Statement by South African President His Excellency Jacob Zuma at the conclusion of the G20 Summit, Cannes, France

4 Nov 2011

We have come to the conclusion of the G20 Summit 2011.

We are encouraged by the commitment to deal with the current economic crisis as well as undertakings to reduce imbalances in the world economy to promote sustainable, poverty-reducing and employment-creating growth.

We are pleased with the commitment to an Action Plan for Growth and Jobs, which is an undertaking to renew efforts to combat unemployment and promote decent jobs, especially for the youth and others who have been most affected by the economic crisis.

The focus on job creation is in line with South Africa’s own domestic focus on economic transformation to promote inclusive growth and decent jobs.

The G20 summit took place against the background of risks to the global economy. These have increased significantly in recent months, largely due to economic stagnation, sovereign debt crises, financial sector weakness and political paralysis in advanced economies.

The sovereign debt crises and credit rating downgrades of the Eurozone economies have raised fears about a deepening financial crisis in the region. We welcome the progress made by European leaders in their effort to resolve the current crisis. We urge them to continue to take decisive actions that will build confidence in the global economy.

We have also urged all G20 member countries to play their part to prevent the negative spill-over effect of the crisis on developing and low income countries in line with the action plan.

We are concerned that slow growth in the world economy is affecting Africa’s trade, growth and job creation prospects. Before the crisis, Sub-Saharan Africa grew at a robust pace, averaging about 5%. South Africa’s real GDP growth is expected to remain below its pre-crisis 5% average at around 3.5% over the next two years.

However, we welcome the news this week that unemployment rate has dropped from 25.7% to 25% in the third quarter. This indicates that we are doing something right in our efforts to intensively promote employment-creating growth. The South African Government shares successes in this regard with business and labour in our country, as we work together to promote growth and sustainable development.

To prevent the recurrence of crises, we support calls for measures to address the loose monetary policies in advanced countries, which are perpetuating global imbalances and shifting an unfair burden of adjustment to small open economies with flexible exchange rates.

We also strongly support the continued mainstreaming of the development discourse in the G20, which should be seen holistically within the context of all of the work and processes of the G20, including the Framework for Strong, Balanced and Sustainable Growth.

South Africa is happy to have participated and co-chaired the G20 Development Working Group, together with France and Korea. While we participate in the G20 in a national capacity, we have always been mindful of the concerns of developing countries and the special challenges faced by Africa.

The success of the development agenda of the G20 is crucial for the long-term credibility and legitimacy of the G20 for developing countries.

All the development priorities/ pillars of the development agenda are significant. However, South Africa puts more emphasis on :

i) Investment in infrastructure, ii) Food security, iii) Domestic resource mobilization, iv) Financial access (also referred to as Global Partnership for Financial Access), v) Growth with resilience including improving the flow of remittances, and v) Improving social protection measures.

We realize that this growth potential in developing countries, and low income countries in particular, will require concerted actions to further boost access to resources to fund investment, including addressing under-investment in infrastructure in regions like Sub Saharan Africa.

We therefore support the recommendations made by the High Level Panel on Infrastructure, chaired by Mr Tidjane Thiam, which are premised on the understanding that facilitating increased private sector involvement is essential to enhancing and complementing public sector involvement in infrastructure financing and provisioning.

We also support the work of the Development Working Group on food security and building resilience in low income countries, as this work is critical in preventing similar cases of the current famine in the Horn of Africa in the future.

We welcome chairing of the Development Working Group by Mexico in 2012 and the continued implementation of the Seoul Multi-Year Action Plan to support economic growth in developing countries which will contribute to the G20 objective for strong and sustainable growth.

In particular, we urge the Mexican Presidency to focus on developing strategies for job creating growth, in particular jobs for youth in most of our economies, both developing and developed.

We thank President Nicolas Sarkozy and the Government of France for the hospitality extended to us and for a successful, well-organised Summit.
 Issued by : The Presidency , 4 Nov 2011

Remarks by President Jacob Zuma to the G20 Session on the forthcoming UNFCC COP 17/CMP7 Climate Change Conference to be held in Durban, Cannes, France

04 November 2011

Excellencies Heads of State Dear Colleagues,

Thank you very much for the opportunity to briefly convey to you the current status and developments related to South Africa’s hosting of COP17/CMP7 in Durban at the end of the year.

To guide us in the process as the incoming COP17/CMP7 Presidency a number of formal and informal meetings have been utilized to glean from Parties what they would regard as key to achieving a successful outcome in Durban. The following key messages have emerged :

The outcome in Durban should be balanced, fair and credible ; while at the same time preserving and strengthening the multilateral rules-based response to climate change. The approach to reach a balanced, fair and credible outcome in Durban must be informed by the basic principles that underpin the basis of UNFCCC climate change negotiations.

The Cancun Agreements must be operationalised, including the establishment of the key mechanisms and institutional arrangements agreed to in Cancun.

The Green Climate Fund represents a centre piece for a broader set of outcomes for Durban :

i. Developing countries demand a prompt start for the Fund through its early and initial capitalization. ii. For Durban to be successful, we have to do more than simply make the Cancun Agreements operational. We should find a resolution to the issue of the second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol and agree on the legal nature of a future climate change system.

iii. Adaptation is an essential element of the outcome in Durban as it is a key priority for many developing countries, particularly Small Island Developing States, Least Developed Countries and Africa. The current fragmented approach to adaptation must be addressed in a more coherent manner that gives equal priority to adaptation and mitigation. iv. Any outcome in Durban has to be adequate enough to adhere to the principle of environmental integrity. In this context the low level of ambition is a serious concern.

Distinguished Colleagues, Africa is the hardest-hit by climate change. Its vulnerability stems not only from climate change impacts such as the rise in the sea level, severe droughts and floods, but also from the current levels of poverty, which limit their ability to cope with these impacts. There is no doubt that a global response is the only effective and sustainable answer to this global challenge.

The conference in Durban presents us with an opportunity to shape the future global response to climate change by providing political direction to address the more difficult political issues. It is our view that the multilateral rules-based system must prevail. Without it, there can be no guarantee that countries will do what they have committed to do ; and all the gains made over decades will be lost.

I must emphasize that finance remains one of the key issues for Durban. In fact, I believe this is the key that could unlock other priority issues, not only for a comprehensive climate deal, but also to place the global community on a path that will allow us to build resilient societies.

As we approach Durban let us pause for a moment to reflect on the significant progress made in Cancun on providing finance for Climate Change, through the Fast Start Financing already committed ; as well as setting a goal of mobilising jointly 100 billion dollars by 2020. The focus of the work in 2011 and beyond must continue to be on our collective efforts to make these commitments a reality.

The question is – Do we have the collective political will to make the necessary decisions in Durban to secure sustained financing for climate change in the future ?

I was informed that the Transitional Committee concluded its work in Cape Town and, although the deliberations were rather difficult, the outcome reached is perceived to be balanced.

I am also aware that many Parties are concerned about the continuity of climate financing beyond 2012, including making the Green Climate Fund operational. This of course presents a significant political challenge given the current fiscal situation in many developed countries.

There are many issues that require guidance, but I would like to single out one issue that has the potential to unlock many outstanding matters, namely, the balance between what we do NOW and what we agree now to do in the FUTURE.

We as the G20 need to display leadership and find common ground not only among ourselves, but also with other nations, to find the credible, transparent and equitable solutions required by us all.

We are accountable to the global citizens who suffer daily from the impacts of climate change and hold high expectations for effective solutions to the threat that climate change presents to their livelihood, quality of life, dignity, and, in many cases, their very survival.

We will expect countries to show leadership in finding the required solutions, because only by working together we can save tomorrow, today.

I thank you.

 november 4, 2011

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