Mario Siukuta
Over the past few years, the term climate change has become a defining issue of our time. The term has become a household name around the world, with shifting weather patterns happening even more frequently than anticipated. The consequences of climate change have threatened food production and are responsible for rising sea levels, and increased droughts and flooding throughout the world. This trend is expected to continue over the coming years if nothing is done to mitigate its negative impacts on the environment, economy and society’s most vulnerable people.
Namibia, being one of the driest countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, has not been immune to the effects of climate change. Over the past years, Namibia has experienced extreme weather pattern changes in the form of extended drought seasons and flash floods. These flash floods have led to rivers overflowing and hundreds of people left displaced in most of the northern parts of the country. The country’s climate is predicted to continue becoming hotter and drier, with more cases of extreme flash floods occurring. All this increased severity and frequent extreme weather patterns have made Namibia one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. To address these challenges, Namibia has adopted a National Climate Change Policy with various other National Plans and Strategies to mitigate and build adaptive methods for climate change. Even though the nation has developed initiatives for mitigating these challenges, there is still a huge need for more attention in tackling the challenges of climate change.
Necessary steps
While the issue of climate change appears “too big” to tackle locally, there is a lot that can be done to address climate-related issues by the communities and the local authorities. Local authorities are normally the first to respond to any climate change-related issues, and play a critical role in helping the communities adapt to climate change. Because local authorities benefit from the proximity with the communities, it makes them the most accessible authority when disasters strike. To add to that, the local authorities possess the most recent up-to-date knowledge on the environment and the population. This is made possible by the fact that the majority of local authorities have included an environmental practitioner as part of their organisational structures, who is tasked with the responsibility of overseeing all environmental-related issues, including those related to climate change. They also have the responsibilities of coordinating and engaging across local and central government to allow for the building of capacity and resilience within communities faced with climate change-related challenges.
For local authorities to combat climate change on a local level, it will require local climate change plans to be developed and implemented. These plans should include both adaptation and mitigation mechanisms best-fitted for the situation within the jurisdiction of the local authorities developing the plans. A climate change plan is an effective approach once done with the participation of the communities and all other affected parties. It provides for community-wide ownership and commitment to ensuring a more robust climate response. Any successful climate change adaptation plans should be based on both planned (based on scientific knowledge) and indigenous knowledge from the communities to allow for a more effective response to addressing climate change.
Local authorities also need to invest in building the capacity (i.e. human resources, skills, knowledge, planning) of the individuals within their communities. Investing in building capacity strengthens the ability of the local authorities to respond to climate change. Climate change preparedness is only effective once all involved parties are equipped with the right resources. This includes creating public awareness about climate change within the communities.
Local authorities/governments are currently leading the fight against climate change all over the world. They play a critical role in helping the most vulnerable communities in addressing the challenges of climate change. This is done through various adaptation and mitigation responses devised to respond to climate change impacts. These local climate change plans and experiences need to be incorporated into existing climate change frameworks and national plans. Climate change plans within local authorities should not only be operationalised in silos, but should be integrated with other activities of the local authorities such as planning, building regulations, transport and water resources management. While national and international climate change policies are still the norm, there is increased attention on the role of local authorities in addressing climate change.
*Mario Siukuta is a student at the Namibia University of Science and Technology. He is currently enrolled for a Master’s Degree in Spatial Science with the Department of Land and Property Sciences. The views expressed in this article are entirely his, and not that of his employer.