Albertina Nakale
Windhoek
Namibia is already busy implementing the Paris Agreement based on the country’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) document, which was approved by Cabinet in 2015 and outlines the intended actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
President Hage Geingob, signed the Paris Agreement on behalf of Namibia at the U.N head Quarters in New York on 22 April 2016. Some 171 UN members signed the agreement on the same day.
Namibia ratified the Paris Agreement on Climate Change on 21st September 2016. This was said by Environment and Tourism Minister oPohamba Shifeta yesterday when he officially launched two climate change projects.
These are the Climate Resilient Agriculture in three of the Vulnerable Extreme northern crop-growing regions Project (CRAVE) and Empower to Adapt: creating Climate-Change Resilient Livelihoods through Community-Based Natural Resource Management in Namibia Project (EDA-CBNRM).
According to him, these projects are an integral part of national efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change and eradicate poverty in the country. He noted Namibians need to take pride in the fact that Namibia was among the first group of countries to ratify the Paris agreement.
Shifeta said the INDC contains many targets, which are deliberately ambitious as a signal of Namibia’s seriousness to tackle climate change and to mobilize the necessary resources for climate change investments, part of which he says are the launched projects. He explained the INDC targets the increasing of the share of renewables in electricity production to 70 percent by 2030 and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 89 percent by 2030; reducing the deforestation rate by 75 percent; extending conservation agriculture to 80,000 hectares by 2030; and restoring 15 million hectares of grassland by 2030.
He noted these targets highlight the importance that mitigating and adapting to climate change can play in moving towards a Namibia that is secure in terms of energy, water and food production.
Further, he stated the whole issue of climate change also brings into focus the challenges in terms of water security and local capacity for provision of energy as well as the need for transformative solutions to these challenges such as the development of renewable energy sources and alternative methods of water supply such as desalination and aquifer recharge.
He said Namibia included climate change adaptation and mitigation as a critical strategic priority in its most recent planning frameworks, including the Harambee Prosperity Plan and the NDP5.
The CRAVE Project is a conservation agriculture project. It is worth approximately N$150 million and will be implemented in the Zambezi, Kavango East and Kavango West regions. The CRAVE Project is aimed at reducing the vulnerability of rural communities and food insecurity related to climate risks and threats while simultaneously increasing the adaptive capacity and well-being of the affected communities.
This project, which will be implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture Water and Forestry, will directly and indirectly benefit up to 21,000 small-scale farmers in the said regions.
The project steering committee for the project has been set up already and the Environmental Investment Fund and Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry have completed the recruitment process for the Project Implementation Unit. Shifeta said awareness creation regarding the project’s outcomes is underway and this project is ready to be rolled out.
The second project is named ‘Empower to Adapt’ and is aimed at reducing the climate vulnerabilities and increasing the resilience of locals residing within CBNRM areas by incorporating climate adaptation response strategies into their on-going local practices.
The overall goal is to ensure that their assets and livelihoods are protected from climate-induced risks such droughts, floods, seasonal shifts and other climate disaster events. This project, valued at N$ 150 million, is expected to benefit more than 76,500 rural area residents.
The Environmental Investment Fund of Namibia is also busy with a new pipeline of projects worth N$750 million to the Green Climate Fund that Shifeta is hopeful will be tabled during the 18th Board meeting in 2018.