The Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Dr Dion George, has warned that collective global progress toward the Paris Agreement goals remains insufficient, urging urgent reforms to international financial systems to enable multilateral banks to deliver affordable, long-term capital for climate action.
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“The Global Stocktake is clear. Progress is too slow. We must accelerate action on mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage, and the means of implementation.
“The Global Goal on Adaptation must deliver measurable indicators and the finance to achieve them. The Sharm el Sheikh Work Programme must unlock real investment through blended models. The Loss and Damage Fund must be capitalised,” the Minister said on Friday, 7 November 2025.
He said the Baku to Belém Roadmap must advance $1.3tn in grants, concessional finance and fiscal space measures.
The roadmap aims at scaling up climate finance to developing country to support low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development pathways.
The Minister made these remarks at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Cop30 Leader's Summit, taking place in Belém, Brazil, as part of the 30th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP).
Bridging ambition and finance
“Climate change is the defining crisis of our time. No nation can face it alone. This is a time that demands courage, solidarity and multilateralism in action. World leaders have a moral duty to close the gap between ambition and finance in the fight against climate change.
“South Africa further, reiterates that climate-change response measures by developed countries should not impact developing countries' industrial, trade and socio-economic development goals, in line with international law,” the Minister said.
He emphasised that the unilateral climate-response measures should not have spill-over and negative cross-border impacts on developing countries.
“Our firm view is that the unilateral trade measures which aim to achieve unbalanced climate objectives outside of the framework of the multilateral process, or unfairly restrict global trade in green technology, will only serve to hinder our ability to achieve a just transition, and slow the global effort to address climate change,” the Minister said.
In fulfilment of South Africa commitments, under the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate-change impacts, government has submitted its second Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
They include a new mitigation target for 2035 of between 320 and 380 megatons of carbon-dioxide equivalent, showing clear progression from our 2030 range.
“Our updated adaptation communication identifies our support needs for finance, technology and capacity building. South Africa’s expectations for Cop30 are clear,” the Minister said.
