PRETORIA (CU)_South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa was invited to the G7 Leaders’ Summit session on Climate and Nature in Cornwall, UK, in recognition of his country’s leadership in the global and region battle against the pandemic. Speaking to the leaders of the 7 most industrialised nations, the South African president noted that the climate crisis requires the most urgent, ambitious and collective action across the globe. “Our ambition must not be limited to mitigation but must necessarily include adaptation and implementation support,” he said, adding “this balance is vitally important for Africa, which is disproportionately affected by the impact of climate change and yet is the lowest emitter,” he said.
Accordingly, Ramaphosa told his fellow leaders that South Africa is determined to contribute its fair share in global efforts to address the crisis. “South Africa gives its continued full support for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Paris Agreement and multilateral environmental agreements such as the UN Convention on Biological Diversity,” he said.
During the Summit, he also revealed that South Africa recently established a Presidential Commission on Climate Change which aims to guide the country in its transition to a greener economy, thereby making it an attractive destination for climate finance. He further noted that these bold efforts of South Africa, as a developing nation, should be viewed in the context of differentiated responsibility based on capabilities.
Accordingly, Ramaphosa called on G7 member states, the US, the UK, Canada, Germany, France, Italy and Japan, to enhance cooperation in fighting this global crisis. “As we prepare for COP26 and commit to scale up our climate action ambitions, we look to the G7 to demonstrate a clear commitment to significantly enhanced adaptation, technology transfer and means of implementation,” he said.
