The next round of UN climate talks in South Africa must not be a talking shop, but push for concrete decisions, President Jacob Zuma told the World Economic Forum on Africa.

South African President Jacob Zuma (2R) speaks on environmental issues during the second day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa in Cape Town on May 5.

South Africa will host the summit in Durban at the end of the year and Zuma said he hoped that participants do not "just make speeches as we always do".

"By the time we get to Durban, we should have narrowed the gap. We should have clarified the issues, we should be able to know where are the problems," said Zuma.

"So that we get there not to talk all the time but to say these are the issues, these are the decisions that we need to talk and persuade those who are finding it very difficult. For the sake of humanity, I think we need to take very concrete decisions in Durban."

The last UN climate summit took place in the Mexican resort city of Cancun in December.

The Cancun agreements focused mainly on the easiest steps to be taken, after an effort 12 months earlier in Copenhagen to achieve a much more wide-ranging accord saw the UN climate process almost collapse.