South Africa - Deputy Minister Ebrahim to attend the SADC Council of Ministers. 24-26 February 2010, Kinshasa, DRC

International Relations and Cooperation Deputy Minister Ebrahim I Ebrahim will on Wednesday, 24 February 2010, depart for Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to attend the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Council of Ministers meeting from 25 to 26 February 2010.

South Africa will participate in the SADC Council of Ministers' meeting within the context of strengthening SADC which remains the primary vehicle to achieve regional development and integration. In addition SADC, as one of the Regional Economic Communities on the continent, is regarded as a building block in the consolidation of the African Agenda and wider continental integration.

The Council of Ministers meeting will be preceded by the Standing Committee of Senior officials and the Finance Committee meeting. Accordingly, the SADC Council of Ministers' session will consider the following:

• The Regional Food Security Situation,
• Establishment of the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development (CCARDESA),
• Review the Application of the SADC Quota System,
• The establishment of the Zambezi Watercourse Commission, and
• A report of the Finance Committee.

It is expected that the Council of Ministers will discuss the Implications of the global economic crisis on the region, Institutional arrangements for the SADC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA); a report on the EPA Processes; progress made in the Eastern and Southern Africa and East African Community EPA and the proposed COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite FTA as well as the SADC monetary Integration.

Deputy Minister Ebrahim and delegation will return to South Africa on Friday, 26 February 2010.

United Nations Climate Change Conference: 7-18 December 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark

The city of Copenhagen, Denmark will be hosting the 15^th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) at Bella Centre from the 7^th to the 18^th of December 2009. The conference will be the largest international political conference ever held in Denmark with approximately 15,000 participants from 192 countries representing governments, the business community, and civil society.

The meeting seeks to find solutions to the rise in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising sea levels due to increased emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.

"The world is facing a major challenge. We cannot continue using fossil fuels the way we do today. Scientists have laid out the risks we face and it has become clearer than ever that now is the time to take serious action on climate change. If we do not act today, the opportunity will not only slip out of our hands but it will also become much more expensive to carry out the necessary low-carbon transition in the future", said H.E. Connie Hedegaard, Minister for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, Copenhagen 2009.