(NYASATIMES MW) Africans vulnerable to climate change due dependency on rain-fed agriculture- Malawi Minister
By Nyasa Times Reporter
July 23, 2013
Malawi Minister of Environment and Climate Change Management Halima Daudi has attributed East and Southern Africans vulnerability to climate change to heavy dependence on rain-fed subsistence agriculture for livelihoods and on wood energy for cooking and heating.
The Minister made the remarks at the Southern Voices on Climate Change, East and Southern Africa Regional workshop being held at Sunbird Nkopola Lodge in Mangochi on Tuesday when she officially opened the workshop which ends Thursday.
The theme of the workshop is Linking local experiences with policy processes in climate change.
“It is therefore pleasing to note that this workshop will focus on adaptation, sustainable energy and community forestry all of which are critical in reducing the vulnerability of our communities to the impacts of climate change,” stated Daudi.
Minister Daudi with workshop participants in Mangochi on Tuesday
Minister Daudi with workshop participants in Mangochi on Tuesday
Daudi told delegates from nine countries attending the workshop that the Malawi Government is committed to the fight against climate change saying there are several steps undertaken in the management at policy and local level.
Participants to the workshop have been drawn from Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia.
To show Malawi’s commitment to fight climate change, Daudi said Malawi has developed the National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) whose implementation is underway adding that Malawi has also formed the National Technical Committee on Climate Change which provides technical oversight to the implementation of national programmes and initiatives.
“Currently the Government of Malawi is developing a National Climate Change Policy and a National Climate Change Investment Plan to guide effectiveness to climate change in Malawi. Plans are also underway to develop a National Adaptation Plan as a framework for addressing medium to long term adaptation needs of our country.
Secretary General of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (Pacja) Mithika Mwenda said Africa is confronted by climate change which is threatening livelihoods of many people.
“Millions are suffering in silence. Wells are drying up. About 250 million Africans will be exposed to water stress by 2020. Agricultural production will shrink by 50 percent,” said Mwenda.
Chairperson of the civil society network on climate change in Malawi Melton Luhanga thanked Pacja for mobilizing and financing participation of delegates at the workshop which is aimed at bridging the gap between local experiences and policy.
Outlining the objectives, Luhanga said the workshop will enhance participants understanding of the links between policy and advocacy and community level activities; share experiences and lessons and identify opportunities from adaptation, sustainable energy and community forestry in relation to policy and planning in the region.
“This is the reason we have brought climate change and environmental practitioners from nine countries of East and Southern Africa to share knowledge, experiences and ideas.
Climate change focal person and Dan Church Aid representative Agnes Nyirenda said since the failure of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) climate change talks to reach an ambitious global climate agreement at COP15 in Copenhagen, in Denmark southern civil society organisations and networks have continued to mobilise and increase their efforts to generate greater stronger attention and influence climate negotiations and policies at the internal level and increasingly also at national level.
She said a consortium of five Danish and two international non-governmental organisations established after the COP15 are supporting the Southern Voices on Climate Change Programme, coordinated by CARE Denmark.
She said the regional workshop will be a success and will contribute to the agenda of southern voices which is promoting environmental integrity and sustainable development that benefits poor and vulnerable people.
“We believe that in working together in solidarity there is power and we can positively change the world and our communities,” concluded Nyirenda.
Labels: CLIMATE CHANGE, IRRIGATION, NGOs
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Rich nations muzzle out African nations
Saturday, 03 December 2011 00:00
[Mrs Florence Nhekairo] Isdore Guvamombe in DURBAN, South Africa
NEGOTIATIONS by developing countries to get binding funding and greenhouse gas emission reduction guarantees under the Kyoto Protocol fizzled from a plenary affair to subtle country to country negotiations, as eking a lasting agreement remained a distant mirage.
Rich nations, some of which had earlier on threatened to pull out of the Kyoto Agreement negotiations, successfully used their financial and political muscle to dismantle open negotiations as the United Nations Climate Change Conference entered day four on Thursday. The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The major feature of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialised countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
hese reductions amount to an average of five percent against 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012 but developed nations feel that it slows their industrialisation.
In an interview, head of the Zimbabwean delegation and Secretary for Environment and Natural Resources Management overt to the covert.
"As it stands we have more or less put aside plenary negotiations and gone for consultations, one on one country negotiations and we hope to finally come up with something.
"As the African group we have taken the position that the Kyoto Agreement cannot die on the African soil.
"We are already affected by climate change and we are seeking funding guarantees for projects and legally binding agreements to reduce greenhouse emissions.
"As developing countries we are not legally bound, we are only asking for a greenhouse funding to offset the intermittent droughts, shifting farming seasons and high temperatures.
"We need funding to help us adapt because to us it means less rains, it means less food and it means less water,'' said Mrs Nhekairo.
At the end, it is envisaged that the developing countries could end up with a win-win situation with the developing world in the form of Kyoto Protocol stage 2 or something else.
Labels: CLIMATE CHANGE, ENVIRONMENT, POLLUTION
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Polluting nations face legal action
By Kabanda Chulu in Kitwe
Wed 01 Dec. 2010, 04:01 CAT
VULNERABLE nations can speed up international action on climate change by taking industrialised countries to court, says the Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development.
FIELD lawyer Christoph Schwarte stated that climate-vulnerable developing nations could use international law to break the current deadlock in the intergovernmental negotiations on climate change by taking industrialised nations to court.
“While international judicial organs are unlikely to issue hard hitting judgments, climate change litigation may help to create the political pressure and third-party guidance required to re-invigorate the international negotiations, within or outside the UNFCCC,” Schwarte stated.
Scwarte’s suggestion comes as government officials from around the world gather in Cancun, Mexico for many days of negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change conference that started on Monday.
“A large part of the relevant legal literature suggests that the main polluting nations can be held responsible under international law for the harmful effects of their greenhouse-gas emissions,” Schwarte stated.
“As a result, affected countries may have a substantive right to demand the ending of a certain amount of emissions. In selected cases they also have the procedural means to pursue an inter-state litigation in an international judicial forum such as the International Court of Justice in The Hague.”
Schwarte’s paper outlines a possible legal argument for such a lawsuit and offers some observations on the potential impacts of bringing a case before an international court or tribunal.
“While there are various substantive and procedural legal hurdles, under certain circumstances litigation under public international law will be possible and can become a bargaining chip in the negotiations,” stated Schwarte.
Since the failed Copenhagen summit in 2009, there has been limited progress in the UNFCCC climate negotiations. At the current rate of progress, a new legal framework and ambitious emission reductions look unlikely despite the ongoing global climate talks in Mexico.
As a result, billions of extra tonnes of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases will be released into the atmosphere, and many scientists warn that this means global temperatures could rise by 4 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.
Labels: CLIMATE CHANGE, POLLUTION
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Rich states have failed the poor - IIED
By Kabanda Chulu in Kitwe
Thu 25 Nov. 2010, 04:00 CAT
INTERNATIONAL Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) has accused rich nations of failing to keep the Copenhagen promise to help poor nations adapt to climate change.
At the 2009 climate change summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, developed countries committed to provide developing nations with US $30 billion between 2010 and 2012, with the money balanced between funding for mitigation and adaptation projects.
But in a report released ahead of the next session of UN climate-change negotiations, which begins on November 29, 2010 in Cancun, Mexico, IIED stated that its research showed that the developed countries had failed to meet their responsibility to help poorer nations.
“Our research shows that developed nations are failing to keep the promise they made last year to provide adequate finance to help the world’s poorest countries adapt to the impacts of climate change. Funding pledges made since the Copenhagen meeting are far from balanced, with very little earmarked for projects that will enable developing nations to enhance their resilience to climate-change impacts on agriculture, infrastructure, health and livelihoods,” it stated.
“Only US $3 billion has been formally allocated for adaptation and there is also a danger that some of this could come in the form of loans which will further indebt already poor nations and force them to pay to fix a problem that the developed nations created.”
The report further warned that it was also unclear how the money will be disbursed, what type of projects it will support, and how the global community will be able to track adherence to pledges and ensure that the funding was truly new and additional to existing aid budgets.
“Currently there is no common framework to oversee, account for and enforce the delivery of the money that rich nations promised to support adaptation to climate change in developing nations,” it stated.
“Industrialised nations seem to think they can get away with an ‘anything goes’ approach where whatever they describe as adaptation funding counts and the danger is that existing development projects that are not specific responses to the threat of climate change will simply be relabelled as climate adaptation projects.”
IIED advised that to rebuild trust on both sides of the North-South divide, industrialised countries should support an independent registry under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and then provide it with detailed and timely data on all their climate-related projects.
Labels: CLIMATE CHANGE, DONORS, IIED
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Zambia to access US $1.5million for climate resilience pilot project
By Florence Bupe
Sat 24 July 2010, 12:50 CAT
THE Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources will in the next one year receive US $1.5 million for the implementation of the Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR).
Tourism, environment and natural resources deputy minister Mubita Mwangala told Parliament on Friday that the funds would be on grant basis under the Strategic Climate Fund, a multi-donor trust fund within the World Bank’s climate investment funds.
“Grant agreements signed on 14th June, 2010 allows Zambia to access US $1.5 million for phase one. The disbursement will be done as soon as we put in place systems, including opening of a bank account and institutional implementation agreements,” he said.
The first phase of the climate change resilience programme is expected to run over a time frame of one year.
Mwangala further said Zambia would receive between US $40 million and US $50 million under the second phase of the programme, which will be utilised for infrastructure investments within the context of the Sixth National Development Plan (SNDP).
“In addition, there is what is termed as highly concessional loans where US $300 million is available for all pilot countries. Each country qualifies for 20 per cent and within this amount, 75 per cent is a grant,” Mwangala said. “No decision has been made regarding whether Zambia should apply for this loan.”
Mwangala stressed that climate change was a serious developmental challenge, which was likely to adversely affect both developed and developing nations.
“It is, therefore, important for any country to develop climate change flexibility. Developing nations are less able to protect themselves and therefore, more vulnerable to adverse developmental effects than developed nations because of their weak financial standing,” said Mwangala.
Labels: CLIMATE CHANGE, MUBITA MWANGALA
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Climate change, a burden to a poor farmer
By Nyasa Times
Published: June 21, 2010
Mwalimba is an 80 year-old farmer in Gomani Village, T/A Simphasi in Mchinji district, 100km away from Malawi’s capital City, Lilongwe. She talks about being affected by the climate.
She does not know what climate change is about yet, she is among the farmers that complain of poor harvests because the rains has become unpredictable.
“In the past, when the rainfall pattern was good, we used to grow local maize which could take up to 120 days to mature but now the rainfall stops even before the maize produces silks” says Mwalimba.
Climate change spells a misfortune for rural livelihoods and agriculture in Malawi. Despite recent macroeconomic achievements, poverty is still a pervasive and endemic concern.
The Malawi government, through the fertilizer and seed subsidy programme, has managed to improve maize production.
A preliminary assessment report on the food situation in Malawi released recently by Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) shows that in May there were 718, 000 people that were food insecure in eight districts of southern Malawi.
The report indicates that these people are in dire need of food aid and recommended the immediate assistance to all affected people in continuation of the relief programme started earlier in the year.
AGRICULTURE
In the past, Malawi used to have the rainfall season of about five months as minimum, but now the rainfall pattern has changed to four months maximum.
With the country’s economy being agro-based, which employs over half the population, the burden is being shouldered by the rural farmers whose livelihoods have been cornered.
Crop yields and production have been reduced by higher temperatures, changing rainfall patterns and increased flooding pattern.
This has forced poor farmers to go for improved seeds and fertilizer which is very expensive for a rural farmer.
“With high temperature, the fertile alluvial soil is burnt, thereby needing more nutrients to be added for good yields. This is also another burden to poor farmers as they need to invest a lot,” said Moses Chirambo, Director of Foundation of Irrigation for Sustainable Development (FISD).
Sometimes, other parts of the country receive a lot of rainfall thereby leaving fertile alluvial soil vulnerable to both flood and drought.
“Currently, we are promoting conservative farming which we allow farmers to let crop residues to remain in the field and not to till the ridges for two seasons because during this time, there is still some nutrients in the soil,” said Chirambo.
He said FISD makes sure that there is balanced use of agrochemicals, planned land use and no improper disposal of hazardous industrial effluents.
“We are also training farmers in using the organic manure as a one way of bringing back fertility,” he said
After the normal farming period or when the rainfall pattern is erratic, FISD embarks on the irrigation programme.
“As an alternative measure, we are also implementing a programme whereby we provide farmers with livestock on loan which may be used as a source of food and income when there is low crop production,” said Chirambo.
He said FISD also supports the government subsidy programme by providing farmers with free fertilizer and seeds.
HEALTH
Because of the dwindling in agriculture production, farmers have no alternative to have a health or nutritious meal, leaving families, mainly pregnant mothers and children vulnerable.
Monica Mmadi, 37, comes from Kadula Village, T/A Simphasi in Mchinji district. She is a married to a farmer and a piece worker with four children and is expecting another child.
“After harvesting last growing season, I realized only four 50kg bags of maize of which ended in February this year. Whenever I go to the hospital, I am told that I need to eat nutritious food of which is a milestone to us as a family.
“We mostly live on maize husks, sometimes on roots of wild plants, I can’t do otherwise but to succumb to the situation which, however, is a threat to my unborn child,” she said while wiping out tears of her fourth child who was crying of hunger.
FISD has moved in to help by providing trainings on how to prepare nutritious food using locally available resources.
When the temperatures and higher summer precipitation are high, it is likely that mosquitoes enjoy their reproduction thereby leaving people vulnerable to malaria.
Climate change is likely to increase the incidence of water-borne and air-borne diseases, bacteria, parasites that breeds faster in warmer and wetter conditions.
“Cholera and other diarrheal diseases could become common with the contamination of drinking water. In this case, the health of the poor will deteriorate and acute illness will be the course of the day thereby driving people into extreme poverty,” said Chirambo.
WATER SUPPLY
Malawi’s rural living identity and livelihood are highly connected with the water and rivers that define it.
Groundwater is a major source of clean water in Malawi although its supply is spatial, seasonal and only available to those living in the urban. This force the other sector of people to rely on wells (rather shallow and dry up when the rainfall season is over) and surface water which is unprotected from contamination from agriculture and wastes.
“With no enough water reserves both underground and surface, people in the rural areas are sharing the same source of water with animals which at the end of the day is polluted because of high pressure,” said Chirambo.
The water, he says, is now degraded and not suitable for either human consumption or some other domestic uses. However, there is no other source of water for the slum dwellers as purchasing water is beyond their reach.
“For the to survive, they will be using no water or consume the poor quality water and expose their families to health risk,” said Chirambo
Deforestation has also contributed to the shortage of water sources as they dry up.
“We are also constructing water harvesting systems which are used at times where by natural water sources have dry up,” he said.
Chirambo said they are also advocating for the systems which will lead to conserving the nature.
“In this case, we are advocating for the use of solar energy as use of energy. We are also implementing a sensitization programme on the use of energy saving stoves,” he said
ENVIRONMENT AND POVERTY
The reliance of the poor on the environment for survival makes them highly exposed to dangers of environmental degradation as almost each and every corner of their life rests on natural resources.
The use of resources can best be defined by need, desperation and access and also basic needs as shelter and fuel for cooking.
Apart from agriculture, the larger sectors of rural dwellers take charcoal business as a substitute during the farming off-season.
When the natural and older trees have been used, they remain with no choice but to scramble for small trees, thereby, as time goes by, clearing all the available forests.
THE FUTURE CHALLENGE
In future, it is feared that if issues of climate change are not addressed properly, there will be a nation of no water for both human beings and agriculture.
“With the high prices of farming materials and the unavailability of water, we should expect the world full of hungry and suffering people. We should expect more diseases as animals and people will be fighting for one source of water.
“There will be a scramble for a few trees, if not shrubs that will be there for firewood as the main sources of energy,” said Chirambo.
Labels: CLIMATE CHANGE
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Climate change will adversely affect economy - Namugala
By Kasapo Chibwe
Wed 16 June 2010, 04:01 CAT
TOURISM minister Catherine Namugala has said climate change will adversely affect the country’s economic growth and overall development.
And permanent secretary Lillian Kapulu has said climate change is a defining issue of the time and any country’s development will depend on how effectively it responds to the challenge.
Namugala, who was represented by deputy minister Vera Tembo at the opening of the national inception workshop yesterday, said key sectors such as agriculture and food security, wildlife, forestry, water, energy and human health which were critical to the economic growth and development of the country were threatened by climate change.
“The workshop is for the development of a comprehensive national climate change response strategy for Zambia which has come at a time when there has been unprecedented public interest in matters of climate change, an interest generated by activities leading to the world climate change talks in Copenhagen, Denmark last December which made climate change a defining issue of this era,” she said.
Namugala said the tourism ministry with the support of the Norwegian government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) had embarked on developing a national climate change response strategy whose purpose was to enhance the country’s coordinated approach in addressing all aspects of present and future challenges of climate change.
She said the strategy would spell out how to deal with all aspects of climate change including adaptation, mitigation, technology, research, awareness, financing as well as an effective institutional arrangement.
She said the strategy would have a clear resource mobilisation framework for climate change activities and would also enable the ministry to assess whether the country needed to put a scientific policy and legislative framework to address climate change or not.
She explained that the alternative would be to review existing policies and legislation in a manner prescribed by the strategy.
She said recent scientific findings indicated that global warming would affect human and natural systems with potentially disastrous effects on local, regional and global economies.
“For this reason it is no longer a matter of debate that national sustainable development will depend on how effectively each country responds to the challenge of climate change,” she said.
Namugala said the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for Africa observed that warming was very likely to be higher than the global annual mean warming throughout the continent and in all seasons.
She said IPCC further said Africa was one of the most vulnerable continents to climate change and variability.
She said the adverse effects of climate change were already affecting many of the African countries and Zambia was no exception as could be seen from the increased incidences of floods.
She said the quantification of the economic impact of climate change to Zambia were still under investigation but explained that some studies had been commissioned for the investigation.
She said the national adaptation plan of action (NAPA) remained government’s strategic document for addressing climate change and it identified key adaptation needs of the nation in various sectors of the economy.
She said NAPA was complemented by the national policy on environment (NPE), which provided a comprehensive framework for sustainable development through effective natural resource utilisation and environmental conservation.
She said NAPA and NPE had formulated programmes and projects being implemented which included adaptation projects in agriculture, a clean development mechanism project in the energy sector, a United Nations programme aimed at reducing emissions from the forestry sector and a World Bank funded pilot programme on climate resilience (PPCR).
Namugala commended the civil society and the media for the roles they played in complementing government efforts in environmental awareness raising.
“Despite these efforts, it has become increasingly clear to government that we need to address the challenge of climate change in a more comprehensive way, therefore emphasising the need for a national response strategy,” Namugala said.
And Kapulu said Zambia had been reacting to climate sensitive issues through ad hoc initiatives due to lack of a framework to coordinate climate change response among other things.
She said in order to enhance a coordinated national response to climate change, the ministry had initiated the development of a comprehensive national climate change response strategy.
“The national climate change response will build in on existing policies and priorities in Zambia as well as identify the main gaps and opportunities for addressing climate change and develop a framework which will oversee implementation of activities through a more prioritised coordinated approach across the sectors,” Kapulu said.
Kapulu said a zero draft of the national climate change response strategy was expected by the end of July 2010 and the final draft would be available by the end of September 2010.
Labels: CATHERINE NAMUGALA, CLIMATE CHANGE, NAPA, TOURISM
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Thandiwe speaks out on climate change
By TEDDY KUYELA
FIRST Lady Thandiwe Banda has called for concerted efforts among stakeholders in mitigating the effects of climate change in the country. And Mrs Banda has called on youths to be more responsible about the environment. Mrs Banda said there is urgent need to put in place measures aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change in the country.
She said climate change has become a serious threat to sustainable development and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) relating to addressing hunger and poverty.
Mrs Banda said this when she officiated at the Zambian Children’s Climate Conference 2010 held at Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka yesterday.
She said Government has recognised climate change as a challenge towards the attainment of set targets in the Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP), MDGs and the Vision 2030.
Mrs Banda said effective interventions should therefore be put in place to address the effects of climate change.
“Climate change affects regions differently and for Zambia its impact includes increased intensity and frequency of floods and droughts, declining agricultural productivity, reduced hydropower potential and spread of vector diseases such as malaria,” she said.
Mrs Banda said Zambia has already started experiencing the worst effects of climate change as evidenced from the increased flooding and droughts in some parts of the country which resulted in damage of crops, infrastructure such as roads and bridges and displacement of people from their homes and loss of belongings and livelihood.
She said if the effects of climate change are not mitigated urgently, they can reverse the gains that the country has recorded in the various sectors of the economy and the efforts to reduce poverty and hunger in the country.
“Climate change is a global challenge which can only be resolved through concerted global efforts, but we still need to do more as a country to ensure that we protect Zambia from the worst effects of climate change,” Mrs Banda said.
And Mrs Banda has called on youths to be more responsible about the environment.
She said youths must play a pivotal role of complementing Government efforts of sensitising communities about the dangers of climate change and how the effects can be mitigated.
“Youths have a major role to play in efforts aimed at addressing the effects of climate change.
We need to sensitise the communities on the dangers of the indiscriminate cutting down of trees and charcoal burning as well as the need to protect the environment. So youths should play an effective role in protecting the environment,” Mrs Banda said.
And UNICEF country representative Lotta Sylwander called on Government to spearhead the development of the climate response strategy, policy and legal framework.
Ms Sylwander said Government must facilitate the development of the climate communication strategy and initiate its implementation as well as work out other effective modalities that will help reduce the impacts of climate change on development in Zambia.
Labels: CLIMATE CHANGE, THANDIWE BANDA
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SADC members strategise on climate change effects response
By Fridah Zinyama
Thu 29 Apr. 2010, 04:30 CAT
SOUTHERN Africa Development Community (SADC) members are meeting in Lusaka for a three-day workshop that will help them come up with strategic responses concerning the effects of climate change affecting the region.
This meeting is being held in order to help strengthen the region’s negotiation capacity and foster stronger regional cohesion following the stalled climate change negotiations which were held in Copenhagen last year in September.
During the official opening of the three day workshop whose theme is ‘Beyond Copenhagen’ which is being held at Cresta Golf-View Hotel, tourism minister Catherine Namugala said the workshop was a response to calls from different member states for the need to have one voice on climate change issues.
Namugala said SADC believed that the problem of climate change was a global issue which could only be resolved through concerted regional, continental and global action.
“We, therefore, remain committed to dealing with this problem within the multilateral context of the United Nations Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) negotiations processes,” she said.
Namugala said it was for this reason that key regional economic centres such as COMESA, the East Africa Community and the SADC were now engaged in the negotiation process.
“As you are aware, climate change is now widely acknowledged as one of the most serious developmental challenges of our time,” she said. “This is evidenced by adverse effects of climate change that we are already experiencing in most of our countries such as increased incidences of severe floods and droughts.”
Namugala said the region’s most vulnerable and sensitive sectors such as agriculture, forestry, wildlife, water, energy and human health had already been adversely affected by climate induced changes, thereby significantly reversing the gains that had been recorded in the past years.
“As we prepare for COP 16 that is scheduled to take place in Mexico later in the year, we should bear in mind the COP 15 which will be remembered as one of the biggest international conferences outside of the United Nations that had raised a lot of expectations without achieving the desired outcome,” she said.
“Although the Copenhagen outcome acknowledges that an enormous amount of work still remains to be done before the world can admit that a turning point in the fight against climate change has accrued, we remain optimistic that the expectations created in Copenhagen will ultimately be translated into a binding and ambitious international agreement on climate change.”
Namugala said African countries needed to negotiate for a global incentive mechanism that would recognise the continent’s resource endowments such as forests.
“These can be used as our contribution to the global efforts in addressing climate change,” she said.
Namugala said the mechanism should be negotiated in such a way that local forest-dependent communities were rewarded for conserving and sustaining utilisation of their forests.
Labels: CLIMATE CHANGE, SADC
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‘Human activities have led to changes in weather pattern’
By Edwin Mbulo in Livingstone
Mon 22 Feb. 2010, 03:48 CAT
LIVINGSTONE district commissioner Francis Chika has said human activities have led to changes in the weather pattern, resulting in droughts.
Speaking on Friday when Professional Insurance handed over 1,200 posters on climate change and nutrition to the government for distribution to Southern Province schools, Chika said the provision of education required concerted efforts from all stakeholders.
“As education is critical to national development, my government attaches a lot of importance to programmes that are deliberately tailored to empower the citizenry through the provision of information. The two areas you have focused on of climate change and nutrition have taken centre stage worldwide,” Chika said. “This is so as human activity has led to changes in the weather pattern that have resulted in, among other things, droughts that have led to malnutrition and deaths.”
He said the effects of human activities on climate could not be overemphasised.
“We have taken interventions aimed at mitigating the damaging effects that human activity exerts on the environment and your approach which targets children at a tender age should be commended,” Chika said.
He said the Ministry of Education last year launched the school health month in order to raise awareness on the importance of health and nutrition among learners in schools.
“The school health and nutrition programme which was initially introduced in Eastern Province has now been scaled up to all the nine provinces. The month of July has been set aside to specifically commemorate this important event,” he said.
Chika said the government appreciated the efforts the private sector were putting in to complement the government policies and programs which were aimed at ensuring a healthy and educated nation.
And Professional Insurance Livingstone manager Edger Nyemba said the organisation spent about K250 million to print and distribute the posters throughout Zambia.
“We have decided to partner with government in terms of sensitising children on the importance of good and appropriate nutrition and the value of good traditional food. We are happy with what is happening in your government through the Ministry of Education in this regard and we are cognizant of the tremendous strides you have made in promoting good and appropriate nutrition through education,” he said.
Nyemba commended the teachers for their tremendous job, which they had continued to do in the development of the country.
Nyemba said the 1,200 posters on climate change, nutrition and value of good traditional food would be distributed to 400 basic schools in the province.
Labels: CLIMATE CHANGE, FRANCIS CHIKA
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2010 could be more challenging for farmers
By EDWIN NUWAGABA (email the author)
Posted Wednesday, December 30 2009 at 00:00
In Summary
2009 was a terrible year for farmers due to inaccurate weather forecasts. A farmer needs accurate forecasts so he can know whether he needs to spray or not. If he sprays and it rains soon after, the chemicals will be washed away.
World over, climate change has been a burning issue. Scientists and environmentalists have scratched their heads, and as a result, we saw the Copenhagen summit take place, which unfortunately did not yield much as negotiators didn’t reach a deal.
Amidst this climate change panic, environmentalists say that if the world does not act, we might witness worse conditions. Uganda has not been an exception. We suffered droughts, floods and famine. Climate change is a reality which should be taken seriously by everyone, right from the top decision makers to the common man.
Paul Isabirye is the Programme Officer at the department of Meteorology/Climate Change Unit. He warns that the repercussions of climate change might get worse next year. “Climate change is worsening because we are going through the extremes. We are now experiencing El Nino which is associated with a lot of rainfall because of the abnormal warming in the Pacific Ocean,” he says.
He however says that this time, El Nino which started in April is not going to be as bad as that of 1977-1978. But to be on a safe side, Isabirye advises that in such periods, people need to make sure that their drainage systems are cleared. He is glad that the government this time was quick to react to the warnings climate change experts gave, and that is why we weren’t badly hit.
“For instance, the Ministry of Health stepped up their malaria campaign because of the earlier warnings we sent out,” he says. El Nino will last until February next year, and it is not known how bad it might get. Experts have warned people living in the mountains of potential landslides, meaning they may have to relocate. But because people living in these areas have nowhere else to go, they have not heeded these warnings. while there are serious concerns about climate change, Isabirye says that the Meteorology Department is not well-equipped. For instance, there are not enough rain gauges, and as a result, the metrological department cannot give proper weather forecasts.
“This means that the data we get as an input into the forecasts will be limited for us to give specific and accurate information to the different parts of the country,” he says. The good news however, is that more rain gauges have been installed under the Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture.
Impact of climate change
2009 was a terrible year for farmers due to inaccurate weather forecasts. A farmer needs accurate forecasts so he can know whether he needs to spray or not. If he sprays and it rains soon after, the chemicals will be washed away. Another environment expert and communication specialist on the environment and natural resources, Gaster Kiyingi, warns that if there are no mitigations measures put in place, we might even face a tougher 2010. “We got very dry seasons, and floods hit us bad, and if the current trends continue, it might get worse next year,” he says. One can realise the reality of climate change by taking a trip to Nakasongola, Kayunga and Kiboga districts where open and bare grounds have been increasingly seen. “Lake Kwania in Teso is gradually reducing in size while in Lake Kyoga, the levels of siltation are so high,” Kiyingi reveals.
Among the other effects of climate change this year, is the reduction of water levels in Lake Victoria, which led to the reduction of hydro power. “This affected investment because large scale industrial producers had to scale down and some small scale industries had to close down,” he says.
And while the water levels went down, the changes of land use around Lake Victoria were extremely dangerous. “Wetlands which are supposed to act as reservoirs and maintain the balance of water have been encroached on – and the government cannot sit back and say that there is nothing they can do,” he says. While town dwellers may not realise this, amongst the most hit sectors by climate change was agriculture.
The agriculture patterns this year have changed greatly which affected crop yield. “That is why currently, we are not able to supply maize to countries like Sudan and Kenya which in the past were dependant on Ugandan produce,” Kiyingi says. He adds that there have been many changes in pastoral lives, due to the scarcity of grass and water, all of which are blamed on climate change.
He says there was a reduction in bio diversity and a number of species could have died because of the unfavourable conditions. But there have been a few interventions to be thankful for. Some people have planted trees on hilltops, which might have been for economical purposes but in the end, the environment benefited as well. The conservation efforts by Uganda Wildlife Authority are also something to be happy about as this directly protects the environment.
It should be remembered that the government this year stepped out to ban reconditioned refrigerators but the problem with Uganda, Kiyingi says, is that rules and laws are put in place but never implemented.
He blames this on political intervention from time to time, and blames the failure to evict wetland encroachers on politicians who don’t want to hurt the feelings of their constituents. Reconditioned refrigerators are dangerous in that they produce carbon chrolofluorides which contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer that protects us from the sun’s rays. One second-hand refrigerator may not be harmful but if they are several, the effects cannot be measured.
To further show the extent to which climate change has affected us, Gaster says; “The number of malaria cases has slightly increased. In Kigezi, people never used to catch malaria but more people are now succumbing to the disease, which is alarming.”
Labels: AGRICULTURE, CLIMATE CHANGE, DENMARK
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Full Text: Mugabe's Copenhagen speech
by Robert Gabriel Mugabe
18/12/2009 00:00:00
Speech by President Robert Gabriel Mugabe at the UN Climate Change summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, delivered on December 16, 2009:
[New Zimbabwe.com Transcript]
Your Excellency, Mr Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark,
The Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,
Excellencies, Heads of State and Government,
Honourable Ministers,
Distinguished Guests,
Distinguished Delegates,
Invited Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As my delegation left the United Nations General Assembly hall on the 22nd September this year, we felt encouraged by what we saw as a commitment by all countries towards a successful outcome of the Copenhagen Conference.
We were assured by what appeared a palpable global realisation that indeed our planet was in great danger because of the planet unfriendly model of development pursued by some of us in the so-called highly-industrialised developed world, all to our collective detriment.
The consequences of that development model on our planet have become all too abundant to be denied or ignored, they become more poignant each day that passes, that includes today.
If we still have any more doubting Thomases, let them visit sinking island member states whose communities today face dim prospects of inexorable collective extinctive drowning.
Let them visit our part of the world where rains fail, where the searing sun scorches everything brown, and lifeless, including our ever diminishing livelihoods. The prospects of meeting our MDGs or other welfare targets agreed to nationally, regionally and internationally grow dimmer everyday.
We of the developing world are drowning, we are the burning, indeed we are the tragedy that climate changes have turned out to be for the larger half of mankind. Yet we never caused that crisis. We thus come here hoping for justice and fairness, indeed for decisions that recognise the urgency of our situation, that recognise the undeserved climatic endgame that stares us in the face.
But we are under no illusions about the enormity of the task that lies ahead. Negotiations on climate change have never been easy in the past, beginning with Real Earth Summit in Brazil, they have always been fraught. They will not be any easier today in this environment of the global financial crisis, again brought upon us by the same world that has corrupted environment. The little progress made so far at this convention bears this fact out.
For beneath the tip of well intentioned rhetoric on climate change lies the iceberg of power and aspirations to global dominance. We are dealing with vested interests. We are dealing here with dominant economies resting on a faulty, eco-unfriendly development paradigm, aspiring to misrule the world. In those circumstances, progress is bound to be glacier.
Climate change, the latest and by far the most encompassing and insistent crisis spawned by this hegemonic development paradigm, yet again reveals the interconnectedness issues of global imbalances by way of uneven development, by way of unfair trade, by way of unclean politics, by way of hegemonic values and by way of arbitrary power and governance systems.
The dominant north-south divide that has been the bane of so many international initiatives once again rears its ugly head on this very question, at this very conference. We are split along the same old north-south dichotomy.
Why is the guilty north not showing the same fundamentalist spirit it exhibits in our developing countries on human rights matters on this more menacing question of climate change? Where is its commitment to retributive justice which we see it applying on other issues? Where is sanctions for climate change offenders?
When a country spits at Kyoto Protocol, by seeking to retreat from its dictates, or simply by refusing to accede to it, is it not undermining the rule of global law? When countries spew hazardous emissions for selfish consumptionist ends, in the process threatening land masses and atmospheric space of smaller and weaker nations are they not guilty of gross human rights violations?
We raise these questions not out of spite or vindictiveness, but out of concern for our very endangered livelihoods. When these capitalist gods of carbon burp and belch their dangerous emissions, it is we, the lesser mortals of the developing sphere who gasp, starve, sink and eventually die.
Your Excellencies,
We of Africa aligned with our other brothers in the developing world have made proposals predicated on principles of historical responsibility, common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities of parties.
We stand by the Kyoto Protocol with its full set of commitments which to this day cry for fulfilment. Late believers and late comers cannot be dictators at this conference, besides they happen to be among the guiltiest on this matter.
It simply has become imperative that the developed world, itself the leading sinner on climate offences takes serious and effective measures to cut emissions on the one hand, while supporting developing countries to adapt to and mitigate the effects of this man-made planetary, if not cosmic disaster.
May I say the developing world, itself the least offending on climate crimes, owns bio-carbon resources and carries in a sense the world’s lungs now solely needed for cleaning the world. Let that fact be recognised as our comparative advantage in world affairs.
The present global regime where resources are disproportionately allocated in terms of the degree to which a country endangers the climate is a skewed one. But surely, we cannot reward sinners, we cannot punish the righteous, we who bear the burden of healing the gasping earth must draw the most from the global pursue for remedial action.
We who tend the forest so badly needed to heal the ecosystem deserve better funding, and improved access to green technology transfer. We need to have our national capacities augmented so we are able to pursue the clean development paradigm underpinned by clean technologies to build a brave new world where humanity lives in greater harmony with nature.
We oppose climatic recovery paradigms predicated on denial of our right to development for the sake of cleaning the mess created by selfish countries of the north.
We have sacrificed a lot already. Zimbabwe continues to suffer from illegal sanctions unilaterally imposed on her by the west. Because of these undeserved sanctions, we have only been able to draw a mere US$1 million in the last three years from the Global Environment Fund. The situation is likely to grow worse in the wake of new changes to the operationalisation of this Fund.
Self interest and vindictiveness have apparently defeated the lofty goals of saving the planet. We deserve better support than we have had to date.
Your Excellencies,
My delegation remains hopeful that this convention will reach some consensus on this very important subject affecting our planet.
Let me conclude, Your Excellencies, my remarks by expressing my delegation’s appreciation for the arrangements that the government of Denmark put it place to make our stay here comfortable. We will cherish memories of our stay here.
I thank you.
Labels: CLIMATE CHANGE, DENMARK, MUGABE, SPEECHES
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Welcome to Denmark President Mugabe, says PM Rasmussen
Our reporter
Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:15:00 +0000
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe arrived in Denmark on Tuesday to attend U.N. climate talks and was welcomed by the Danish Prime Minister.
Denmark's Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen welcomed President Mugabe to the country. He dismissed reporters questions about why the president was allowed into the country when he was on the European Union sanctions list saying UN rules take precedence and the president was in that country on a UN ticket.
Rasmussen said President Mugabe was allowed to attend the Copenhagen climate conference (COP15) because of rules that permit him to attend U.N. meetings, over-riding European Union and United States travel bans. Rasmussen said he would have no trouble welcoming the president to Copenhagen.
"I see no problem in greeting him," Rasmussen told reporters.
"That is the spirit of the U.N. -- that the world needs a place where we can meet ... And I guess that is how you can characterize the person you're asking about," Rasmussen added.
As elder statesman, President Mugabe will likely be seated next to Denmark's Queen Margrethe at a dinner on Thursday for heads of state and government attending the climate conference.
President Mugabe is one of more than 110 world leaders attending the final two days of the UN Conference on Climate Change, dubbed COP15, that is trying to reach a global climate agreement.
Upon arrival, President Mugabe said he expected from the Copenhagen conference "what everybody else hopes to get -- an agreement."
He dismissed reporters' statements that "he felt isolated".
"I am a member of the world population. I am a member of the world. Why should I feel isolated?"
President Mugabe was one of the first heads of states to arrive on Tuesday as did UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, British PM Gordon Brown and South African President Jacob Zuma.
President Mugabe is scheduled to hold discussions with SA President Zuma on the sidelines of COP15 regarding the progress of the inclusive Government.
US - CHINA SHOWDOWN LOOMS OVER TALKS
Meanwhile, a showdown between the world's two largest polluters loomed over the UN climate talks Tuesday as China accused the United States and other rich nations of backsliding on their commitments to fight global warming.
Trying to ease the tension, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said developed and developing countries must "stop pointing fingers" and should increase their pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions to salvage the faltering talks on a climate pact.
Key issues remain, however, and the conference so far has been marked by sharp disagreements between China and the United States and deep divisions between developed and developing nations.
China and other developing countries are resisting U.S.-led attempts to make their cuts in emissions growth binding and open to international scrutiny rather than voluntary.
Labels: CLIMATE CHANGE, DENMARK, LARS LOKKE RASMUSSEN, MUGABE
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Climate change: West should change attitudes
Natsai Vambe - West should change attitudes to stop disastrous climate change
Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:15:00 +0000
DEAR EDITOR - Thanks for covering the Copenhagen Climate Conference when every other Zimbabwean publication thinks it is not important. Here is my little contribution. Instead of tying help for developed countries to carbon emissions, it would be better to relate it to social justice.
Climate change may or may not be related to human activity. The goal of directly eliminating poverty, by ensuring everyone has access to the goods of the earth, is a more worthy international goal.
If the wealthy people of the world stopped trying to lead lives of ever growing luxury and instead paid citizens of developing countries to build infrastructure–like clean water sources–there would be a lot more equity in the world, and a better chance for peace.
Labels: CLIMATE CHANGE
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President Mugabe leaves for UN climate change conference
Itayi Garande
Tue, 15 Dec 2009 01:56:00 +0000
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe left Harare last night for Copenhagen, Denmark, to attend COP15 - the 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference that is expected to come up with strategies to curb one of the greatest challenges of the 21st Century, rising atmospheric temperatures.
The president will arrive as COP15, only a few days into its deliberations, is already showing a serious split over a draft final document meant for issue at the end of the two-week summit.
Negotiations between developed and developing nations with regard to agreeing new emissions targets are reported to have become increasingly strained in recent days, with reports developing nations walked out of talks in the Danish capital earlier yesterday.
The President, who is accompanied by the First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe and several senior Government officials, among them Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi; Secretary for Media, Information and Publicity Mr George Charamba, will join over 110 other heads of state and Government at the historic conference.
They will meet with over 115 Heads of Government as they try to initiate the biggest change since the Industrial Revolution, turning the world economy away from an ever growing reliance on fossil fuels.
COP15 is the deadline for thrashing out a successor to the Kyoto protocol, with the aim of preventing dangerous global warming. It will run for two weeks from 7 December and is the latest in a series that trace their origins to the 1992 Earth summit in Rio.
Climate scientists are convinced the world must stop the growth in greenhouse gas emissions and start making them fall very soon. To have a chance of keeping warming under the dangerous 2C mark, cuts of 25%-40% relative to 1990 levels are needed, rising to 80%-95% by 2050. So far, the offers on the table are way below these targets.
Delegates hope for a deal on Friday that will ensure temperatures do not rise by more than 2C, and that hundreds of billions of pounds is pledged to help poor countries adapt to climate change. But tonight it appeared that many did not want to risk being pressured into signing an agreement they believe would be against their national interests.
"The industrialised countries want to hammer out a large part of the deal on the last day, when the heads of state arrive," one senior African negotiator told the Guardian on the condition of anonymity. "It's a ploy to slip through provisions that are not amenable to developing country efforts. It's playing dirty."
One added: "It is as serious a situation as it ever has been. It is more than probable many heads of state will not come if the negotiations are not complete. Why should a head of state come to sign an agreement that is basically a non-agreement?"
High level Chinese and Indian representatives indicated they would be in Copenhagen, but they made clear they wanted key points agreed before they arrive. They also appear desperate to avoid a situation where western leaders jet in and steamroller the main points on the last day of the conference.
Su Wei, China's top climate negotiator, said he hoped there would be no outstanding issues by the time his country's premier, Wen Jiabao, arrived. "I hope the only question we will leave for leaders is how to pronounce Copenhagen."
Indian representatives also said their prime minister, Manmohan Singh, would come to the summit, but emphasised the urgency of having negotiators produce a text in advance.
Jairam Ramesh, India's environment minister, said: "We are saying that heads of state should not be negotiating a draft text. We must have a draft text already finalised. The heads of state should come to leave their imprint on the deal."
The UK's climate secretary, Ed Miliband, conceded there was some way to go before a workable deal was reached. "We're now getting close to midnight in this negotiation and we need to act like it. That means more urgency to solve problems, not just identify them."
One key point of contention is the US and EU insistence that emerging economies such as India, China and Brazil agree to peak their emissions by 2020. Developing countries argue that this would lock them into poverty.
Analysts say such hard driving tactics are typical of negotiations, but they resonate even more at the climate change talks, which are based on the idea that all 192 countries sign off on any agreement.
"This is a consensus process," said Janos Pastor, who heads Ban Ki-Moon's climate change team. "If they are really meaning that they are going to boycott, and if they are going to do that, it's serious. It would be a pity if a conflict meant that we don't reach an agreement."
Labels: AMAI MUGABE, CLIMATE CHANGE, MUGABE
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Malawi’s winds of change
By Nyasa Times
Published: November 6, 2009
Forty years ago, 60-year-old Willard Nyangu recalls returning to the shores of Lake Malawi after a night fishing with his canoe full of fish. The lake is Africa’s third largest with 1,000 cichlids endemic species of fish and its southern part is a Unesco world heritage site.
Today it is a very different story. Despite spending a whole night out on the lake, Nyangu returns to shore with only a handful of fish in his canoe.
He says the rainfall pattern has been changing over the past 40 years and blames human activity, including deforestation, for the fluctuating water levels which affect the breeding cycles of fish.
Dwindling fish stocks
The Malawian government estimates that the fishing industry keeps more than 300,000 Malawians in employment. Around 14 per cent of lakeshore communities survive through fishing, fish processing, marketing, boat and gear sales and repairs and other related industries.
Fishing is a key factor in the country’s food security - contributing as much as 70 per cent of animal protein in rural and urban areas.
However, the average fish catch declined from around 65,000 metric tonnes per year in the 1970s and 1980s to just 50,000 metric tonnes per year in the late 1990s.
By 2003, fisheries experts – alarmed by the dwindling fish stocks – embarked on a 10-year strategic plan to restore fish numbers.
The plan aims to restore depleted fish stocks to a sustainable level.
Unpredictable weather
Three years ago, Bingu wa Mutharika, the Malawian president, pushed the issue to the fore by launching an initiative to restock lake waters.
Steve Donda, Malawi’s deputy director of fisheries, acknowledges that the country’s fish population is in decline but says factors other than climate change, including over-fishing and the destruction of breeding environments, may be responsible.
However, a report published in June by the aid agency Oxfam, Winds of change: Climate change, poverty and the environment in Malawi, notes that winds have become so strong in the country and rains so heavy that they regularly destroy houses, crops and boats.
“The main rainy season is becoming ever-more unpredictable. In general, over the last 40 years, fishermen and farmers say temperatures are hotter and the rains are arriving late and becoming more intense and concentrated, which reduces the length of the growing season and triggers both more droughts and more floods,” observes Elvis Sukali, a Lilongwe-based communications officer for Oxfam.
His comments echo those of Elina Kululanga, a climate scientist with the Climate Change and Meteorological Service – a Malawian government department responsible for weather forecasting and predictions.
“Climate variations know no boundaries and these changes are coming in because of the displacement by human emissions in the atmosphere. These are causing abnormality in the way climate behaves hence affecting rainfall patterns.
“In Malawi, we would point to temperature changes as the main factor that is linked to climate change,” Kululanga says.
Taking action
Oxfam has recommended that the Malawian government compile an action list of measures it wants to implement in order to begin adapting to climate change.
Mutharika launched a nationwide plan called the National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPA), with the aim of improving community resilience, restoring forests, improving agricultural production and preparedness for floods and droughts and boosting climate monitoring.
Malawi’s NAPAs will cost $22.43m which, to date, has not been forthcoming from the international community that initially urged Malawi to develop its plan.
Oxfam has blasted aid agencies for this, saying that the ongoing failure to fund the NAPAs drawn up by the world’s least developed countries is unacceptable.
However, civil society groups in Malawi say the lack of donor funds must not become an excuse for inaction by the authorities, and are urging the government to do more even if the NAPAs remain unfunded.
‘Less rain, less food’
The Malawi report coincided with Oxfam reports produced in South Africa and Uganda which revealed that the populations of these countries were facing similar challenges.
Although Africa contributes less than three per cent of global emissions, Oxfam South Africa observed that climate change poses a huge threat to development on the continent.
Scientists predict that the production of many staple foods will be seriously affected, with the average maize yield in southern Africa set to decline by as much as 30 per cent in the coming years.
The number of people without adequate access to water on the continent is predicted to triple to 600 million by 2050.
In Uganda, a government climate analysis published in December 2007, noted that the wetter areas of the country around the Lake Victoria basin, in the east and northwest, are becoming wetter.
Meteorologists and farmers report the same phenomena: in most districts, recent years have witnessed an increasingly erratic onset and cessation of the rainfall seasons, and when the rain comes it is heavier and more violent.
Farmers and pastoralists say these changes are shortening the rainy season and that the net effect is less rain and more drought or as one farmer put it: “Less rain means less food.”
Coping with climate change
However, some caution is needed in interpreting these statements.
In order to manage the situation, Malawi recently followed Angola, Swaziland and Zambia by launching two new disease resistant varieties of maize – ZM 309 and ZM 523 – developed for poor farmers in drought-prone areas with infertile soils, in order to help provide some food security.
The move is part of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa project to give more poor farmers in sub-Saharan Africa maize varieties – a staple food among Africans – that have increased levels of drought tolerance.
Christine Mtambo, Malawi’s chief agriculture officer who is responsible for crop production in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, says the new varieties suit the present climate conditions because they are drought tolerant and mature fast.
Perhaps, with climate change adaptation and mitigation measures in place, fishermen like Nyangu and subsistence farmers will be able to cope with the changing climate.
But Raphael Mweninguwe, a renowned Malawi environmental columnist for the weeky newspaper Sunday Times newspaper, warns that the changing climate is a wake-up call for the people to respond to changing weather conditions by employing measures that are environmentally friendly.
He argues that there should be more awareness of climate change issues among various stakeholders within the country and beyond Malawi’s borders.
Labels: CLIMATE CHANGE
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Malawian speaks at climate change hearing in UK
By Nyasa Times
Published: October 19, 2009
Malawian Elvis Sukali, a communications and media officer for Oxfam, gave a presentation about the affect of climate change in Malawi at a hearing in Bristol, UK.
Sukali told the hearing which included politicians and members of the public that he believes climate change is “having a huge effect” on the southern African country.
“Malawians rely on rain to grow food for the family and to earn money to pay for vital goods such as medicines and the foodstuffs they cannot grow. The rain is now so unpredictable that people’s livelihoods and lives are at risk,” said Sukali, author of the “Winds of Change” report.
The Malawian has been on a tour of climate change hearings in UK on invitation by Richard Howell, communications manager at the charity’s headquarters in Oxford.
The charity is hoping to gather evidence of climate change from across the globe which it will present to international leaders at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this December.
Sukali said: “It’s wonderful and very heartening that the people of Bristol are moved into action to influence world leaders. We need a just and fair climate change deal at the UN Summit in Copenhagen.”
Oxfam’s research has shown that climate change adds to poverty and environmental pressures to create a downward spiral that makes people and communities vulnerable.
According to the charity, women are particularly affected, as they rely so much on natural resources to grow food and to gather water and wood that is increasingly scarce.
In countries such as Malawi anything that increases food insecurity can also increase the spread of disease such as HIV/Aids as women are forced into prostitution to provide for their families.
Sukali also attended the Conservative party conference in Manchester to speak to ministers about the environmental issues affecting Malawi.
He said: “My talks put climate change into the context of Malawi and what people there have to face. Countries are trying to cut their emissions but I think they need to provide funding in addition to their aid funding for struggling countries.”
Labels: CLIMATE CHANGE, MALAWI, RAINFALL
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‘Global community has choice to save humanity’
Written by Larry Moonze
Friday, September 25, 2009 6:12:28 AM
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda has said the global community has a choice to save humanity or consign its future to doom. And British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has insisted on a climate finance agreement amounting to US $100 billion a year by 2020.
Before the United Nations General Assembly high-level session on climate change in New York on Tuesday, President Banda said the Copenhagen conference on climate change due in December provided an important opportunity for the global community to put in place effective measures to address and avert severe impacts that threatened sustainable development.
"Zambia like most developing countries is vulnerable and is already experiencing adverse effects of climate change," he said. "This December, we have to make a choice: To act responsibly as a united global community and provide a firm ground to safeguard our common good or stick to traditional positions and negotiating tactics and consign our future and that of our children to doom."
He said the right choice included an affective adaptation framework which reduced developing countries' risks to the adverse effects of climate change.
"However, an adaptation framework will not be enough if we do not address the root cause of green house gas emissions," President Banda said. "It is therefore, important that developed countries take the lead in agreeing upon ambitious legally binding emission reduction targets consistent with scientific advice while developing countries will require support from the global community to adopt appropriate actions."
He said huge amounts of financial and other resources should be made readily available to the most vulnerable developing countries to help them finance adaptation and mitigation programmes.
President Banda said those funds must be additional to the Official Development Assistance (ODA).
"In addition a transparent financial mechanism should be put in place so that deserving vulnerable countries can easily access the funds," he said. "Access to technology for the poor and most vulnerable countries is also crucial. Therefore, the Copenhagen conference should address the traditional barriers to technology such as cost and intellectual property rights."
President Banda said support should also be extended to capacity building to enable people especially local communities who were at high risk learn new ways of responding to the challenges.
And UK Premier Brown said under the auspices of the UN, leaders must agree to set the world on a low-carbon path.
He said global emissions must be cut to at least half of 1990 levels by 2050.
"So this must be our Copenhagen goal. But we will not achieve it unless the deal we make is fair," Prime Minister Brown said. "Recognising the right of poor countries to develop and to lift their people out of poverty and to leave room for developing countries to grow, developed countries have committed to reducing their own emissions by at least eighty per cent by 2050."
He said the next stage was to agree a climate finance partnership that would held developing countries both adapt to climate change and shift to low-carbon growth themselves.
"I suggested [in June] a working figure of 100 billion dollars a year by 2020 and I have been gratified by the response that this proposal has received," said Prime Minister Brown.
"As global leaders we have an immense responsibility to the people that we represent today and to the generations that will follow. But we also have a unique opportunity to avoid the human environmental catastrophe of unchecked climate change by securing in Copenhagen an agreement that is ambitious, effective and fair. The world's people will not forgive us if we fail. So with common will, with imagination and with a willingness to compromise, let us now commit ourselves to success."
Labels: CLIMATE CHANGE, GORDON BROWN, RUPIAH BANDA
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Global community must act on addressing climate concerns or face doom, warns Rupiah
Written by Larry Moonze
Wednesday, September 23, 2009 6:01:29 PM
PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda has said the global community has a choice to save humanity or consign its future to doom. And British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has insisted on a climate finance agreement amounting to US $100 billion a year by 2020.
Before the United Nations General Assembly high-level session on climate change in New York on Tuesday, President Banda said the Copenhagen conference on climate change due in December provided an important opportunity for the global community to put in place effective measures to address and avert severe impacts that threatened sustainable development.
"Zambia like most developing countries is vulnerable and is already experiencing adverse effects of climate change," he said. "This December, we have to make a choice: To act responsibly as a united global community and provide a firm ground to safeguard our common good or stick to traditional positions and negotiating tactics and consign our future and that of our children to doom."
He said the right choice included an affective adaptation framework which reduced developing countries' risks to the adverse effects of climate change.
"However, an adaptation framework will not be enough if we do not address the root cause of green house gas emissions," President Banda said. "It is therefore, important that developed countries take the lead in agreeing upon ambitious legally binding emission reduction targets consistent with scientific advice while developing countries will require support from the global community to adopt appropriate actions."
He said huge amounts of financial and other resources should be made readily available to the most vulnerable developing countries to help them finance adaptation and mitigation programmes.
President Banda said those funds must be additional to the Official Development Assistance (ODA).
"In addition a transparent financial mechanism should be put in place so that deserving vulnerable countries can easily access the funds," he said. "Access to technology for the poor and most vulnerable countries is also crucial. Therefore, the Copenhagen conference should address the traditional barriers to technology such as cost and intellectual property rights."
President Banda said support should also be extended to capacity building to enable people especially local communities who were at high risk learn new ways of responding to the challenges.
And UK Premier Brown said under the auspices of the UN, leaders must agree to set the world on a low-carbon path.
He said global emissions must be cut to at least half of 1990 levels by 2050.
"So this must be our Copenhagen goal. But we will not achieve it unless the deal we make is fair," Prime Minister Brown said. "Recognising the right of poor countries to develop and to lift their people out of poverty and to leave room for developing countries to grow, developed countries have committed to reducing their own emissions by at least eighty per cent by 2050."
He said the next stage was to agree a climate finance partnership that would held developing countries both adapt to climate change and shift to low-carbon growth themselves.
"I suggested [in June] a working figure of 100 billion dollars a year by 2020 and I have been gratified by the response that this proposal has received," said Prime Minister Brown. "As global leaders we have an immense responsibility to the people that we represent today and to the generations that will follow. But we also have a unique opportunity to avoid the human environmental catastrophe of unchecked climate change by securing in Copenhagen an agreement that is ambitious, effective and fair. The world's people will not forgive us if we fail. So with common will, with imagination and with a willingness to compromise, let us now commit ourselves to success."
CK
Labels: CLIMATE CHANGE, GORDON BROWN, RUPIAH BANDA
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Bad harvest, El Nino spell hunger for east Africa: UN
Written by Reuters
Tuesday, September 22, 2009 5:30:46 PM
ROME (Reuters) - Poor harvests due to lack of rain, combined with worsening conflict and the El Nino climatic effect, could leave millions more people in east Africa facing food shortages this year, the United Nations said on Monday.
A report by the U.N. Food and Agriculture organisation said that from Uganda to Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia a drop in cereal production was likely to increase the nearly 20 million people already dependent on food assistance in one of the world's poorest regions.
The perilous situation could be worsened by the El Nino climatic effect, which
brings heavy rains towards the end of the year that produce floods and mudslides, ruining crops, killing livestock and damaging infrastructure, the FAO said.
El Nino, an abnormal warming of the waters of the equatorial Pacific, unhinges weather patterns around the world.
The food security situation is dire in conflict-torn Somalia, which faces its worst humanitarian crisis in 18 years, with approximately half the population -- an estimated 3.6 million people -- in need of emergency aid, the FAO said.
That includes 1.4 million rural people affected by severe drought, and 1.3 million internally displaced people as a result of escalating violence, the FAO said.
In Ethiopia, a partial failure of the secondary crop season, known as the belg, is expected to hike the number of people in need of emergency assistance to 6.2 million from 1.3 million at present.
In Kenya, the vital maize crop which accounts for 80 percent of annual cereal production, is forecast 28 percent below usual levels at 1.84 million tonnes.
Meanwhile, a fourth successive poor harvest is expected in Uganda, with the worst hit area being the northern Acholi region which has been racked by years of violence between the army and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army where crops are expected to be 50 percent below their usual levels.
With more than one million people already food insecure in Uganda, the number could rise steadily this year, the FAO said.
Labels: CLIMATE CHANGE, EL NINO
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