The Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) is expected to convene its second public dialogue on the National Climate Change Response Fund on Thursday.

According to the PCC, the dialogue, to be held in Rosebank, Johannesburg, is expected to discuss the country’s ‘climate adaptation funding gap, and mobilise public and private investment to improve the country’s resilience against the growing impacts of climate change’.

‘The establishment of the Climate Change Response Fund was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa… as a fund to counter the severe effect of global warming and climate change, and to bring together all spheres of government and the private sector in a collaborative effort to build resilience and respond to the impacts of climate change.

‘The dialogue will solicit views from a diverse stakeholder group to further direct the conceptualisation and design of the Climate Change Response Fund on specific aspects of the fund, as recommended by the academic research, experts and the previous stakehol
der dialogue to feed into the fund’s strategic recommendations,’ the commission said.

The PCC explained that the fund is aimed at serving ‘as the channel through which local and international climate adaptation finance is consolidated and directed to implementing agencies’.

‘This hybrid event will feature key experts, who will discuss the governance structure of the fund; how to leverage and appeal for active private sector participation through seed capital from the fiscus, and further elaborate on the integration of various financing mechanisms, and ensuring adaptation responses are inclusive of diverse needs, particularly at the municipal level,’ the PCC said.

The Presidential Climate Commission is an independent, statutory, multistakeholder body established by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The commission’s purpose is to oversee and facilitate a just and equitable transition towards a low emissions and climate-resilient economy.

Source: South African Government News Agency