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Compiled by the Government Communication and Information System Date: 17 Jan 2008 Title: SA, Norway to discuss climate change in Africa -------------------- By Luyanda Makapela Cape Town - An important meeting will get underway Friday to discuss the pressing issue of climate change in Africa, and attempt to craft solutions for its management. Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk will host Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg on Friday for roundtable discussions on climate change and focus on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the impact of this phenomenon for Africa. They will be joined by IPCC chairman Dr Rajendra Pachauri and the discussions will be followed by a press conference at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. The IPCC has highlighted the dramatic potential consequences of climate change, especially in Africa. The Panel has raised awareness of critical issues and continues to be pivotal to international and intergovernmental co-operation in responding to the climate change. At the Bali UN climate change conference in December last year, active support for developing countries was identified as key to global success against climate change. Speaking at the sidelines of the conference, Noeleen Heyzer, the executive secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) said developing countries would not be able to continue economic growth and take adequate climate action unless there was technology transfer. During his visit to South Africa, Sir Nicholas Stern said Africa could benefit from global initiatives for clean energy investment, reduced deforestation and development of global public goods. The former World Bank Economist authored the 700 page Stern Review Report on the Economics of Climate Change. He is also Head of the UK Government's Economics Service. African leaders, he said, had an important role to play in shaping the international debate. Costs of climate change could be reduced through both adaptation and mitigation - but adaptation was the only way to cope with the impact of climate change over the next few decades, said Sir Stern. The report notes that while the most serious impact of climate change would fall on the poorest countries, the developed world would be far from immune. - BuaNews |
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