JOHANNESUSRG, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- African leaders should prioritize climate change issues and speak with one voice about it on international platforms, said a South African minister on Friday.

Dion George, minister of forestry, fisheries and the environment, issued a statement, urging African leaders to consider addressing climate change as a matter of strategic importance to the African continent.

The minister will attend the meeting of the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC), held on the sidelines of the African Union (AU) Summit on Saturday, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

George said Africa is vulnerable to climate change, which requires urgent measures and actions to address. "Africa has limited capacity to adapt to the impacts of climate change as well as to mitigate against and recover from natural disasters such as droughts, floods and other extreme weather-induced events which are becoming more frequent," said George. "It is therefore incumbent on all of us Africans to take the lead in dealing with climate change."

He said the meeting is expected to consider the report of the coordinator of the CAHOSCC, Kenyan President William Ruto, and outcomes of the 29th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November 2024.

The meeting will also consider and submit a draft decision on key climate change issues for adoption by the AU Assembly, according to the minister.

The CAHOSCC was established by the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government in 2009 to spearhead Africa's common position on climate change and to ensure that Africa speaks with one voice in global climate change negotiations. Enditem

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