Dion George is tackling resistance to mitigation and climate finance with just days left at the conference
With just days remaining at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, South Africa’s forestry, fisheries and the environment minister, Dion George, remains optimistic about achieving progress in the fraught negotiations on mitigating the effects of climate change.
George, who co-chairs the mitigation track alongside Norway’s Tore Onshuus Sandvik, faces the task of navigating entrenched divisions among nations.
Mitigation focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
But resistance to measures such as coal phase-outs, deforestation controls and methane targets has hampered talks.
Last year’s COP28 ended with no significant outcomes on mitigation, a pattern George is determined to break.
“I’ve been hacking away at those hard stances to find the middle ground,” George said on the sidelines of the conference.
“The message is clear — if we keep doing the same thing, we’ll end up with the same failed outcome. We want a tangible result from Baku that leads to implementation.”
George’s approach has been to challenge countries with rigid positions, even if it unsettles delegates.
“I’ve shaken the tree a bit. Some people have been rattled by what I’ve said, but I didn’t come here to smile and wave — I’m here to get something done,” he said.
Success, he added, would mean reaching an agreement that includes a commitment to action. But breaking down “extreme ideas” from certain nations has proven difficult.
George said mitigation cannot be addressed without adequate climate finance.
Funding was also essential for adaptation, loss, and damage, he said.
“If we’re going to meet the 1.5°C target, we need finance. Ambition without means is just paper — it leads nowhere,” he said.
South Africa, along with the Africa Group, has been vocal about the need for grants and highly concessional funding rather than loans that would further burden already indebted nations.
“We’re paying R1 billion a day in interest. There’s no space to borrow more. Climate finance must not add to our debt,” George said.
In July, South Africa signed the Climate Change Act, a legislative milestone that aligns with its goals at COP29.
George also pointed to the country’s efforts to advocate for a new model of climate finance that better serves developing economies.
He highlighted the need to overhaul global financial structures, a priority as South Africa assumes the G20 presidency next year. “The current system transfers money from the global south to the global north. That needs to change.”
While mitigation discussions are technically separate from the finance stream at COP29, George stressed the need to connect the two.
“It’s obvious that mitigation and financing are heavily linked, yet it’s not generally agreed upon. Acknowledging this connection would be a step forward,” he said.
Despite the difficulties, George said he remains hopeful.
He and other African leaders have been clear that progress requires tangible commitments, not empty promises.
By Thursday, he hopes the mitigation track will yield an agreement that moves beyond rhetoric to real action.
“We need to get this done,” George said, “because doing nothing is no longer an option.”