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The domestication of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been progressing in various countries across the world. Five years into the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that embraces 17 inseparable SDGs, this study documents how South Africa has been domesticating the SDGs. The study uses a mixed-method approach that includes a survey and interviews as well as critical discourse and document analysis. It emerges that South Africa has taken reasonable steps to domesticate and implement the SDGs with the hope of meeting many of the targets in 2030. The study demonstrates that there are SDG-aligned initiatives based on the National Development Plan (NDP) Vision 2030, some of which were in existence prior to the 2030 Agenda. The intersection between the NDP Vision 2030 and the SDGs saw South Africa continuing with many existing initiatives while seeking to enhance alignment of those initiatives with the 2030 Agenda. At the same time, the study also reveals that South Africa has put in place institutional mechanisms to implement the SDGs, although these have taken longer than planned to be finalised. Even now, there remains uncertainty regarding separate funding for the SDGs, as currently funding is provided mainly through the NDP Vision 2030 government programming. This article recommends continued alignment and further domestication of the SDGs, especially at the provincial and local government levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Talanoa Dialogue on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change focuses on taking stock of progress towards the long-term goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement, including refining (intended) nationally determined contributions [(I)NDCs]. The Talanoa Dialogue focuses on three questions, namely: Where are we? Where do we want to go? And, how do we get there? Given the resentment regarding the manner in which some (I)NDCs have been crafted and continued allegations on mitigation bias, this paper audits selected African (I)NDCs to determine the extent to which agriculture and adaptation issues are addressed. It emerged that while some address agriculture and adaptation, others do not. Agriculture and climate adaptation must continue to be placed at the centre of the (I)NDCs. Likewise, if Africa is to fulfil Agenda 2063’s commitment to prioritise climate adaptation, effort must be redoubled to enact a COP26 Decision on Agriculture addressing adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the 2015 Paris Agreement of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, with a focus on mitigation. The history of climate negotiations and the mitigation agenda shows the divide between developed and developing countries, with the latter insisting that the former, having caused the problem, need to do more to reduce carbon emissions to address climate change. However, as some emerging economies had continued to emit more carbon, there were calls to treat these as developed countries, requiring increased mitigation measures. The article examines the record of these emerging economies, and establishes that there was some convergence in Paris, a positive element that resulted in a single global climate treaty. However, the Paris negotiations also witnessed contestations, with the final agreement insufficient to keep global warming within advised limits, and in any case only partly legally binding, leaving its implementation success to good will. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Prior to developments in Copenhagen in 2009 and Cancun in 2010, global climate policy negotiations seldom culminated in concrete decisions concerning ways in which Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) could be linked to sustainable development and carbon markets in developing countries, such as those in some parts of Africa.That changed with the expansion of the REDD initiative, to REDD+. Key arguments in the discussions have concerned contested methodologies for measuring, reporting and verifying carbon stocks; ensuring adequate technology transfer; and rectifying the shortage of local experts to deal with REDD+. However, there has been no contestation on the fact that REDD+ creates financial value for carbon stored in forests, an aspect that would encourage developing countries to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation of forested lands and to invest in low-carbon growth paths. This article sheds light on how REDD+ has developed in global climate negotiations and how African governments have and should engage with REDD+. The conclusion is that since the Bali Action Plan of 2007, there has been significant progress in creating enabling global architecture with regard to REDD+, and African governments should now grasp the opportunities offered by REDD+ while advocating for a fair, legally binding and ethical arrangement to engage over the forests which are so key to many of their economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]