ENVIRONMENT NEWS - For the first time in the history of the Group of Twenty (G20), South Africa has successfully placed issues of air quality and crimes that affect the environment on the forum's agenda.
Both issues were adopted by G20 through the Ministerial Declaration on Crimes that Affect the Environment and the Cape Town Ministerial Declaration on Air Quality, signalling global recognition of their urgency and cross-cutting impact on people, ecosystems and economies.
“They speak to the daily realities of our citizens: the air they breathe, the safety of their natural heritage, and the rule of law that protects it. Under South Africa’s Presidency of the G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group, we brought these critical issues to the top of the global agenda, protecting our people and our environment, ensuring that justice and health walk hand in hand,” Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Dr Dion George, said.
The Cape Town Ministerial Declaration on Crimes that Affect the Environment calls for stronger global cooperation to combat illegal wildlife trade, deforestation, mining, waste trafficking and other transnational crimes that undermine environmental security, societies and economic integrity.
It commits G20 members to foster synergies among different policies and sectors and mobilising all sources of financial resources, improve data and monitoring, and scale up support for communities most affected by air pollution.
Together, the two declarations mark a turning point in the global environmental agenda and reflect South Africa’s leadership in linking environmental stewardship with social and economic wellbeing.
The Minister said the outcomes will inform the G20 Leaders’ Declaration to be considered at next month’s Summit in Johannesburg.
“This is what leadership looks like: practical cooperation that improves lives and strengthens the link between nature, people and prosperity. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu reminded us, we remain prisoners of hope, steadfast in the belief that each act of cooperation brings us closer to the world we want to see,” he said. - SAnews.gov.za
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