INDUSTRY INTRODUCTION017Below: the solar-drivenLED project in Guiyang(left) and the HangzhouCanalmunities together is another growing challenge for cities. For the city of Hangzhou in eastern China, urbanplanners wanted to find a way to bring more areas ofthe city to life, to give its residents outdoor spaceswhere they can breathe and live. Using Philips' LED lighting solutions, these urban planners lit up aniconic section along the city's 2,000-year-old canalsystem, choosing a blue-green colour palette tohighlight the spaces in a dramatic and enchanting way.The versatile LED lights not only use less energy thanthe municipality had originally expected, they havealso transformed the entire area. By "painting the citywith light", they have brought people out of theirhomes to create communities that otherwise would not have existed. A leader in light for more than 120 years, Philips hopesto partner with cities to help them express their uniqueidentities and truly shine on the global map by usingsustainable, high-quality lighting making them safe,efficient and beautiful places to live and work. nABOUT THE AUTHORHarry Verhaar has over 20 years of experience in the lighting industry, with his current roles beingSenior Director of Energy and Climate Change at Philips. In the past eight years Mr Verhaar hasbeen the architect of the lighting strategy in relation to energy and climate change, which has resulted in a global momentum to phase out old lighting technologies in cities, non-residentialbuildings and homes. Mr Verhaar is an activemember of a number of partnership networks,among which are: The Climate Group, the WBCSD, the World Green Building Council and the Prince of Wales's Corporate LeadershipGroup on Climate Change. Mr Verhaar is also amember of the Advisory Board of The LisbonCouncil and a recipient of the 2011 UN Leader of Change Award. Contact details: harry.verhaar@philips.com

he successful deliverance ofCOP17/CMP7 in Durban, from 28 November to 9 December 2011, is one of the key issues that is at the centre of our Government's deliverables for theperiod 2011/2012. This is, in part, influenced by our hosting ofCOP17/CMP7 in the magnificent City of Durban, butalso by the centrality that climate change hasacquired as an urgent and immediate threat to our wayof life as we know it. We have all witnessed the acutechanges in weather patterns all over theglobe. Internationally, we have witnessed devastatingfloods in Pakistan, and the devastating power of theTsunami in Japan. Here in Africa we have all seen thehelplessness of humanity when confronted by nature'sdestructive power as evidenced in Somalia, where ourGovernment in partnership with the Gift of the Giverscontinues to play an instrumental role in alleviatingthe challenges facing that country. We have also seen the changing weather patternsaffecting Nigeria and Benin, where floods havewrecked havoc within those countries. Here at home,we have experienced some of the coldest winters onrecord throughout the country, including changingrainfall patterns in the Eastern Cape. These climaticchallenges certainly have an impact on both our way oflife as well as on our ability to feed our societies.As theIncoming COP President, my role is to lead the world inforging a common consensus in terms of reversingthese adverse effects of climate change. By hostingCOP17/CMP7, South Africa hopes to uphold rules-based multilateralism as one of our fundamentalinterests which we aspire to globally. Accordingly,South Africa will endeavour to uphold the consensusnature of decision-making that has characterised theUNFCCC and its Conference/s of the Parties, since1995. In this regard, South Africa, in cooperation withthe Parties to the UNFCCC, will seek to facilitate anoutcome which is fair, transparent, inclusive andupholds the Convention principle of common butdifferentiated responsibilities and capabilities. Thenegotiations in Durban will be a Party-driven processwith South Africa playing an enabling role for Parties tofind agreement on the salient issues of climatechange. South Africa will not seek to impose a solution of itsown, as the UNFCCC is governed by its own processesand Rules of Procedure, which we think is important toobserve since this strengthens multilateralism and thelegitimacy of the whole process.In this juncture, it isimportant to note that one of our critical immediateresponsibilities is to ensure that the trust which wasrestored in Cancun does not suffer a seconddisconnect amongst Parties as evidenced in theCopenhagen negotiations. As the Parties prepare tomeet in Durban, there is an urgent need for all Partiesto approach the Durban negotiations with an elementof maturity as the outcomes of the Cancunnegotiations, although laudable, unfortunately did notaddress all the issues.In order to generate the requisite momentum towardsan acceptable outcome in Durban, in my capacity asthe incoming COP President, I have since thebeginning of this year begun high-level consultationswith stakeholders both locally and internationally,including at recent meetings of the AWG/s in PanamaCity, Panama. We continue to welcome to our shoresvarious climate change envoys from all over the worldwho visit our country in order to share their views andpossible outcomes of COP17/CMP7. I must, however,state that I was heartened by the attitude of the"WORKING TOGETHER: SAVING TOMORROW TODAY"018SOUTH AFRICA SHOWCASEMAITE NKOANA-MASHABANE, MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND COOPERATION, THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICAINCOMING PRESIDENT, COP17 AND CMP7TPhoto: UN Photo/Mark Garten