Africa and the small island nations should devise alternative local resources than rely on ‘unfulfilled funding’ from developed nations for climate change adaptation, mitigation and resilience, Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) has noted.
Africa and the small island nations, Madascar, Mauritius, Zanzibar, among others have suffered the climatic change in recent years, decreasing their capacity to grow and there is need to initiated Nature Based Solutions to become resilient.
Nature Based Solutions as ecosystem conservation, management and restoration interventions are intentionally planned to deliver measurable, positive climate adaptation and mitigation benefits have human development and biodiversity co-benefits.
They are key in helping the most invulnerable to help manage anticipated climate risks to people and nature.
WWF country director Nachilala Nkombo told FRA that the ploy by developed nations, major polluters of greenhouse gases to defer compensating countries was to perpetuate the suffering of the people in affected countries hence the need to look inward and use local resources.
While there was a pledge by developed countries, China, United States among others to honour the more than US$100 billion in addition to the over US$20 billion in climate change financing since COP 15, it was vital to act now as that was not tenable now.
There’s, Nachilala notes, unwavering need for affected countries in Africa and beyond to look inwards and maximise Nature Based Solutions to fight climate change that affects most vulnerable countries.
For Zambia, there is a need for various communities to make use of the K28 million (US$1.8 million) Constituency Development Fund provided annually in the budgets to mitigate some of the affordable actions in fighting the vice.
Ms. Nachilala urged African leaders attending the COP 27 to be held in Egypt next month, the third to be hosted in Africa since inception to lobby with a solid voice in seeking redemption from.the natural calamities affecting chiefly the youth, women and differently abled.
“As Africa and the small islands are labelled as the most vulnerable to climatic shocks, It’s still within our onus to adapt and build our own resilience to the climate crisis to provide a habitable environment for our future generation who are depending on us to do something today” she said.
And Zambia Climate Change Network chairperson, Monica Chundama urged African leaders, civil society organisations and other stakeholders to collaborate in taking action to counter climate change.
All interest groups must unite and ensure climate actions respond to the needs of local communities especially women, children and the youth because of the complexity of these natural calamities.
“No view is unimportant and no actors too small for every voice is critical so that the climate change adaptation and mitigation agenda remains high on transformation to a low carbon and greener economies” Ms. Chiundama says.
