International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said she was confident that South Africa would host an adequate seventeenth conference of the parties (COP 17) on climate change in Durban in November and December, despite a shortage of funds.

“I promise we are ready [to host COP 17],” she emphasised on Friday, adding that South Africa could “reach out to friends” for financial support, particularly from what she termed “progressive” countries that placed emphasis on dealing with climate change challenges.

In 2010, Department of Environmental Affairs officials estimated that South Africa would require at least R320-million to host a ‘lean and mean’ COP. The National Treasury has allocated R200-million towards the cost of hosting the conference. The balance would likely be made up through donor funding.

Nkoana-Mashabane said that the department was “not losing sleep” over the possible funding shortfall, as the conference was supported by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

South Africa has been praised for its role in the coordination of events and meetings leading up to the COP 17.

UNFCCC executive secretary Christiana Figueres said that she was “very impressed” with the leadership shown by South Africa.

Current COP president and Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Patricia Espinosa echoed the sentiments, saying that she was impressed with South Africa’s running of the process.

They were speaking at an informal ministerial meeting in Pretoria, where 43 UNFCCC member States were discussing progress towards the Durban conference – with particular focus on operationalising the Green Climate Fund, the Technology Mechanism and the Adaptation Framework, as agreed to at the previous conference in Cancun, as well as the future of the Kyoto Protocol.

In addition to the intricate technicalities of the negotiations that would need to progress, the hosting of the COP was said to require great diplomacy on the part of the host, as there were many varied political views to consider within the negotiations.

“Moving forward is not merely an option in Durban, but essential. What is needed now is political guidance to steer the negotiators. We need to think creatively to accommodate each other and create the space to decide how to address problems for which possible solutions at present are perhaps not matured enough,” said President Jacob Zuma.

“It is clear that Durban needs to be, and will be a success,” added Figueres.