Durban - The mood of the COP17 negotiations so far indicates optimism towards achieving a successful outcome, says President Jacob Zuma.
Addressing the opening session of the Local Governments from the Global South three meeting, Zuma said, "The convention is proceeding well. The discussions are continuing as planned in an environment that is conducive to constructive engagement".
But Zuma still wants to see more action at local government level to address climate change.
"We experienced unprecedented heavy rains and flooding during December 2010 and January 2011... Science tells us that we are bound to experience more of these severe occurrences.
"Thirty four municipalities that are located in eight of the country's nine provinces were the worst affected. We also suffered massive damage to 27 461 settlements. The impact on education, transport, agriculture, and health infrastructure was estimated at almost R4 billion," said Zuma.
All the 278 municipalities in the country are mainstreaming climate change responses in all their local planning processes and Integrated Development Plans and Zuma hopes this convention will enable municipalities to compare best practices with these response mechanisms.
The establishment of disaster management structures across all spheres of government must be prioritized, said Zuma. Thirty municipalities already have disaster management centres.
"Local Government is the sphere of government that is the closest to the people. It is directly responsible for the implementation of climate change response programmes," said Zuma.
He added that it is a concern that some local authorities in Africa and the developing South believe that the dominant features of the current climate change response debate are not relevant to their context.
"This means that the climate change regime must be visibly in touch with the general conditions of poverty that most local authorities in the developing world operate under, for it to be relevant to the people of the South," said Zuma.
Meanwhile, Zuma said for Durban to be regarded as a resounding success, especially for developing countries, the Green Climate Fund that was agreed to in Cancun must be operationalized.
"Many developing countries are hopeful that the early launch of the fund will allow for both their adaptation and mitigation needs to be met," said Zuma.
He added: "We look to local government to contribute to shaping the outcome of Durban as the sphere that has to respond immediately to the impact of climate change ... Africa, the G77 plus China and the BASIC countries - Brazil, South Africa, India and China - will continue working with other regions to ensure a successful outcome".
