WINDHOEK – The Minister of Environment and Tourism, Uahekua Herunga has promised to work closely with the incoming United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Executive Secretary Monique Barbut for the next two years as COP president.
In a ministerial statement he delivered in the National Assembly on Tuesday, Herunga told fellow MPs that he will make sure that the decisions of COP11 are effectively implemented for maximum on-the-ground impacts that will benefit Namibians in particular. He says Namibia with its long history of battling desertification, land degradation and drought, made its voice heard loudly during COP11. “There was strong local participation in the parliamentarians forum and the sustainable land management business forum, both of which resulted in strongly-worded declarations which are included in the official report of the conference,” said Herunga. A total of 89 events and special events were held on different aspects of desertification, land degradation and drought during COP11, 15 of which focused directly on Namibia’s experiences.
A Namib Declaration on a stronger UNCCD for a land degradation neutral world was also issued during COP11, which outlined priority areas of action for UNCCD from a Namibian perspective. These include strengthening the leadership of the UNCCD for the future, addressing drought mitigation as a matter of priority, advancing the science-policy interface, focusing on local communities, engaging with the private sector and empowering women. Herunga says the outgoing Executive Secretary Luc Gnacadja hailed COP 11 as a success on both the logistical and technical levels. The UNCCD secretariat reported that over 3000 participants, including 45 ministers from around the world attended COP11. “Most delegates expressed their high level of satisfaction with the logistical arrangements for COP11 and left Namibia with a very positive impression of a country they had previously known very little about,” Herunga said. The next COP will take place in Turkey in 2017.