South African negotiators said on Tuesday the outcome of the Copenhagen climate talks was disappointing and unacceptable, largely due to a flawed process that damaged trust among delegations. Buyelwa Sonjica, minister of environmental affairs, told reporters her government had considered walking out of the meeting but decided against it after consulting other African countries.
"We are not defending this, as I have indicated, for us it is not acceptable, it is definitely not acceptable," she said after returning from Copenhagen. "Our president consulted ... and the feeling by Africa was it was not a good idea to walk out." The world's 12th biggest emitter, dependent on coal for 90 percent of its electricity needs, South Africa had pledged before the meeting to slow the growth of its greenhouse gas emissions by 34 percent below projected levels by 2020.