Parly talks about Paris Agreement
“As a developing country we are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. “It is imperative that the 2015 Paris Agreement be premised on the recognition of development needs and poverty eradication priorities of developing countries, whilst emphasising the necessary leadership,” he said.
Shifeta said on his visit to Paris last year where he submitted how funds will be used by the Environmental Investment Fund. The implementation of this Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) is fully conditioned to the provision of the differential 90% of means of implementation required such as finance, technology transfer and the associated capacity building.
As a member to the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in December 2015, 197 countries agreed to a first-ever universal, legally binding global climate deal known as the Paris Agreement.
President, Dr. Hage Geingob signed the intent of ratification of the Paris Agreement on 22 April 2016 in New York.
In an effort to join the global community to address climate change efforts, Shifeta pleaded this week that Parliament welcomes the outcome of the Agreement particularly that the obligations under the Paris Agreement are set out in he context of sustainable development and poverty eradication.
“On mitigation, it is agreed to keep the global rise in temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and that efforts are pursued to limit temperature rise even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius,” he said.
“On adaptation, it was also agreed to strengthen the ability of countries to deal with, and recover from climate impacts and recognition of the importance of averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse impacts of climate change, including extreme weather events and slow onset events,” he added.
Shifeta hopes that support will be provided to developing country Parties as agreed, including financial support, to assist with respect to our mitigation and adaptation obligations.
According to Shifeta, transparency system and accountability as per the Paris Agreement suggests that each Party shall contribute to the common goal by setting and communicating Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) with respect to emission reduction targets with a view to renew its ambitions every five years.
It was also agreed that further INDCs be more ambitious than the previous ones.
“We welcome the implementation of the Paris Agreement particularly the evaluation which will be undertaken every five years where upon each country must account for its climate actions,” he added.
Shifeta reminded members of the parliament, that the provisions of the Paris Agreement are consistent with the Namibian Constitution in maintaining ecosystems, essential ecological processes and biological diversity and utilization of living natural resources on a sustainable basis for the benefit of all, present and future. As well as providing Namibians with a number of opportunities to strengthen its adaptation and mitigation measures.
As the Paris Agreement is planned to enter into force after 2020, Shifeta said, we also welcome the decisions calling for enhanced action before 2020.
“We are aware that the obligations of the Paris Agreement set the stage for future efforts, collaborations and cooperation among Parties. We are also aware that there is still a lot of work ahead. In this regard, Namibia avails itself on future engagements and negotiations that will seek to implement the Paris Agreement,” he said.
