Excellencies, dear colleagues,

SA aligns ourselves with the statement delivered by the African group. It is an honour to speak at this critical roundtable as we discuss the pathways towards a just transition. South Africa stands at the beginning of its transition journey, with much work ahead in shaping and implementing the necessary policies and actions. At the heart of all our climate actions is a steadfast commitment to ensuring a just and equitable transition—one that empowers our workers, communities, and all of society to define and drive the journey toward low-emissions and climate-resilient development.

Our National Framework on Just Transition is designed to embed fairness and equity into our mitigation and adaptation strategies. This is reflected in the formulation of our new Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) trajectory range, which aligns with the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal while ensuring that equity and fairness remain at the forefront.

For South Africa, transition pathways must create sustainable jobs, enhance livelihoods, and generate opportunities for localized industrialisation – moving towards a genuine transformative process that supports an inclusive and competitive economy.

In our collective commitment to achieve low carbon and climate resilient development, international cooperation and unlocking access to transition opportunities remains at the core.

As developing economy countries, we have shared realities that constrain our abilities to transition. We face a lack of means of implementation, limited fiscal space, high costs of capital, debt burdens, limited access to technologies and other factors. Critical within this is the lack of access to the transition's economic opportunities.

On the question of the full range of means of implementation required to assist Parties to advance their just transition pathways, the following key points need to be highlighted, and collective effort is necessary to address these.  

•  A clear message needs to be sent to the financial systems. The current global financial system is not designed to respond appropriately and developing economy countries cannot access the scale and quality of finance required to support their Just Transition Pathways and meet their Nationally Determined Commitments.
• Call for urgent action to reducing the cost of capital: The high cost of capital in Africa is inhibiting our ability to access the transition's socio-economic opportunities. In 2021, the average cost of capital for energy projects was about seven times higher in Africa than in Europe and North America. Reducing the cost requires coordinated efforts from governments, financial institutions, and businesses to remove frictions which add costs.
• Technology transfer and skills development are another key enabler of just transitions.  

The UAE Just Transition Work Programme is extremely important in delivering on these priorities. It needs to play an active role in facilitating the integration of fairness and equity into the implementation of climate actions. The Work Programme should:

• guide how justice and equity is integrated in the implementation of the goals of the Paris Agreement.
• send signals to the international cooperation ecosystem to support Parties in their transitions; and
• facilitate means of implementation and unlock additional quality finance.

In conclusion, achieving the goals of the Convention and its Paris Agreement will be impossible without necessary means of implementation and international cooperation. Together, we can pave the way for an equitable, climate-resilient future for all.

I thank you.