K46tn needed for climate change interventions
Minister of Natural Resources and Climate Change Eisenhower Mkaka says Malawi needs at least $46 billion (about K46 trillion) to fully implement climate mitigation and adaptation interventions by 2040.
In his address yesterday at a press conference in Lilongwe on the 27th Conference of the Parties (CoP27) to be hosted by Egypt, he said Malawi will benefit from the conference which will focus on climate financing and adaptation for vulnerable communities.
“We need $46 billion to realise our dreams in climate change mitigation. Malawi stands to benefit following the ambitious pledges that were made by country parties at CoP26 in Glasgow, Scotland,” Mkaka said.
The minister said this year’s CoP27 will advance the Glasgow Pact, including accelerating climate action through emissions reduction, scaling-up adaptation efforts and striving for enhanced flows of appropriate financing particularly for adaptation, loss and damage.
He said he was optimistic that financial pledges made to the Adaptation Fund during CoP26, totalling over $350 million and the $600 million committed to the Least Developed Countries Fund will translate to helping vulnerable communities to strengthen their resilience to the worsening impacts of climate change.
United Nations act ing Resident Coordinator in Malawi Maria Ribeiro said despite the low level of contribution to global emissions, there is growing evidence that climate change is extremely affecting African countries.
She said: “Climate change continues to disturb economies in countries which are also striving to recover from the Cov id-19 pandemic and geopolitical events, such as Tropical Storm Ana and the effects of the war in Ukraine.
“These climate-related shocks are hitting the most vulnerable hardest, and contributing to food insecurity, population displacement and stress on water resources, among other challenges.”
De p u t y B r i t i sh High Commissioner David Pert said more needs to be done to meet the commitments set out in the Glasgow Climate Pact to reduce greenhouse gases.
He said: “Efforts ahead of and during the Glasgow summit were critical to ensuring that the target of keeping global warming to below 2°C was kept alive through collective commitments.”
The CoP27 will be held from November 6 to 18 this year in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
