At a meeting with Sonjica last week, Busa asked her to clarify the government's intentions about its greenhouse gas reduction undertaking at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Business leaders expressed their commitment to working with the government and Sonjica in particular "to develop a strong national position in respect of reductions from now until the next conference of the parties in Mexico."
They agreed that co-operation would be strengthened through the establishment of a think-tank to give input to ongoing climate change negotiations, which would be supported by a technical team already set up by Busa.
Busa said the detailed breakdown of South Africa's UNFCC undertaking was not discussed.
However, it was agreed that more detailed technical work was needed to ensure that achieving the targets would not constrain the economic growth necessary for future prosperity and job creation.
Sonjica identified a need to preserve enough carbon space for South Africa's development needs.
She assured business leaders that the government was committed to preserving this space and that there would be consultation on the development of detailed mitigation action plans.
Jerry Vilakazi, Busa chief executive, welcomed Sonjica's approach to co-operation and pledged business collaboration in this, and the need to understand the business risks if climate change was not addressed.
Sapa
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