Home

Molewa confident Canada will change its mind

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The Minister of Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa, says they will engage further with Canada in order for them to sign a second commitment to the Kyoto Protocol. Yesterday, Canada announced that it will not be supporting the Protocol. Japan has also pronounced that it won’t support the deal either. “It is still to early for any party to pronounce that they won’t commit (to the Kyoto Protocol). We do believe and confident we will find one another before negotiations end,” Molewa said.
The Minister says leaving Durban with no deal will leave the SA government in a bad position. The African continent and other developing countries are hoping that COP 17 will recommit to the second phase of the Kyoto Protocol which expires next year. And also inject money into the Green fund which will help them fight Climate Change effects.
Molewa says the climate change negotiations have to be successful as they are crucial for Africa’s development. “For Africa, the successes of the climate change talks is central since it is projected that by 2080, about 70 million people and about 30% of Africa’s coastal infrastructure could face the risk of coastal flooding because of rising sea level.” She says South Africa is carrying the aspirations of Africa and parties who are hoping for the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. “The outcome of COP17/CMP17 must ensure that all countries acknowledge that the effects of Climate Change on the planet, its people and economies are not ignored and that we all have a responsibility to save the globe for the future generation.”
She acknowledged that climate change effects cannot be only fought by a single country or small group of country but that it should be a global effort. The Minister says she is aware that climate change has the potential to undermine SA’s major developmental gains. She says government has already started implementing commitments made by President Jacob Zuma in Copenhagen towards a low carbon future.

– By

Author

MOST READ