South Africa is gearing up to secure increased climate finance pledges at the upcoming United Nations COP29 conference.
The country's Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Dion George, highlighted the need for enhanced financial support during national stakeholder consultations held on Monday.
COP29, set to take place in Baku, Azerbaijan from November 11 to 22, aims to establish the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance, a pivotal development for nations like South Africa.
Minister George emphasized that current climate financing mechanisms fall short in both scale and effectiveness. "COP29 presents an opportunity to advocate for innovative and improved financial frameworks that can mobilize substantial resources more efficiently," he stated.
He outlined South Africa's hopes that the conference will accelerate the provision of financial, technical, and capacity-building resources. This support is crucial for developing countries to achieve their nationally determined contributions and national adaptation plans.
"Access to finance must be significantly scaled up to offer new, additional, and predictable funding that is fit for purpose," George explained. He called for grants and highly concessional financing to create enabling environments for rapid investments in clean technologies, aiming to unlock and leverage greater amounts of public and private finance.
By de-risking investments and introducing new asset classes for sustainable initiatives, South Africa seeks to mitigate climate risks, enhance resilience, and pursue inclusive and sustainable development.
