Durban, South Africa – “It is without any doubt in my mind that we have ‘worked together to save tomorrow, today,’” South Africa’s International Relations Minister and COP17 president Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said in Durban at just after 5am local time yesterday.
The minster gave her COP17-CMP7 closing statement to bleary-eyed teams, negotiators and media more than 24 hours after the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol (CMP7) was scheduled to conclude.
She thanked parties for their “dedication, hard work and for the spirit of Ubuntu and compromise that prevailed during this conference.”
Nkoana-Mashabane said she applauded delegates for what what they had been able to accomplish here in Durban. “You were prepared to show the required political will to move this process forward.
“I believe the Indaba laid the foundation for this Conference. Indaba, as you will recall, is a word in isiZulu (Zulu) that refers to a gathering of people with the purpose to debate a matter of great importance to the community in an attempt to find a common mind or a common story that all participants can take with them. Climate Change is our common problem which affects us all and the Durban Platform is the story we will take home with us. Our intention with the Indaba was to restore trust in the multilateral system and to enshrined transparency and inclusivity within our party-driven process.”
She said “historical” decisions taken at COP17 included:
- The amendment of the Kyoto Protocol;
- Decisions of the LCA (Long-term Cooperative Action);
- The Green Climate Fund;
- The future of the Climate Change Regime.
COP18-CMP8 will be held in 2012 in Qatar. Informal ministerial meetings would be held in preparation for COP18-CMP8 in South Korea.
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