Actions Speak Louder Than Words on Namibia’s Enviro Commitments

SPEAKING at the United Nations General Assembly this week, Marco Hausiku, Namibia’s Foreign Affairs Minister, spoke strongly on the need for the world to respond to one of the most urgent challenges facing the globe in the form of climate change.

He emphasised that “climate change is a global issue with serious implications for economic growth, sustainable development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals”. It was also affecting the lives of many people adversely, and he therefore called on the international community to “live up to its commitment to provide resources to developing countries to adapt to the effect of climate change”.He said it was vital for compulsory targets to be set for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and pointed out that Namibia was “not happy with the rate at which investments are made in the development of renewable and clean energy sources”.He urged the private sector to join hands with governments to develop and apply technologies that could mitigate climate change, and assured the UN of Namibia’s “commitment to act in concert with other member states to solve this problem through the establishment of concrete and ambitious goals to be implemented over an agreed period”.We concur with Minister Hausiku’s emphasis on this most urgent of challenges faced by the world today, but it is not enough that he simply raises this on an international platform.We are of the opinion that it is even more necessary for Namibia to prioritise this issue at home, and if we look at our track record on this level, as well as the length of time it has taken for us to legislate an environment management act, then our stated commitment to tackling climate change leaves a lot to be desired.On a positive level it must be noted that at the time of writing this editorial, the Environment Bill is before Parliament and about to be ratified, but it must equally be emphasised that it has taken us 17 years to get to this point.Environment and Tourism Minister Willem Konjore said in Parliament recently that the Bill aimed to “establish a sustainable development advisory council, appoint an environmental commissioner and environment officers” and more importantly, it would also “lay down environmental management principles which all …must adhere to”.It is not the place here to examine the pros and cons of the Environment Bill, except to say that there are concerns that the envisaged environment commissioner and officialdom could be somewhat bureaucratic and top heavy, and the proposed Sustainable Development Advisory Council ineffective if it sits only twice a year.It is nevertheless a step forward in the right direction to finally legislate and develop, sooner rather than later, policies and strategies for the management and protection of our environment.In concluding, legislation is vitally important in the race to keep our environment as pollution free as possible, but even more so is the political will to ensure that we win this battle and that our people are with us in this very crucial fight.It was also affecting the lives of many people adversely, and he therefore called on the international community to “live up to its commitment to provide resources to developing countries to adapt to the effect of climate change”.He said it was vital for compulsory targets to be set for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and pointed out that Namibia was “not happy with the rate at which investments are made in the development of renewable and clean energy sources”.He urged the private sector to join hands with governments to develop and apply technologies that could mitigate climate change, and assured the UN of Namibia’s “commitment to act in concert with other member states to solve this problem through the establishment of concrete and ambitious goals to be implemented over an agreed period”.We concur with Minister Hausiku’s emphasis on this most urgent of challenges faced by the world today, but it is not enough that he simply raises this on an international platform.We are of the opinion that it is even more necessary for Namibia to prioritise this issue at home, and if we look at our track record on this level, as well as the length of time it has taken for us to legislate an environment management act, then our stated commitment to tackling climate change leaves a lot to be desired.On a positive level it must be noted that at the time of writing this editorial, the Environment Bill is before Parliament and about to be ratified, but it must equally be emphasised that it has taken us 17 years to get to this point.Environment and Tourism Minister Willem Konjore said in Parliament recently that the Bill aimed to “establish a sustainable development advisory council, appoint an environmental commissioner and environment officers” and more importantly, it would also “lay down environmental management principles which all …must adhere to”.It is not the place here to examine the pros and cons of the Environment Bill, except to say that there are concerns that the envisaged environment commissioner and officialdom could be somewhat bureaucratic and top heavy, and the proposed Sustainable Development Advisory Council ineffective if it sits only twice a year.It is nevertheless a step forward in the right direction to finally legislate and develop, sooner rather than later, policies and strategies for the management and protection of our environment.In concluding, legislation is vitally important in the race to keep our environment as pollution free as possible, but even more so is the political will to ensure that we win this battle and that our people are with us in this very crucial fight.