Pretoria: South Africa has accelerated its efforts toward a just, inclusive, and community-centred transition, even as some countries remain slow to implement climate action. 'In this ever-uncertain environment, South Africa stands proud. We have not wavered on our commitments and have in fact scaled up our climate action,' President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Friday in Pretoria.

According to South African Government News Agency, over the past five years, the establishment of the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) played a pivotal role in shaping government policy to advance a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy and society. This comes at a time when global momentum on climate action is waning, raising concerns about the world's ability to meet the Paris Agreement targets.

'The state of climate financing for vulnerable countries remains perilous, hampering the ability of these countries to scale up their levels of ambition for both mitigation and adaptation. We know that these are challenging times for global climate action. Nine years since the signing of the Paris Agreement and with just five years to go before the world aims to meet the Sustainable Development Goals - countries of the world are way off track on climate goals,' the President said.

According to the World Meteorological Organisation, last year was the warmest year on record. 'We are on a trajectory to exceed the 1.5 degree Celsius warning limit. Despite this dire warning being sounded by experts for years, there has been noticeable climate action backsliding in a number of countries, including in the Global North,' he said.

The President made these remarks during the 20th Ordinary Commission Session where the PCC handed over its Five-Year Legacy and Review Report to the President as its term has come to an end.