House Chairperson, hon Minister and hon members, let me take this opportunity to thank the Minister for her statement on our country's preparedness to host this august event and the progress made in that regard. In less than a month, we will be hosting the world in Durban to deliberate on what I regard as matters of life and death. This conference and meeting of parties are as much about climate change as they are about the future growth and development trajectory of the world, in particular that of the least developed nations and developing states. As repeated many times before, this will not be an easy Conference of the Parties.
The conference takes place when the world is facing, amongst other things, dire economic conditions, which are, of course, crystallised in occurrences in Greece, Spain and so on. Despite these difficulties, we must remain firm in our conviction that it is our responsibility to protect Mother Earth, and we must act now.
I concur with the Minister when she said it was clear that it was the end of the line for some of these pressing issues. We cannot delay any longer. During the World Economic Forum on Africa conference that was held in Cape Town in May 2011, President Zuma characterised this dilemma in the following manner when he said:
We have to be firm about who is responsible.
As a global community, we have no alternative but to respond to the challenges of climate change; we cannot wait, we need to act now.
The thing we have to be very firm about is, where are the problems and who is responsible for delaying us moving forward so that we can focus on those who are finding it very difficult. Of course, the problem is always the differing interests that come into play when we have to take very serious decisions. We need to persuade those who are finding it very difficult. For the sake of humanity, I think we need to take very concrete decisions. We are different. The common thing is that we are all being threatened. We have to react and act and contribute in different ways.
All of us have different capacities, different contributions to make - some of us would have no contribution to make.
In executing its constitutional mandate of exercising oversight and scrutiny over government action through its Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Co-operation, Parliament received briefings from the Minister and her department about our country's readiness to host the 17th Conference of the Parties, COP 17. We understand that the single most important task of the President of COP is to facilitate an ambitious and balanced outcome.
In spite of the cynicism of some people predicting that Durban will be the death and burial of the Kyoto Protocol, I have news for them - South Africa has never hosted a failed event, never in the past. Indeed, we remain confident that countries will raise their level of ambition in respect of the outcomes of Durban, and that focus will be placed not only on the implementation of the Cancn Agreements, but also, as the Minister has elucidated, on the fact that those elements that were left out at Cancn will be brought back to the negotiating table.
It is common cause that African and developing countries are deeply committed to seeing finality in regard to the second commitment period to the Kyoto Protocol. Africa is also keen on tracking progress in regard to the setup of the Transitional Committee and the establishment of the Green Climate Fund. In this regard, the matter of governance and institutional arrangements should, as a matter of course and principle, be addressed in such a way as to ensure accessibility and an equal voice for small and developing countries.
Furthermore, we draw inspiration from the concluding statement of the Minister and incoming President of COP, following the pre-COP ministerial meeting that was held in Stellenbosch in October of this year. She said:
All parties appear to be in agreement that the outcome in Durban should be balanced, fair, and credible, that it should preserve and strengthen the multilateral rules-based system and its response to climate change. The approach to reach a balanced, fair and credible outcome in Durban must be informed by the principles that form the basis of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations. These principles include multilateralism, environmental integrity, fairness based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities, equity and honouring of all international commitments and undertakings made in the climate change process ...
Climate change is as much the responsibility of Parliament as it is the responsibility of government, civil society and business. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that, in regard to the environment, we make our contribution to the fight against climate change and its consequent devastating effects on those small island states and least developed countries that are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
Agb lede, die debat oor klimaatsverandering is inderdaad die storie van oorlewing vir die hele mensdom. Dit vereis van ons om nou die moeilikste besluite te neem. [Hon members, the debate on climate change is indeed the story of survival for the whole of mankind. It demands from us now to take the most difficult decisions.]
It is in this regard that we are encouraged by Parliament's own plans, such as the greening of Parliament, waste minimisation, and reducing our usage of paper with a view to creating a paperless environment. Furthermore, in an attempt to contribute to the broader climate change debate and build a broad constellation of forces around the country's position towards COP 17, Parliament held a consultative seminar on climate change just two weeks ago. It was attended by various stakeholders, ranging from religious bodies, and business and civil society, to provincial and local government.
The challenge for us today, as legislators and representatives of our people, is to ensure that the climate change debate is nuanced in such a way that it finds resonance with our people. Up until this point the debates that have been taking place around this climate change matter, crucial as they may have been, have always been somewhat technical and aloof, removed from the ordinary people.
As such, it is our responsibility as legislators and as Parliament to ensure that as a matter of urgency we make climate change everybody's concern, because it is indeed everybody's business. This is in order for us to have a significant impact on the public discourse and influence our collective and individual behaviour. I thank you. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
Consideration of report of joint committee on ethics and members' interests
The Chief Whip of the Majority Party: Chairperson, I move:
That the Report be referred back to the Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests for reconsideration and report as soon as possible.
Motion agreed to.
Consideration of Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report of Portfolio Committee - Public Enterprises on performance of department of public enterprises for 2010-11 financial year