The annual high-level conference, the Ministry said in a statement, serves as a crucial bridge between successive United Nations Climate Change Conferences (COP), providing a platform for international dialogue on climate action and cooperation.

George will take the opportunity to present a summary of South Africa’s chairmanship of the G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG), the statement added.

“I look forward to sharing the highlights of our five interlinked key priorities, including Climate Change and Air Quality, Biodiversity and Conservation, and Land Degradation, Desertification, and Drought,” George stated.

This year’s discussions will focus on several key questions, according to the statement. Namely, how do we ensure compliance with the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the Global Stocktake?

Also, how do we build global momentum to move from promise to practice in the just transition to net-zero emissions societies in the current and critical time, while addressing the growing adaptation needs for resilient societies and economies?

Furthermore, how do we urgently unlock the necessary finance and pave the way for reaching the US$1.3 trillion by 2035, as called for at COP29, and align financial flows with low-carbon and climate-resilient development?

Established in 2010 by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Dialogue convenes selected countries to pave the way for successful negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the statement explains.

The ministerial meeting provides an informal but strategic space for countries to deliberate on key issues under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, including the Global Goal on Adaptation, mitigation ambition, loss and damage from climate impacts, and the provision of international climate finance, the Ministry concludes in the document.

ef/jha/mv