9 September 2011: Twenty-one environmental ministers, as well as negotiators and delegates from 43 parties to the UNFCCC, recently attended an informal ministerial consultation on the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 17) to the UNFCCC, which will take place in Durban, South Africa, at the end of the year.

The informal consultations took place in Pretoria, South Africa, from 5-9 September 2011, and consisted of a stakeholder segment, a negotiators segment, and a ministerial segment.

Participants heard a report on work of the Transitional Committee for the design of the Green Climate Fund, and outlined their key expectations on finance, adaptation and mitigation. Among the topics discussed, negotiators and delegates addressed: technology development and transfer, and the operationalization of the Technology Mechanism; the interlinkages between finance, technology development and transfer and capacity building; and support of nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs).

During the ministerial segment, South African President Zuma emphasized that an agreement “that does not address the necessary means of implementation – finance, technology and capacity building – will not be equitable.” He noted that progress must be made on the operationalization of agreements made in Cancun, including the Green Climate Fund.

As part of the process in the run-up to Durban, the State parties to the UNFCCC took a decision in Cancun, Mexico, in 2010 to confer upon the incoming President of the Durban Conference, Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, a mandate to “undertake inclusive and transparent consultations in order to facilitate the work towards the success” of the conference in Durban. [President Zuma’s Remarks] [South African Government Information Press Release, 6 September 2011] [IISD RS Sources]