SA ready for climate conference
2011-09-30 16:02
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Durban - South Africa is ready to host the UN climate change conference COP17, International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said on Friday.
"We are working closely with the city of Durban and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to ensure that we host an international event that meets UN requirements," she told reporters in Durban.
More than 6 000 hotel rooms had been booked and paid for.
"The layout for the conference at the International Convention Centre and the Durban Exhibition Centre has been finalised," said Nkoana-Mashabane.
International negotiators will descend on Durban November to attempt to hammer out a binding deal to limit greenhouse gas emissions, but some activists have suggested the talks will not produce tangible results.
Nuclear power
"We're of the opinion that COP17 has already failed. If you consider what's been happening in the talks in the run-up to, which is pretty much where most of the work happens, the most that's going to come out of it is some global environmental fund or facility which, quite frankly, is generally going to be a bad idea," said Muna Lakhani Cape Town branch co-ordinator for Earthlife Africa.
Utilities have said that nuclear power was better able to cope with expanding energy demand than renewable energy projects, while reducing atmospheric emissions.
"Base load is not the most sustainable way of us using our energy. We actually lose a lot of our energy supply and Greenpeace has come out with our Energy Revolution, where we show that actually, you don't really need base load for our electricity supply to work," said Ferial Adams of Greenpeace Africa.
The international consensus is that global warming should be limited to 2°C, but this is not a guarantee that climate change is will be avoided.
"While there is still some uncertainty about when feedback effects will kick in, we know that above 2° average global warming, the risks escalate very rapidly," said Richard Worthington WWF climate change programme manager for the in South Africa.
- SAPA