Cabinet has approved the National Climate Change Response Policy, government spokesman Jimmy Manyi said on Thursday.

"Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa will update the media about this policy next week," he told reporters after Wednesday's regular Cabinet meeting.

The policy would now be gazetted.

It was the embodiment of South Africa's commitment to "a fair contribution to the stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere", Manyi said.

Wednesday's regular Cabinet meeting noted a report on the status of preparations or the 17th Conference of Parties (COP 17) to the United Nations framework convention on climate change and the seventh conference of parties serving as the meeting of the parties (CMP7) to the Kyota Protocol.

Manyi said Cabinet was hopeful that the COP 17 and CMP 7 conferences in Durban later this year would produce an outcome that is fair, balanced, and equitable.

The events take place in Durban from November 28 to December 9.

Manyi said high-level consultations were ongoing and a pre-COP informal ministerial consultation would be hosted in Stellenbosch on October 20 and 21.

Key issues the COP 17 and CMP7 would have to address included operationalisation of the Cancun Agreements. These included establishing mechanisms and institutional arrangements agreed to in Cancun, Mexico, at COP 16 and CMP 6 last year.

The green climate fund represented a centre-piece of a broader set of outcomes for Durban, Manyi said.

The meeting also had to address outstanding political issues remaining from the Bali Roadmap.

"This means finding a resolution to the issue of the second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol and agreeing on the legal mandate of a future climate change system," Manyi said.

"Adaptation is an essential element of the outcome in Durban as it is a key priority for many developing countries, particularly small island developing states, least developed countries, and Africa."

About 20 000 delegates representing 194 governments and representatives of non-governmental organisations were expected to attend the conference.