought preparedness and risk management,
as opposed to disaster response, investments
can be made that are much more cost-effective
and lifesaving than sending compassionate
aid after a crisis has occurred.
Through social and economic
interventions among vulnerable communities,
capacity and resilience to withstand the
effects of drought can be strengthened by
encouraging sustainable land management,
establishing early warning systems leading
to early actions, alternative livelihoods
to agriculture and pastoralism. The effects
of drought, especially among the world’s
poor, need not be so devastating.
The three principal
environmental conventions, the UNCCD, United
Nations Convention on Biodiversity (UNCBD)
and the UN Framework Convention for Climate
Change (UNFCCC) recognise that climate change
is one of the main challenges that require
adjustments on ecological, social, or economic
systems in response to actual or expected
climatic stimuli and their effects or impacts.
They all call for scaled-up overall mitigation
and adaptation efforts and therefore, it
is of paramount importance that developing
countries affected by land degradation are
able to confer the required priority in
the adaptation and mitigation actions at
national and regional levels.
The UNCCD has 195 Parties
to date. It was negotiated as an outcome
of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to address
the degradation of land in the arid, semi-arid
and dry sub-humid areas. Parties meet once
every two years, as a Conference, to assess
progress in implementation and take decisions
on future actions.
This special interactive
dialogue sessions, held from 23 to 24 September
2013, includes Ministers and other high
ranking officials. The High-Level Segment,
plenary discussions in the form of round-table
sessions offered an opportunity for political
authorities to examine responses to emerging
challenges as they relate to desertification,
land degradation and drought.
“While biodiversity
and healthy ecosystems provide wide-ranging
benefits to society on the whole, many communities
globally, and especially in Africa, depend
directly on the products from local ecosystems
for the majority of their food, energy,
water and medicinal requirements. The degradation
of ecosystems affects their ability to deliver
ecosystem services, which in turn has a
direct negative impact on human well-being
as well as socio-economic conditions, especially
for the poor”, added Minister Molewa.
It is within this context of climatic changes
that restoration of degraded land is an
objective of this Convention. Only 13.5%
of South Africa’s land surface area is considered
arable, or suitable for food production.
Every year an estimated 34 000 hectares
of farmland is converted for other purposes.
At this rate, by the year 2050 the experts
predict that there will be no more than
0.2 hectares per person available on which
to produce food in South Africa. A staggering
70% of all drylands are already classified
as degraded.
The session was preceded
by the interactive dialogue session with
Members of Parliament from the Country Parties
from 20 to 21 September 2013 in a form of
round-table discussions.
The Minister is accompanied
by Deputy Minister of Water and Environmental
Affairs, Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi, the South
African High Commissioner to Namibia, Her
Excellency, Ms. Mavivi Myakayaka-Manzini,
the Director-General of the Department of
Environmental Affairs Ms Nosipho Ngcaba
and other senior officials from national
and provincial governments.
+ More
Joint statement issued
at the conclusion of the 16th BASIC Ministerial
meeting on climate change
Foz do Iguaçu,
Brazil, September 15th and 16th 2013 - The
16th BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate
Change was held in Foz do Iguaçu,
Brazil, on 15th and 16th September 2013.
The meeting was attended by H.E. Ms. Izabella
Teixeira, Minister for the Environment of
Brazil, H.E. Mr. Eduardo dos Santos, acting
Minister of External Relations of Brazil,
H.E. Mr. Xie Zhenhua, Vice Chairman of the
National Development and Reform Commission
of China, H.E. Ms. Edna Molewa, Minister
of Water and Environmental Affairs of South
Africa, and H.E. Dr. V. Rajagopalan, Secretary
of the Ministry of Environment and Forests
of India. In line with the “BASIC-plus”
approach, Argentina, Fiji (Chair of the
G-77 & China), Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela
were also represented at the meeting.
Ministers declared their
full commitment to a successful outcome
of the Warsaw Climate Conference and pledged
their support to the Government of Poland
towards achieving a comprehensive and balanced
result in Warsaw, in an open and transparent,
inclusive and party-driven process.
Ministers reaffirmed that the process and
outcome of the Durban Platform for Enhanced
Action (ADP) should be guided by and be
in full accordance with all principles and
provisions of the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Ministers underscored
the need for a balanced approach between
all pillars of the Durban Platform – mitigation,
adaptation, finance, capacity-building,
technology development and transfer, transparency
of action and support. In this regard, they
underscored that an ambitious outcome of
the ADP should not rely solely on mitigation,
but should also address the other pillars
in a balanced and comprehensive manner.
Ministers committed
to contribute to a fair and effective result
of the ADP Workstream 1. They considered
that fairness and effectiveness will be
only achieved by upholding the principles
of equity and of common but differentiated
responsibilities and respective capabilities,
as enshrined in Article 3.1 of the Convention.
In this context, they emphasized the need
for commitments by all countries, and enhanced
action on all the pillars of the Durban
Platform. They recalled again that responsibility
for climate change, as contemplated in the
Convention, rests on all countries, differentiated
according to the extent to which they have
contributed historically to the urgent problem
which we now face, taking into account national
circumstances, capabilities, population,
development needs, in the context of equitable
access to sustainable development.
Ministers agreed that
the ADP negotiations should focus on the
provisions to be included in a protocol,
another legal instrument or agreed outcome
with legal force under the Convention. Ministers
considered that such provisions should be
in full accordance with the principles and
the structure of the Convention.
Ministers considered
it is important for the Warsaw Climate Conference
to encourage Parties to engage in domestic
consultations and preparations, in the context
of the ADP negotiations.
Ministers considered
that enhanced ambition by Annex-I countries
should not be contingent upon the adoption
or recognition of any market-based approaches.
With regard to the ADP
Workstream 2, Ministers stressed that the
pre-2020 ambition gap shall be primarily
addressed through the implementation of
the 2nd commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol
and the outcome of the Bali Action Plan.
Ministers reiterated their concern with
the inadequacy of developed countries’ current
commitments on emission reductions and provision
of financial and technological support.
Ministers noted that ensuring increased
financial, technological and capacity-building
support from developed countries for mitigation
and adaptation actions by non-Annex I Parties
is essential for enhancing the short-term
capacity of developing countries to contribute
to the global fight against climate change.
Ministers called for
the expeditious ratification of the amendments
to the Kyoto Protocol establishing the second
commitment period, emphasized the importance
of revisiting and then increasing ambition
of QELROs in 2014, and raising the ambition
of the comparable pledges in the same timeframe
by Annex I Parties not participating in
the second commitment period of the Kyoto
Protocol.
Ministers reiterated
the need for full implementation of previous
COP/CMP decisions, including through addressing
the pre-2020 finance gap and defining a
clear pathway to reaching the goal of providing
US$ 100 billion per annum by 2020. Ministers
underscored the importance of an early and
substantive operationalization and capitalization
of the Green Climate Fund.
Ministers highlighted the critical issue
of provision of adequate and predictable
support by developed countries for the implementation
of REDD-plus activities (paragraphs 70 and
71, decision 1/ CP. 16), including enhanced
coordination of financial support. They
called on all parties to the UNFCCC to reach
an agreement during COP-19 on results-based
payments to developing countries implementing
REDD-plus activities, including the conservation
and enhancement of carbon stocks. Ministers
underlined the imperative that REDD-plus
ensures environmental integrity and, in
this regard, stressed that results-based
payments shall not be used to offset mitigation
commitments by Annex I countries.
Ministers reaffirmed
the importance of multilateralism, science
and equity in addressing climate change
in accordance with the principles and provisions
of the Convention, and expressed their concern
over measures that attempt to circumvent
the principle of common but differentiated
responsibilities and respective capabilities.
In this regard, they reiterated that the
discussion on Market-Based Measures at the
International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO), including those measures undertaken
within national jurisdictions, should be
fully compatible with the principles enshrined
in UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol, and should
be based on mutual agreement and voluntary
participation. Ministers further reiterated
their strong opposition to any unilateral
measures on international civil aviation,
as well as any similar intentions in other
sectors.
Ministers agreed that
hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) should be dealt
with through relevant multilateral fora,
guided by the principles and provisions
of UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol. The availability
of safe and technically and economically
viable alternatives and the provision of
additional financial resources by developed
countries should also be taken into account.
Ministers reaffirmed
the commitment of BASIC countries to the
unity of G-77 and China and voiced their
support for further strengthening developing
countries positions at UNFCCC negotiations
through the G-77 and China.
Ministers welcomed the offer by China to
host the 17th BASIC Ministerial Meeting
in the fourth quarter of 2013.
