Climate change comes under the spotlight this week as a panel led by Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa will tackle the topic at a South African Talanoa Dialogue at the Midrand Conference Centre in Gauteng.

State parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change [UNFCCC], including South Africa, in 2015 adopted the landmark Paris Agreement in an effort to guide and accelerate the international community’s response to climate change.

In terms of the agreement, parties have submitted Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) indicating their individual contributions to the global effort. They have also agreed to multilateral processes to assess and advance collective efforts to achieve the Paris Agreement’s global goals for the transition to a low emissions and climate resilient future.

A platform for knowledge sharing

The Talanoa Dialogue, previously known as the 2018 Facilitative Dialogue, is the first of these key multilateral stocktaking events and discussions on the collective effort.

It seeks to inform the preparation or updating of Nationally Determined Contributions in 2020. The dialogue is premised on three overarching questions: Where are we? Where do we want to go? How do we get there?

The South African Talanoa Dialogue, which will get underway on 23 August, is a platform for all stakeholders to share stories, aspirations, and ideas of how South Africa’s climate change response can foster its development aspirations.

Inclusive and transparent dialogue

Talanoa is a traditional word used in Fiji and across the Pacific to reflect a process of inclusive, participatory and transparent dialogue.

Ministers in the Energy, Water and Sanitation, Economic Development and International Relations and Cooperation portfolios are expected to participate in the dialogue.

Representatives of national, provincial and local government, business, civil society, academia, scientists, the youth and NGOs are also expected to make contributions in the two-day meeting.