PRETORIA, Oct 18 (NNN-SA NEWS) — South African Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa has left for Fiji to attend a preparatory meeting of the 23rd Session of the Conference of Parties (COP23) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) taking place in the Pacific island nation on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Pre-COP 23 ministerial meeting will serve as a preparatory meeting ahead of COP23 and the 13th Session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 13), to be held in Bonn, Germany, from Nov 6 to 17 under Fiji’s presidency.

The Department of Environmental Affairs said here Tuesday that the Pre-COP23 agenda seeks to advance the work programme under the Paris Agreement as well as climate action agenda during the pre-2020 period. The objectives of the meeting include enhancing mutual understanding of political priorities and views by countries through enabling High-Level political discussion on key issues.

The meeting will also provide an opportunity for the informal exchange of view on the expected outcomes for COP23. The early entry into force of the Paris Agreement on 4 November 2016 is an indication of the commitment of Parties to the UNFCCC to adapting to, and mitigating the effects of climate change,” the statement added.

COP23 will be crucial for technical teams to continue the good work that they have been doing to ensure that clear elements of the Paris Agreement Work Programme are agreed to that can be converted into text early in 2018.

The department said South Africa hoped that the Bonn climate change conference would not only take stock of work required to fully implement the Paris Agreement, but provide assurances that the political balance of the Paris Agreement is upheld, and that all issues of importance to developing countries (including adaptation and means of implementation) will be addressed in the rule-book to be adopted before 2020.

It is our fervent hope that COP23 will not only focus on ensuring that commitments by developed countries in the pre-2020 period, including the provision of 100 billion US dollars per annum in climate finance to developing countries by 2020, are honoured but also that the efforts of developing countries to ensure that the Adaptation Fund serves the Paris Agreement are advanced. Despite opposition from developed countries and a diminishing revenue stream, Parties have agreed that the Adaptation Fund, created under the Kyoto Protocol, should also serve the Paris Agreement after 2020, Molewa said.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK