President Mokgweetsi Masisi says Botswana will not shy away from making use of the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Global Expo to foster collaboration and partnerships for technical assistance to develop technical documents that will be instrumental in enhancing the countries' capacity to build resilience and meet the countries socio-economic development needs.
The president went on to appeal to institutions that includes the Green Climate Fund, Global Environment Facility, Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub to facilitate vulnerable countries especially Africa with technical and financial resources to develop sound and bankable National Adaption Plans.
He was speaking at the High Level Segment of the 7th National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Global Expo held this week in Gaborone. The week-long event was held under the theme: Transformations in Advancing formulation and implementation of NAP’s. The total cost of the Expo is P3.1 million.
Close to 600 delegates were expected to attend the event, and ranged from scientists, parties and non-party stakeholder’s international delegations from different countries, leaders and policy makers, as well as national and international exhibitors to mention a few are expected to attend the event.
"I wish to thank the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change for their leadership in facilitating the member states with the capacity building platform such as the NAP Expo and for their continued efforts to foster constructive engagements of member states through climate change negotiations that keep on defining the climate change jurisprudence,” he said.
According to Masisi, Botswana has developed the Climate Change Policy, Waste Management Policy, Land Use Policy, Drought Management Strategy and several other strategies on the key economic sectors, and still desires to develop to finality the National Adaptation Plan.
He further said that as part of the NAP Expo, he believed that sufficient guidance is provided to countries such as Botswana for them to develop very sound and implementable National Adaptation Plans.
“These Plans, remain resource mobilisation tools in the field of adaptation and must be developed in such a way that they are able to give birth to bankable projects. We must through this process be able to quantify the level of investment required to implement them as this will be critical in building the theory of change where we seek external or blended climate finance,” he said.
The President further said that adaptation for Botswana and all African countries is not a choice but a development and socio-economic imperative.
“Whereas we also need to ensure that we contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases through migration actions, to which I hereby reiterate my government’s commitment, adaptation will always remain a carinal priority,” he said.
He also highlighted that hosting the 7th NAP Expo is yet another demonstration of political will on the part of government, to unite the government resolve with those facing similar predicament across the globe.
“As we share lessons and experiences, I enjoin you to critically analyse the drivers responsible for lack of traction in relation to adaption, as well as the required response measures that need to be catalysed in order to enhance resilience of key economic sectors,” he emphasized.
Meanwhile, Masisi also noted the country is highly susceptible to droughts, which comprises access to drinking water.
Faced with that challenge, the government, he said made a deliberate decision to invest in drawing water from the Northern part of the country where most of Botswana’s dams receive better amounts of rainfall and piped to the Southern part of the country through the North-South water carrier project to the tune of approximately US$126 million in the first phase, and US$170 million, for the second phase that included reticulation to towns and villages.
“Had it not been for climate change, these resources would have been deployed to meet other development needs,” noted.
The president went on to appeal to institutions that includes the Green Climate Fund, Global Environment Facility, Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub to facilitate vulnerable countries especially Africa with technical and financial resources to develop sound and bankable National Adaption Plans.
He was speaking at the High Level Segment of the 7th National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Global Expo held this week in Gaborone. The week-long event was held under the theme: Transformations in Advancing formulation and implementation of NAP’s. The total cost of the Expo is P3.1 million.
Close to 600 delegates were expected to attend the event, and ranged from scientists, parties and non-party stakeholder’s international delegations from different countries, leaders and policy makers, as well as national and international exhibitors to mention a few are expected to attend the event.
"I wish to thank the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change for their leadership in facilitating the member states with the capacity building platform such as the NAP Expo and for their continued efforts to foster constructive engagements of member states through climate change negotiations that keep on defining the climate change jurisprudence,” he said.
According to Masisi, Botswana has developed the Climate Change Policy, Waste Management Policy, Land Use Policy, Drought Management Strategy and several other strategies on the key economic sectors, and still desires to develop to finality the National Adaptation Plan.
He further said that as part of the NAP Expo, he believed that sufficient guidance is provided to countries such as Botswana for them to develop very sound and implementable National Adaptation Plans.
“These Plans, remain resource mobilisation tools in the field of adaptation and must be developed in such a way that they are able to give birth to bankable projects. We must through this process be able to quantify the level of investment required to implement them as this will be critical in building the theory of change where we seek external or blended climate finance,” he said.
The President further said that adaptation for Botswana and all African countries is not a choice but a development and socio-economic imperative.
“Whereas we also need to ensure that we contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases through migration actions, to which I hereby reiterate my government’s commitment, adaptation will always remain a carinal priority,” he said.
He also highlighted that hosting the 7th NAP Expo is yet another demonstration of political will on the part of government, to unite the government resolve with those facing similar predicament across the globe.
“As we share lessons and experiences, I enjoin you to critically analyse the drivers responsible for lack of traction in relation to adaption, as well as the required response measures that need to be catalysed in order to enhance resilience of key economic sectors,” he emphasized.
Meanwhile, Masisi also noted the country is highly susceptible to droughts, which comprises access to drinking water.
Faced with that challenge, the government, he said made a deliberate decision to invest in drawing water from the Northern part of the country where most of Botswana’s dams receive better amounts of rainfall and piped to the Southern part of the country through the North-South water carrier project to the tune of approximately US$126 million in the first phase, and US$170 million, for the second phase that included reticulation to towns and villages.
“Had it not been for climate change, these resources would have been deployed to meet other development needs,” noted.
