South Africa's role has proved critical to the success of the recent climate change summit - and not just because it was the host, report John Battersby and Yingni Lu

South Africa's hands-on hosting of the climate change summit in Durban in September 2011 has created a framework for an inclusive deal on climate change which would bring China and the United States on board and place the BRICS group at the centre of a global pact to limit carbon emissions.

South Africa's insistence on extending the COP-17 summit in Durban - and forcing negotiators into a 24-hour "huddle" when it appeared set for failure - produced a result which was beyond the expectations of negotiators and observers alike.

In terms of the agreement, more than 120 countries – including the United States, China, India and the EU – have agreed to negotiate a legally binding pact to limit carbon emissions within three years for implementation by the year 2020.

The deal is linked to a maximum two degree temperature rise and will keep alive the Kyoto framework but bring the major polluting nations into the deal for the first time. The agreement includes the creation of a $100-million climate fund which Britain has agreed to host and support.

The extent of the achievement reached in Durban in December became clear at a packed report-back meeting at Westminster in January, attended by more than 200 representatives from business and the climate change sector and addressed by Britain's Environment and Energy Minister, Chris Huhne.

Huhne said that the deal achieved in Durban through the intervention of two "very powerful and capable women" – Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane and Environment Minister Edna Molewa – had come "close to the top of our expectations" despite the fact that 24 hours earlier it had seemed that there would be no outcome at all.

Huhne stressed that South Africa's role was crucial.

Some climate change lobby groups downplayed the outcome and pointed to successive declarations over the past two decades which had not been met.

But there is a growing consensus that important concessions by China and India to commit to a cap on emissions by 2015 for full implementation by 2020 represents a major breakthrough in the quest for an inclusive deal to save the planet.

Until Durban, climate change summits have been wrecked by a huge gulf between the positions of the industrialised countries, which have contributed most to climate change, and developing countries which stand to lose most from having to curb rapid development by imposing restrictions on carbon emissions.

The first signs of a global pact emerging – whereby there would be a historic global trade-off between the industrialised and developing world to curb global emissions – came in the final 24-hour extension at the Durban summit.

Africa, which has contributed least to climate change in terms of emissions, and stands to lose most from a failure to curb global pollution, has long been seen as a potential facilitator in reaching a global pact.

South Africa's membership of the BRICS group – Brazil, Russia, China and India – was seen as crucial in achieving the breakthrough – in particular, the concession from China to negotiate a legally binding global pact on emissions

China was instrumental earlier in the much smaller South Africa joining the developing giants as a full member of the group.

"South Africa was able to exert considerable peer pressure on China and India to make concessions that would ensure a meaningful outcome in Durban," said one official close to the negotiations.

"If we had come away from Durban with no outcome it would have weakened the image of South Africa as the host and it would have weakened the potential clout of BRICS as an emerging global lobby group," the official said.

"As a result of the deal in Durban, the profile and influence of BRICS has been raised and South Africa has also been made to look good."

Huhne said that the deal in Durban had "allowed us to carry through the Kyoto Protocol as the basis for an international agreement". He also stressed the importance of the Green Fund which would help poor countries to implement the emissions deal.

He said Durban was a triumph for resolving climate change through the law, with legally binding agreements rather than the voluntary approach.

Huhne said what made Durban such a significant step is that it reached a permanent political realignment by more than 120 countries in which poor and rich countries with the European Union came together to back a legally binding deal.

‘The pressure of the developing countries and their moral authority based on common interest was crucial in reaching a globally inclusive deal with rich and poor countries," he said.

"Durban represents a major shift in the global debate about the green economy and doing things together," he said.

Huhne said in response to a question that legal agreements in themselves were not enough and needed to be accompanied by political will and commitment on behalf of the countries concerned.

China, for example, had no legal obligations but had taken major strides towards lower carbon status and had incorporated impressive objectives towards curbing climate change in its five-year plan although it still had challenges on reducing emissions.

He said carbon reduction and steps to combat climate change had the potential to create new industries and new jobs as well as new ways of financing such projects.

"There are enormous business opportunities in low carbon and creating a sustainable economy," said Huhne.

2nd image: Chris Kirchhoff, MediaClubSouthAfrica.com