CAPE TOWN, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- South Africa on Tuesday urged the United States to reaffirm its commitment to the Paris consensus on climate change.
The United States should further play its key role in addressing climate change, which is one of the most serious and pressing challenges facing humanity, Minister of Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa said as South Africa is preparing for the 23rd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, also known as COP 23, to be held in Germany in November.
The recent unprecedented hurricanes in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, and floods and droughts in Sierra Leone and Ethiopia, remind the world that the impacts of climate change are being felt today, the minister said.
The recent catastrophes also make it clear that there can be no turning back on the collective effort in the fight against climate change, and the hard-won consensus in Paris can not be re-negotiated, Molewa stressed.
"We must maintain the political momentum and demonstrate through our collective actions that we will stay the course, honor our commitments, and deliver future cycles of progressively more ambitious contributions," Molewa said.
COP 23 should recognize developing countries' adaptation efforts, track progress towards achieving the global goal for adaptation and enhance the implementation of adaptation action in an inclusive manner that takes into account the views of African countries, Molewa added.
U.S. President Donald Trump on June 1 announced his decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, citing concerns about the accord's threat to the U.S. economy.
However, the U.S. State Department said later the United States is "open to re-engaging in the Paris Agreement if the United States can identify terms that are more favorable to it, its business, its workers, its people, and its taxpayers."
