Namibia seeks help to curb climate change

AS an extremely arid country, Namibia is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and has a limited capacity to adapt to climate change impacts, a top Namibian diplomat has said.

For this reason, donors should meet Namibia halfway, as the country is taking decisive measures to adapt to the reality of climate change, says Dr Kaire Mbuende, Namibia’s ambassador to the United Nations. “Namibia has a relatively small economy with few options for economic development,” he told the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday during its debate on climate change as a global challenge.”Namibia has identified specific research needs related to climate change and in addition there is a need for interpretive and policy development capacity to be developed within Namibia,” Mbuende said.”The development of a Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan is planned for 2008, which will be a consultative process to ensure climate change is further integrated into policies at a national level.Important activities will be identified and prioritised in an implementation plan with appropriate budgets.”The third National Development Plan (NDP3) would ensure that climate change issues were mainstreamed into the national development framework, he said.The Namibian Desert Research Foundation (DRFN) was currently developing a model on Namibia’s climate vulnerability by modelling climate change through rainfall patterns from 1960 to 2010.Another adaptation project was looking at the development and improvement of indigenous livestock as an adaptation strategy, he added.”It is recognised that the industrialised countries are responsible for the bulk of the greenhouse gas emissions and there is awareness that developing and developed countries have different needs and responsibilities,” Mbuende said.”Namibia is an insignificant emitter (of greenhouse gases) even though the country has been affected by the effects of climate change.We take our responsibility to protect the climate seriously.”Namibia has already set up a National Climate Change Office under the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.The responsibility of this office is to coordinate the compilation of databases, inventories and technical documents, and promote public awareness on climate change.The office also contributes to policy development on climate change.Namibia contributes to global observations of the climate system.Weather data are provided on an hourly basis from six synoptic stations, supplemented by eight stations where records are taken three times a day.There is a network of about 300 active rainfall stations.About 100 stations provide full year-round records.The Ministry of Environment and Tourism has a range of relevant environmental programmes, including a State of the Environment Reporting (SoER) programme, a small but expanding environmental observatories network looking at environmental change on an integrated way, and national programmes on desertification, wood resources, biodiversity conservation, wetland management and regional land use planning.Namibia has participated and will continue to participate in regional global change research initiatives such as the Southern African Fire Atmosphere Research Initiative (SAFARI-92), Southern Africa Regional Science Initiative (SAFARI-2000), Benguela Environment Fisheries Interaction and Training Program (BENEFIT), Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) programme and contributes to global climate change monitoring through ozone observations and long-term environmental observatories.In a number of African countries over 70 per cent of the people are dependent on subsistence agriculture, but agriculture is threatened by frequent droughts and floods.Some studies estimate that Africa might lose US$25 billion (N$175 billion) as a result of crop failure due to rising temperature and another US$4 billion (N$28 billion) because of declining rainfall.”Namibia has a relatively small economy with few options for economic development,” he told the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday during its debate on climate change as a global challenge.”Namibia has identified specific research needs related to climate change and in addition there is a need for interpretive and policy development capacity to be developed within Namibia,” Mbuende said.”The development of a Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan is planned for 2008, which will be a consultative process to ensure climate change is further integrated into policies at a national level.Important activities will be identified and prioritised in an implementation plan with appropriate budgets.”The third National Development Plan (NDP3) would ensure that climate change issues were mainstreamed into the national development framework, he said.The Namibian Desert Research Foundation (DRFN) was currently developing a model on Namibia’s climate vulnerability by modelling climate change through rainfall patterns from 1960 to 2010.Another adaptation project was looking at the development and improvement of indigenous livestock as an adaptation strategy, he added.”It is recognised that the industrialised countries are responsible for the bulk of the greenhouse gas emissions and there is awareness that developing and developed countries have different needs and responsibilities,” Mbuende said.”Namibia is an insignificant emitter (of greenhouse gases) even though the country has been affected by the effects of climate change.We take our responsibility to protect the climate seriously.”Namibia has already set up a National Climate Change Office under the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.The responsibility of this office is to coordinate the compilation of databases, inventories and technical documents, and promote public awareness on climate change.The office also contributes to policy development on climate change.Namibia contributes to global observations of the climate system.Weather data are provided on an hourly basis from six synoptic stations, supplemented by eight stations where records are taken three times a day.There is a network of about 300 active rainfall stations.About 100 stations provide full year-round records.The Ministry of Environment and Tourism has a range of relevant environmental programmes, including a State of the Environment Reporting (SoER) programme, a small but expanding environmental observatories network looking at environmental change on an integrated way, and national programmes on desertification, wood resources, biodiversity conservation, wetland management and regional land use planning.Namibia has participated and will continue to participate in regional global change research initiatives such as the Southern African Fire Atmosphere Research Initiative (SAFARI-92), Southern Africa Regional Science Initiative (SAFARI-2000), Benguela Environment Fisheries Interaction and Training Program (BENEFIT), Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) programme and contributes to global climate change monitoring through ozone observations and long-term environmental observatories.In a number of African countries over 70 per cent of the people are dependent on subsistence agriculture, but agriculture is threatened by frequent droughts and floods.Some studies estimate that Africa might lose US$25 billion (N$175 billion) as a result of crop failure due to rising temperature and another US$4 billion (N$28 billion) because of declining rainfall.