The Minister of Environment Wildlife and Tourism Tshekedi Khama says adaptation or devising means of adjusting to harsh conditions is critical to enhancing Botswana’s resilience to climate change shocks. He said this at a climate change workshop held at Cresta Lodge last week Wednesday.
“Climate change is almost crippling the economy of the country with adverse effects, especially in the agriculture and water sectors. As such, economic transformation and building of resilience in key sectors should be vigorously pursued in order to sustain the livelihoods of the people,” explained Khama.
He said Botswana remains committed to the achievement of the objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) of reducing greenhouse gases to acceptable levels, and is committed to embarking on projects that will result in significant emission reductions as outlined in the country’s National DC’s.
“In an effort to diversify our energy mix, and create an enabling environment for the exploitation of renewable energy, we have made significant strides in the development of the climate change policy, integrated waste management policy, and the energy policy development led by the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Affairs. It is worth noting that in Botswana’s sensitive biodiversity areas such as the Okavango Delta, Moremi Game Reserve and Kalahari Trans-frontier Parks, some members of the private sector community are already utilising solar energy for electricity and water pumping and in some instances electric motor vehicles for tourism activities,” he said.
Khama also applauded such initiatives and their pioneers as they allow for ernomous natural adaptation and regeneration and reduce the country’s carbon footprint, saving the country’s ecosystems.
“We can better shape our implementation framework to respond to the needs of the citizens without compromising the needs of future generations,” he said, adding that the Implementation Framework should align itself with emerging developments and outcomes of prominent forums such as the Africa Ministerial Conference on Environment, United Nations Environment Assembly, and the UNFCCC Conference of Parties.
He said these should include national driven resolutions on climate change, natural capital, wildlife, tourism, water, and energy and agriculture sectors.
