PRETORIA, Feb 8, NNN-BUANEWS report that South Africa and Australia have signed an agreement which will frame future bilateral co-operation on climate change issues.

The letter of intent was signed on Friday by Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean and Minister for Water and Environmental Affairs Buyelwa Sonjica.

The two nations have been co-operating on climate change matters under a Climate Change Partnership since 2006.

The Department of Water and Environmental Affairs said the signing of the letter formalised continued co-operation under this partnership.

Both countries agreed to identify as well develop and implement a further programme of joint activities such as addressing climate change and biodiversity; greenhouse gas emissions reporting and monitoring at national and entity levels.

The signing of the agreement in Pretoria came at the end of Crean’s visit to South Africa where he promoted Australia’s trade, economic and strategic interests with Africa.

Speaking in Cape Town at the Mining Indaba conference, Crean announced that Australia would provide AUD 500,000 to four West African universities to support capacity building of the mining sector in West Africa.

“The Australian Government is committed to strengthening the relationship with Africa that has been neglected for too long. We want to substantially enhance engagement with the countries and regional institutions of Africa which is home to almost one billion people” Crean said.

At the Mining Indaba conference, Crean held bilateral meetings with mining ministers from South Africa, Tanzania, Mozambique, Ghana, Senegal, Eritrea and Namibia.