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The author, Brian Mantlana (centre) with SARVA's Dr Rebecca Maserumule (left) and Dr Emma Archer at the World Climate Conference in Geneva earlier this year.
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"The Second National Communication serves as a powerful tool for bringing climate change concerns to the attention of policy makers at the national level." - Brian Mantlana
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Brian Mantlana, Global Change Research Group, South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI)
South Africa (SA) is a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
To fulfil one of its obligations under the UNFCCC, SA has to submit its national communication on a regular basis (once every 3 -4 years). The Initial National Communication was submitted to the UNFCCC in 2003. At the request of the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) is coordinating the writing and publishing of the Second National Communication (SNC).
Besides fulfilling SA's obligation to the UNFCCC, the SNC also serves as a powerful tool for bringing climate change concerns to the attention of policy makers at the national level. It is a useful tool for highlighting and disseminating climate change concerns to a wider national audience, and also acts as a strategic tool to help countries align national development interests and priorities to the overall goals of the Convention.
In addition, DEA intends to transform the SNC from being only a reporting process to a strategic and policy support tool for the country.
The SNC is an assessment of the most recent trends in diverse sectors that are likely to be affected by climate change. These assessments are done by some of the country's leading research scientists and cover a diverse range of sectors including agriculture, forestry, human health, terrestrial and marine biodiversity. The SNC also assesses the latest developments and patterns on policies regarding adaptation to climate change, disaster risk reduction, technology transfer, mitigation, etc.
The key messages from the science trends and policy developments that have come from the SNC have been compiled and communicated to the DEA negotiating team that will be attending the climate change conference in Copenhagen in December 2009. This was done with the intention to provide the negotiators with a concise and up-to-date summary of relevant issues to enhance South Africa's position during the negotiations.
It is necessary to compare, and where necessary align the SNC with similar processes that are taking place internationally. In keeping with this objective, I attended the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) World Climate Conference 3 which was held in Geneva in August 2009. At that conference, representing South Africa, I participated in the negotiations on establishing a Global Framework for Climate Services to strengthen production, availability, delivery and application of science-based climate prediction and services.
Lastly, one of the roles of the SNC is to serve as a basis upon which national policy can be developed. As a result the SNC will provide the scientific information in most of DEA's policy publications, including the National Climate Change Response Strategy. It is foreseen that government departments other than DEA will use this information when developing their national policies.
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