Poverty and climate change are intimately interlinked and are both the Commonwealth's most pressing current global challenges, said Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor.

"We cannot eliminate poverty without increasing the use of energy. As developing countries take their people out of poverty, there has been a strong growth in greenhouse gas emissions.

"We cannot stop development in the developing world, but we can control the emission of greenhouse gasses," she said.

Pandor was speaking at the opening of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association African Region Conference at Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Tuesday.

In South Africa, government, the business sector and universities have prioritised global-change science and technology, because of its centrality for sustainable development, locally, continentally and internationally.

Pandor said that rising temperatures, new precipitation patterns, and other changes are already affecting many aspects of human society and the natural world.

"Climate change is transforming ecosystems on an extraordinary scale and at an extraordinary pace.

"The climate system, as part of a broader earth system, is complex and there are many areas where it is imperative for fundamental understanding to be substantially improved," she said.

The Minister said international cooperation and international benchmarking provide important platforms for understanding and promoting the contribution of universities to economic development.

"One of the major sources of economic growth and job creation, which is often overlooked by developing countries, is international cooperation in renewable energy technologies.

"Not only does this new industry present opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it also presents new job opportunities," she said.