By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Following the successful deliberations at the 17th Petersberg Climate Dialogue, Willie Aucamp, the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment, has called for a bold, practical and properly funded plan to help developing nations fight the climate crisis.
The Minister was speaking following the annual high-level Dialogue held in Berlin, Germany on 21-22 April 2026.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss concrete steps towards overcoming the climate crisis and strengthen confidence both in multilateral climate negotiations and between countries in preparation for COP31 and the African COP32 next year.
The discussions focused on identifying opportunities for international cooperation and accelerating a shift to climate-neutral economies, based on three key areas, namely:
- Mitigation – reducing and closing the gap to 1.5 degrees celcius,
- climate finance, including operationalization of the New Collective Quantified Goal on finance for adaptation finance;
- How the multilateral climate regime can accelerate implementation for mitigation, adaptation and loss & damage due to climate change?
For South Africa, a crucial part of the discussion was emphasising a shift towards talks that are centred around implementation and tangible financial instruments that will benefit developing economies like South Africa.
As such, the Minister said that it is now time for full implementation of the Paris Agreement, otherwise deliberations such as these would be reduced to being just another talkshop.
Aucamp also engaged in a number of bilateral engagements with various international figures in the climate change space where he highlighted the unique socioeconomic dynamics and how these negatively impact efforts to curb climate change and most importantly, fastrack adaptation efforts.
He used the example of the recent flood devastation in parts of South Africa, specifically Kruger National Park, using the opportunity to request support for the Kruger Recovery Fund.
The Minister further emphasized that economic growth and development do not contradict the ideals of environmental protection. “I reconfirm South Africa’s commitment to achieving the targets set for us in terms of the Paris Agreement and our own Nationally Determined Contributions,” said Aucamp. “Africa and other developing economy nations contribute less in terms of emissions but are the worst affected by climate change.”
The Petersberg Climate Dialogue was established in 2010 by former German Chancellor, Dr Angela Merkel. It convenes selected nations to pave the way for successful negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The UNFCCC COP31 will be held in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026.