Minister Dion George: Closing remarks at African Climate Summit 2

Your Excellency, Dr Gedion Timotheos, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Your Excellency Commissioner Vilakati
Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen

I extend to you the compliments of the President of the Republic of South Africa and our people. Thank you for your generous hospitality.

We recognise the Second Africa Climate Summit as a milestone platform for Africa to consolidate a common voice ahead of COP30 in Belém. From the onset, South Africa’s interventions on the Addis Ababa Declaration are not to divide us, but to sharpen our collective message.

We have raised and objected to two points. First, peace and security are vital to Africa’s broader agenda, but they are not within the mandate of the UNFCCC. Including them in this declaration risks diluting our message and diverting scarce resources away from adaptation, implementation and mitigation.

Second, Africa has already made its commitments through our NDCs. Asking us to take on new binding commitments here, without new finance, shifts responsibility onto Africa rather than where it belongs with developed-economy countries. The term “aspirations” better reflects our ambition while keeping pressure on those who must deliver finance.

We are also concerned that the process at this Summit has unfolded in a way that sought to mollify rather than build real consensus. By sharpening our message, we strengthen Africa’s unity and make our demands harder to ignore.

As South Africa’s Head of Delegation, I place on record that we do not support all aspects of the Declaration. Our objections are set out in the addendum: the Interpretative Declaration by the Republic of South Africa that has been circulated.

South Africa supports the spirit of one collective African voice. To be credible, we must ensure that we remain sensible, focused, and ambitious when we reach COP30 in November. Climate finance is a critical enabler of that vision. Without it, our people cannot thrive and our economies cannot grow.

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