BY PHUMELELE MKHONTA
MBABANE– The Government of Eswatini and partners are working around the clock for climate action.
With the world declaring the climate crisis a climate disaster, the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, through the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), is in the process of developing plans to improve climate change plans in the country.
Representing the Principal Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs Khangeziwe Mabuza, the Under Secretary Zwakele Dlamini said there was an urgent need for climate action in the country.
He said this earlier today at Royal Villas in Ezulwini while opening the Adaptation Sectors workshop to finalize the NDC Implementation Plan and review of the Climate Change Strategy.
Dlamini said in the past two years, Eswatini received above normal rainfall, while later this year they were expected to be impacted by the El Nino phenomenon, which was likely to cause drought.
“In the past weeks Eswatini has been experiencing torrential rains, with more than a hundred schools affected, roads damaged, flooding experienced and overall, much of our infrastructure affected.
“There is loss. There is damage. The devastation of climate change is real; from floods and droughts, to cyclones and torrential rains. With climate change, such extreme occurrences are expected to increase, which has multiple negative impacts on development.
“So, climate action and development can no longer be viewed as competing priorities, and there is a dire need to bridge development and climate action. The Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) are the bridge between the Paris Agreement and Agenda 2030 (SDGs). Eswatini’s ambitious NDC has 9 sectors and 3 cross-cutting areas, and will cost between $950million to $1.5billion to implement between now and 2030,” said Dlamini.
The PS in the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs further said today marked the beginning of a three-day workshop focusing on the adaptation sectors.
“We are gathered here to look at the draft NDC Implementation Plan and get inputs from you stakeholders to finalise this important document. The plan will help guide actions to achieve NDC measures and identify which institutions are responsible for the actions. This is a ‘costed’ action plan and some preliminary costs have been provided, which need your inputs to fill gaps and finalise.
“We are also here to review Eswatini’s Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan, which was from 2016-2020. It’s time to take stock of what we have achieved and what lessons we can learn to improve (sic),” said the PS. He then said he called on each and every one of the attendees to be fully involved in this workshop as it was a chance to shape two national documents and give your inputs to better the country.
