A two-day workshop on Africa Adaptation Programme on Climate Change for the Republic of Mauritius is being held at La Cannelle, Domaine Les Pailles since yesterday. The workshop is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Environment and National Development Unit, the United Nations Development Program Country Office and the Government of Japan.
The Africa Adaptation Programme entitled Supporting Integrated and Comprehensive Approaches to Climate Change Adaptation in Africa aims at assisting some 21 African countries to integrate climate change adaptation into their national development processes. The programme consists of two components: a national component, developed to meet specific country climate circumstances and needs and an inter-regional technical support component that will provide a regional platform for countries to share their experiences and best practices.
Because of its impacts that cut across a variety of sectors including both the societal systems such as food supply, human health, and water resources, and the biological systems like freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity, climate change is now considered as a developmental as well as an environmental issue. In this context, the Africa Adaptation Programme provides an approach where socio-economic development and adaptation to climate change are not mutually exclusive. The programme intends to build capacity to understand, analyse and react to future climate change impacts to provide a proper balance between mitigation and adaptation to reduce the climate-change vulnerability of socio-economic systems in the most cost-effective way.
Sub-Saharan Africa and Small Islands Development States (SIDS) are considered to be among the most vulnerable regions in face of climate change because of inherent low adaptive capacity and high exposure of population and infrastructure to sea-level rise and increased storm surges, respectively. Mauritius features in both categories. As such, the country has to be prepared to adapt to climate change through scientific and technological expertise allied to local knowledge.
The risks posed by climate change to the country include sea-level rise, rising temperatures, and an increase in the intensity of tropical cyclones and increasingly variable rainfall. According to the ministry of Environment and National Development Unit, the livelihood of farmers and fishermen is directly at stake and our water and land resources, agricultural development and tourism industry will most probably worsen if global green house gas emissions are not reduced to the required level and by target dates.
Government has already invested in activities that reduce the country’s vulnerability and increase our resilience to climate change. The measures encompass energy efficiency, adoption of renewable energy, adaptation projects and furthering of carbon sinks.
The Africa Adaptation Programme entitled Supporting Integrated and Comprehensive Approaches to Climate Change Adaptation in Africa aims at assisting some 21 African countries to integrate climate change adaptation into their national development processes. The programme consists of two components: a national component, developed to meet specific country climate circumstances and needs and an inter-regional technical support component that will provide a regional platform for countries to share their experiences and best practices.
Because of its impacts that cut across a variety of sectors including both the societal systems such as food supply, human health, and water resources, and the biological systems like freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity, climate change is now considered as a developmental as well as an environmental issue. In this context, the Africa Adaptation Programme provides an approach where socio-economic development and adaptation to climate change are not mutually exclusive. The programme intends to build capacity to understand, analyse and react to future climate change impacts to provide a proper balance between mitigation and adaptation to reduce the climate-change vulnerability of socio-economic systems in the most cost-effective way.
Sub-Saharan Africa and Small Islands Development States (SIDS) are considered to be among the most vulnerable regions in face of climate change because of inherent low adaptive capacity and high exposure of population and infrastructure to sea-level rise and increased storm surges, respectively. Mauritius features in both categories. As such, the country has to be prepared to adapt to climate change through scientific and technological expertise allied to local knowledge.
The risks posed by climate change to the country include sea-level rise, rising temperatures, and an increase in the intensity of tropical cyclones and increasingly variable rainfall. According to the ministry of Environment and National Development Unit, the livelihood of farmers and fishermen is directly at stake and our water and land resources, agricultural development and tourism industry will most probably worsen if global green house gas emissions are not reduced to the required level and by target dates.
Government has already invested in activities that reduce the country’s vulnerability and increase our resilience to climate change. The measures encompass energy efficiency, adoption of renewable energy, adaptation projects and furthering of carbon sinks.
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