28 November to 6 December – COP 17 in Durban SA

December 15, 2011 By SAWCC Leave a Comment

SEE THIS LINK FOR DETAILS ON THE ARRANGEMENTS FOR DURBAN: http://unfccc.int/2860.php

In the first week in December – in Durban South Africa, the United Nations is hosting their 17th Conference :

WHAT IS COP 17?

Since the UNFCCC entered into force in 1995, the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC have been meeting annually to assess progress in dealing with climate change.

  • The COP adopts decisions and resolutions, published in reports of the COP.  Successive decisions taken by the COP make up a detailed set of rules for practical and effective implementation of the Convention.

WHAT IS CMP?

  • The COP serves as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, which also adopts decisions and resolutions on the implementation of its provisions.
  • This annual meeting is referred to as the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP).
  • However, Parties to the Convention that are not Parties to the Protocol are able to participate in the CMP as observers, but without the right to take decisions.

COP /CMP PRESIDENCY

  • The office of the Conference President rotates annually between the five United Nations (UN) regional groups.  Mexico held the COP 16 / CMP 6 in 2010 and is currently the COP/CMP President.
  • The African Group will be the next proud host of the Conference with COP 17 / CMP 7 taking place from 28 November to 9 December 2011 in Durban, South Africa.  Kenya held the Presidency of the Conference in 2006 with the COP 12 / CMP 12 in Nairobi.
  • Following the procedural rules of the Conference, it is customary for the COP and CMP to elect as President a minister from the host country.  The President of COP 17/CMP 7 is Ms Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, the South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation.

WHAT DO WE NEED TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT IN SOUTH AFRICA?

If nothing is done about climate change and we continue, among other things, to burn fossil fuels and chop down our forests at current rates, the following is predicted for South Africa:

  • South Africa’s coastal regions will warm by around 1-2°C by about 2050 and around 3-4°C by about 2100;
  • South Africa’s interior regions will warm by around 3-4°C by about 2050 and around 6-7°C by about 2100;
  • There will be significant changes in rainfall patterns and this, coupled with increased evaporation, will result in significant changes in respect of water availability, e.g. the western side of the country is likely to experience significant reductions in the flow of streams in the region;
  • Our biodiversity will be severely impacted, especially the grasslands, fynbos and succulent Karoo where a high level of extinction is predicted;
  • Small scale and homestead farmers in dry lands are most vulnerable to climate change and although intensive irrigated agriculture is better off than these farmers, irrigated lands remain vulnerable to reductions in available water;
  • Some predictions suggest that maize production in summer rainfall areas and fruit and cereal production in winter rainfall areas may be badly affected;
  • Commercial forestry is vulnerable to an increased frequency of wildfires and changes in available water in south-western regions;
  • Rangelands are vulnerable to bush encroachment which reduces grazing lands;
  • Alien invasive plant species are likely to spread more and have an ever-increasing negative impact on water resources;
  • Although strong trends have already been detected in our seas, including rising sea levels and the warming of the Agulhas current and parts of the Benguela, we are not yet sure what impacts these could have on our seas, the creatures living in the seas or on the communities dependant on the sea;
  • Because of our already poor health profile, South Africans are specifically vulnerable to new or exacerbated health threats resulting from climate change. For example, some effects of climate change may already be occurring due to changes in rainfall (droughts and floods) and temperature extremes and Cholera outbreaks have been associated with extreme weather events, especially in poor, high density settlements;
  • There will be an increase in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. Damage costs due to extreme weather-related events (flooding, fire, storms and drought) have already been conservatively estimated at being roughly 1 billion rand per year between 2000 and 200
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