BY PHUMELELE MKHONTA
MBABANE– Climate Change is devastating the whole globe and it is everyone’s duty to play their part in mitigating the effects.
These sentiments where shared by His Excellency Prime Minister Cleopas Dlamini this morning while officially opening the Inaugural Green Indaba at Happy Valley in Ezulwini.
The Green Indaba, whose main focus is to discuss climate financing, has been founded by the Eswatini Stock Exchange, SNG Grant Thornton and the Central Bank of Eswatini.
During his deliberation, the PM said they could all bear testimony to the devastation that climate change continues to cause across the globe, saying the country and the sub-region were already experiencing unprecedented climate conditions, which had a negative impact on the economy and the livelihoods of emaSwati.
“Our infrastructure has been destroyed, and our food production systems negatively affected. We are also seeing the return of diseases which we thought were behind us. The United Nations Secretary General has indicated that climate change is code red for humanity. We therefore all need to take action now, as climate change concerns all of us – “yindzaba yetfu sonkhe.”
“I am honored to join you for this inaugural Green Indaba, which comes at an opportune time, a time when the global economy is being negatively impacted by various crises, including climate change,” said His Excellency.
He further thanked all stakeholders who have been involved in making this day happen, saying the partnerships and collaborations between the private sector, Government and cooperating partners was well recognised and the aspiration to have this as an annual event is noted with appreciation.
“The Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini is working tirelessly to create an enabling environment for climate action. As a country, we recognize the need to build climate resilience and delink our development from carbon emissions. At the beginning of the month, we launched the Nationally Determined Contributions Implementation Plan, which is the country’s costed climate action plan. The plan covers different sectors of the economy such as energy, infrastructure and agriculture, to mention a few, and has been mainstreamed into our development plan.
“Its implementation will require improvements in the legal framework, and, as such, a Climate Change Bill is currently under formulation. I trust that this Indaba is an opportunity for Government to hear the views of partners and the private sector that will inform the process.”
