The axing of minister of forestry, fisheries & the environment Dion George during COP30 has disrupted crucial negotiations he was expected to co-lead, stakeholders at the climate summit in Belém, Brazil, told Business Day. The former environment minister confirmed his previous mandate on Tuesday.
George was fired after public deviations from the agreed cabinet line on wildlife trade at an earlier summit in Brazil. Last Wednesday, DA leader John Steenhuisen requested that President Cyril Ramaphosa implement changes to the DA's representatives in the national executive. Ramaphosa replaced George with Willie Aucamp -- just three days into COP30.
COP30, dubbed the "adaptation COP", will see negotiators finalise indicators for the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), established under Article 7 of the Paris Agreement. Until now, there has been no consistent way to measure resilience or to track whether adaptation finance actually protects lives, livelihoods and economies.
For SA and other climate-exposed emerging markets, a clear set of metrics could help unlock investment in resilient infrastructure, agriculture and early-warning systems, which are essential defences against recurring floods, droughts and heatwaves.
George was tapped to serve as part of the ministerial pair on adaptation and the GGA at COP30 this week, meaning he would have facilitated the talks.
"The GGA is an enormous deal. The adaptation stuff is where African countries need finance and we need to show leadership," said Gillian Hamilton, sustainability and climate change consultant and economist with SA's The Green Connection. Hamilton is now in Belém.
Who fires the environmental minister during the most important climate event of the year?
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George said: "I was earmarked to co-chair adaptation with Germany; in fact, we'd already started the process to start looking at where the gaps are, where the differences are between the various nations, and how we would bridge that, because we know that there are positions that are actually quite far apart."
To avoid a deadlock, George said he proposed a compromise: countries could start using the indicators voluntarily, while experts continue refining them over the next year.
"SA is a nonaligned country. We are very important in the process, because we can talk to everybody," George explained.
Replaced
SA (and George) has since been replaced by Gambia's Rohey John Manjang, minister of environment, climate change & natural resources.
George was also intimately involved in negotiations at COP29, co-chairing the informal consultations on mitigation before and during the conference, making him a well-informed roleplayer at COP30.
"I am so embarrassed for John Steenhuisen because as the minister of agriculture ... climate change [affects] agriculture and he should understand how important these climate negotiations are to get things moving along," Hamilton said.
"Who fires the environmental minister during the most important climate event of the year?" said another stakeholder familiar with the inner workings of the negotiations, on condition of anonymity.
Steenhuisen did not respond to inquiries by Business Day.
It is not only about physical negotiations but also SA's presence and leadership in Africa, the stakeholders said. While last week at COP30 was more technical, this week sees ministers coming together to negotiate on the ministerial or presidential level. SA now has no high-level presence to demonstrate its seriousness about climate change, the stakeholders said.
George was also involved in the air quality agreement concluded in Cape Town, which is feeding into COP30.
The SA delegation is one of 143 delegations present in Belém. Its delegation includes a core negotiating team of about 25 people, as well as representatives from provincial and local governments, MPs, the Presidential Climate Commission and various state-owned entities.
George's sudden removal also raises concerns ahead of the G20 Leaders' Summit while climate leadership remains fragile and under intense scrutiny.
However, he noted that he managed to secure two ministerial declarations at the climate and sustainability working group -- "one on air quality and one on crimes that affect the environment".
"The [US] did show up to that meeting, and we all agreed. We got a consensus agreement."
According to media reports, George has been accused of bullying and intimidation by departmental staff. He told Business Day: "I reject claims of bullying. I do have high standards and expect performance. For example, the former chief director of communications was disciplined."
The forestry, fisheries and the environment department did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.