As the host of the 17th conference of the parties (COP 17) on climate change in Durban in November and December, the South African government would need to work on resolving the political issues tying up the climate change negotiations.

Speaking at a South African Institute of Chartered Accountants sustainability breakfast in Johannesburg, National Business Initiative (NBI) CEO Joanne Yawitch said that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting in Bonn last month, saw good progress on generating text and getting movement on the technical issues of the negotiations.

She noted that while the 2010 Cancun conference in Mexico saved the negotiating process to some extent, the substance of the negotiations would have to be dealt with in Durban.

“South African negotiators are now embarking on a shuttle process to get political agreements, to allow for movement on the technical issues [at COP 17],” she reiterated.

The South African government has indicated that for the conference in Durban to be regarded a success, there would need to be progress on the issue of the Kyoto Protocol, as well as the operationalisation of the Cancun Agreements, which laid plans for a Green Climate Fund and a technology transfer mechanism, for example.

Yawitch noted that South Africa has said that at the heart of a successful COP 17 is dealing with the Kyoto Protocol in a way that everyone felt comfortable with.

She said that the concern existed that if there was no continuation of the Kyoto Protocol (the first commitment period comes to an end in 2012), it would be a “race to the bottom”, with nothing holding countries accountable for their emission reductions.

It was initially agreed at COP 13 in 2007, through the Bali Action Plan, that decisions on the future of the Kyoto Protocol would be made by the end of 2009, to allow individual countries time to amend domestic legislation for implementation in 2012. However, these deadlines have been missed, and the pressure for resolution has increased.

Some countries, such as the US, Russia, Canada and Japan have indicated that they are opposed to the continuation of the Kyoto Protocol.

The pressure to deal with the issue in Durban was high.

Yawitch added that South African business was committed to supporting government, and companies were working at outlining what they could do to mitigate greenhouse-gas emissions and adapt to a changing climate.

The NBI was also undertaking business capacity building to enable business leaders to understand and play a role in climate change issues. There has also been a CEO Forum established to provide a high-level public face for business initiatives and it was open to all interested CEOs to partake in.