Forestry, Fisheries and Environment Minister, David Maynier, says the COP31 climate conference should provide solutions.
Turkiye is hosting the United Nations led climate change summit. This comes at a time when the world is facing major climate events, including the so-called ‘super El Niño’ phenomenon of Atlantic Ocean warming, which is bringing hotter and drier weather to South Africa.
Speaking to the SABC News after opening the South African Pavillion in Antalya, Turkiye, Maynier says Team South Africa’s message is clear and it’s time to deliver.
“I think everybody at COP realises and has mobilised around the main theme of COP31 here in Turkiye and that is to move from targets to actual implementation and it’s precisely for that reason that team South Africa is focused on climate finance and closing the finance gap for developing countries across the world,” adds Maynier.
The Minister says South Africa will continue to work with developing countries in pushing for climate finance. Maynier says the negotiators have covered a number of key issues to ensure that the climate summit succeeds.
“Team South Africa is firmly focused as negotiations have opened on closing the finance gap. Our early successes as the negotiating team was to ensure that what is called the Climate Financing Working Group was included on the agenda of COP, which I think was a huge victory for our negotiating team. We’re now working very closely with the African Group of negotiators also the Basic Group of negotiators.”