Funding to help poorer countries curb their emissions and strengthen their resilience will be a key issue as countries gather in November for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP27. With COP27 just two months away, there is pressure on Botswana to find ways to close the funding gap and also balance mitigation and adaptation actions.
Botswana continues to feel the brunt of negative global warming impacts in terms of harsh weather conditions, despite being among countries in the world which account for the smallest share of global greenhouse gas emissions. Droughts are becoming longer and hotter and flooding more widespread and intense, shifting some fragile environments from being barely habitable to being uninhabitable. Additionally, the country has one of the least resources to adapt. While some African countries rely to a large extent on funding from rich nations to finance the measures needed to reverse climate change effects, Botswana finds herself in an unenviable position as she has no money to finance climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience.
Early in September, African environment ministers convened in Cairo and advocated for a dramatic increase in the continent’s climate financing. Despite having a low carbon footprint and suffering disproportionately from climate change, Africa received less than 5.5% of global climate investment, according to a communiqué issued in the wake of the finance meeting.
“There is injustice because the most climate vulnerable countries are asked to pay for a crisis that they did not contribute to it, and they get the little share of the finance to achieve their climate goals,” said Mahmoud Mohieldin, the climate champion for the Egyptian presidency of the COP27.
He also indicated that it is unfair for developing countries to borrow and be burdened with more debt in order to fund the climate adaptation gap, which is only responsible, as a continent, for 2-3% of carbon emissions.
A report titled: “The State of Climate Finance in Africa: Climate Finance Needs of African Countries” also shows that unlike other countries, Botswana does not have a specific and comprehensive assessment of adaptation financing needs.
“Majority of African countries (42 countries) provide estimates for the 2020-2030 time period, while the remaining nine for 2020-2050. Four countries (Mozambique, Togo, Tanzania and Seychelles) calculate some needs per annum, three (Ghana, Burundi and Mozambique) use a five year range, while 10 (Ghana, Botswana, Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Tanzania, Zambia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya) do not clearly specify the time range for all the presented needs,” states the report.
According to experts who commented on the report, Botswana will struggle to guide stakeholders in mobilizing climate finance because it lacks a comprehensive assessment of adaptation financing needs.
South Africa will receive a large sum of money to assist it in meeting the ambitious goals outlined in its updated Nationally Determined Contribution emissions goals.
“This will be an expensive and slow process for Botswana, unlike nations like South Africa that will phase out coal in an accord dubbed the Just Transition, which will see $18 billion donated to the country to aid with the transition,” says Ronald Dintle, who is a political commentator.
Botswana did not receive any adaptation funding, according to the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), who also note that South Africa received the most multilateral climate financing on the continent.
“South Africa received the most multilateral climate financing on the continent and is placed sixth highest internationally. But only 2% is directed to adaptation, with the rest going to mitigation. Zambia, Tanzania and Comoros received relatively high amounts of adaptation financing relative to their climate vulnerabilities, yet the sums are still inadequate to meet their needs. Botswana received no adaptation financing,” says ISS.
Climate change adaptation is the process of adjusting to current or expected effects of climate change. Climate change mitigation refers to efforts to reduce or prevent emission of greenhouse gases. Both are ways to respond to climate change.
ISS also note that without adaptation financing, the costs of adaptation measures in Botswana will keep rising. Adaptation measures include resilient water sources; early warning systems; dry land farming which encompass specific agricultural techniques for the non-irrigated cultivation of crops; and climate-resilient infrastructure which are smart practices and technologies for climate resilient agriculture such as fodder cultivars to tackle fodder scarcity, integrated farming system modules, recharge of wells to improve shallow aquifers.
While experts have urged Africa to speak with a single voice and make a case for just transition at COP27, Botswana will also need to find other methods to raise funds climate action. An Environmentalist who spoke to this publication on condition of anonymity indicated that Botswana needs clear finance targets for mitigation and adaptation which must be complemented by a delivery plan. With the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resource Conservation, and Tourism admitting that access to climate finance is still “difficult,” it remains to be seen whether Botswana will make a breakthrough in obtaining financial aid in light of the disproportionate impact of climate change and nature loss in the country.
