President Jacob Zuma has urged the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change to work closely together to make the Paris Agreement a success.
"Climate change is a global challenge that requires no one to be left behind. The whole world affirmed this in Paris and Marrakech when the Paris Agreement entered into force on the 4th November last year," said President Zuma on Monday.
The President was speaking at the Meeting of the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC) at the United Nations (UN) Headquarters in New York.
The CAHOSCC meeting is hosted by the African Union Commission (AUC) on the margins of UN General Assembly (UNGA) taking place in New York in preparation for the 23rd Conference of the Parties (COP 23) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The meeting involves 13 African member countries of the CAHOSC.
President Zuma said negotiations on the Paris rule-book must remain on track and ensure that there is sufficient clarity on parties' commitments under their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) on mitigation, adaptation and means of implementation.
This will ensure that Africa's key sectors are prioritised in the Implementation of NDCs, while also enhancing efforts towards poverty alleviation.
President Zuma is confident that international solidarity will prevail at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP23, which will take place from 6 – 17 November in Bonn, Germany.
"Developing countries should be provided with adequate support for their mitigation and adaptation actions and progress should be made on a post-2020 finance goal that should be significant more than the 2020 goal of US$100 billion per year in climate finance," the President said.
