http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=147443

SA is hoping that a second round of climate change talks being held in Germany ahead of a UN summit in SA will convince developed countries to raise $100bn in finance by 2020 for climate change adaptation and mitigation.

SA IS hoping that a second round of climate change talks being held in Germany ahead of a United Nations (UN) summit in SA will convince developed countries to raise $100bn in finance by 2020 for climate change adaptation and mitigation.

The two-day event, being held in Berlin jointly by SA and Germany and attended by 35 countries, follows a conference in Bonn last month.

International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane co- chaired the meeting ending today.

German Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen cited as a positive signal the fact that China and the US had sent their chief climate negotiators to the talks. "Basically, we need a global answer because this is a global challenge," Mr Roettgen said.

The meeting is part of preparations to host the UN Climate Change Conference in November in Durban.

Last year, an agreement was made in Cancun, Mexico to raise funds for climate change mitigation. The agreement created a Green Climate Fund and set up new mechanisms to help countries adapt to the effect of global warming, curb deforestation and boost technology co-operation, among others.

In exchange, major developing countries agreed to international reviews of their own actions to curb climate change - a key demand of the US and European Union.

However, the deal set no timeline for agreeing to a new global climate treaty and left open whether future agreements would be legally binding on all countries. Little progress has also come out of the agreement to raise the funds.

SA's envoy to Germany, Makhenkesi Stofile, yesterday told Business Day that SA wanted to strike a balance on "priority issues identified by developed and developing nations.

"A key challenge we are faced with relates to the Kyoto Protocol," Mr Stofile said.

"The first commitment period ends in 2012 and we are therefore faced with the challenge of the second commitment period where countries such as Japan want to jump ship," he said.

Germany is one of the countries which wants to secure a second commitment to mitigate against climate change during the Durban conference in November.

Last week, Australia said it would support initiatives on climate change by the Southern African Development Community.

"Climate change poses a significant challenge with projected impacts on soil degradation, food security, human and animal health and the provision of clean water - as well as increased global risks of floods, droughts and fires", Australian High Commission in SA official, Natalie Mendelsohn said.

Governments have set a goal to keep global temperatures from rising more than 2°C but could not agree on a specific target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions to achieve that temperature goal.

Yesterday, activists from Greenpeace demonstrated outside the conference venue in Berlin, calling for rapid progress, without which it would not be possible to achieve the goal of 2°C. Countries will need common way forward. With Sapa-DPA