Nam gets money for climate change

WINDHOEK – The Namibian Government has received about N$22,5 million to help fund its adaptation programme on climate change. The announcement was made on the sidelines of the World Climate Change summit in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Local weekly newspaper Southern Times quoted Teofilus Nghitila, the Director in the Environmental Affairs directorate, as saying in an interview in the Danish capital last week that the Government was about to disburse the money in extreme weather-prone zones of the country.
Nghitila said although a final strategy had not been developed, the Namibian Government was deciding on setting up insurance schemes where people affected by extreme weather could be compensated for their losses.
“There will be some mechanism that would be put in place to address the issues of extreme weather patterns”, he was quoted as saying, adding that it was premature to reveal all the details.
He added that Namibia, which had been hit by floods and droughts consecutively for the past two years, was seeking funds to put in place comprehensive adaptation programmes.
“We are in the process of estimating what we will need for the adaptation programmes in the areas of agriculture, energy, water and health”, he said.
Nghitila is in Copenhagen attending the Climate Change summit.
Prime Minister Nahas Angula is leading a high-level delegation to the summit.
Reports from Copenhagen indicate that little progress has been made on discussions on how to minimise emissions of dangerous gases. The world’s largest polluters, China and the United States of America, are apparently at loggerheads over how to curb emissions. – Nampa

---