Minister Dion George: Closing session of G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Ministers Meeting

Her Excellency Ms Marina Silva;
Your Excellencies and fellow Ministers;
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I wish to appreciate the enormous amount of work and long hours that you Minister and your entire team has put into the G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group over the past year. This has not only been in the preparations for all of the Environment and Climate Sustainability meetings, which have been a great success, but also in the manner in which these meetings have been conducted under Brazil's able chairship.

We are ready to build on these significant outcomes as South Africa takes on the G20 Presidency later this year.

Last week, during the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, President Ramaphosa announced the theme for South Africa's G20 Presidency as ' Fostering Solidarity, Equality and Sustainable Development'. This theme is underpinned by the need to focus on a number of key areas including global governance reform, an effective model for climate finance, trade, health and financing for development. This will ensure a just transition for everyone, across the globe.
In line with the overall theme of South Africa's Presidency of the G20, the overarching objective of the G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group will be to advance the environmental dimension of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through focusing on action.

Under the South African Presidency, the G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG) will broadly focus on several pillars, namely, Biodiversity and Conservation; Desertification; Oceans and Coasts; Climate Change and Air Quality; as well as Chemicals and Waste Management, each with specific priorities. The expected outcomes will be discussed with G20 members as we work towards the finalisation of the issues notes for each of these broad thematic areas.

The proposed focus is on the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework; the implementation of Land Degradation Neutrality targets and combatting desertification. Each of these has a number of elements, which will be further elaborated in due course.

South Africa recognises that oceans play an important role in socio-economic development. In this regard, the G20 provides a platform to exchange best practise in advancing marine spatial planning that could further support the sustainable utilisation of the ocean and coastal environment and combat illegal fishing.

Plastic pollution is a major threat to the coastal and marine environment. Discussions on plastic pollution have been long ongoing in the G20 and South Africa will continue to foster collaboration among G20 members to address this pressing issue collectively.

Waste management and the circular economy are recognised as areas of focus critical for transition to a low carbon, climate resilient economy. During South Africa's G20 Presidency, we aim to foster enhanced collaboration on waste management policies and legislative instruments, including on waste to energy initiatives.

The existential crisis of Climate Change is posing significant threats not only to human health and well-being, but is also exacerbating biodiversity loss, land degradation and other environmental complexities. The G20 needs to show leadership in addressing the climate crisis. As such, key areas of collaboration are proposed related to mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage and importantly climate finance, building on the discussions and outcomes of previous presidencies.

As a primary outcome South Africa would like to explore ways that the G20 can leverage opportunities to increase the scale and flows of climate finance critical for both mitigation and adaptation efforts, whilst ensuring that the required investments reach the most vulnerable of society. In this regard, it would be important to continue the fruitful discussions with the finance colleagues to enable the development of an effective, outcomes based financial model.

I also wish to announce that a provisional schedule of G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability meetings has been developed. Three Working Group meetings and a Ministerial meeting are envisaged for the ECSWG, the first of which will be held virtually sometime in March 2025. The second meeting will be held in-person, provisionally scheduled to take place in our iconic Kruger National Park in July 2025. The third will comprise an in-person senior officials meeting to be held back-to-back with a Ministerial meeting in Cape Town envisaged to take place in October 2025.

In conclusion, we are well aware that there is a significant amount of work ahead of us, and we look forward to working closely with the G20 Troika in this regard. We also count on your support to ensure a successful outcome of South Africa's G20 Presidency and we will be working closely with all of you. We look forward to welcoming you all to South Africa next year!

I thank you.

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