Skills needed to fight climate change

The solutions for mitigating the impact of climate change focuses on restricting emissions of greenhouse gases and supplying governments of poor countries with aid, without the necessary transfer of skills and technology, said Minister of Environment and Tourism, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah at the launch of the National Policy on Climate Change this week.
“It is acknowledged that Africa, as a whole, has contributed least to greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, but also faces some of the worst consequences and generally has the least capacity to cope with climate change impacts. Namibia is extremely vulnerable and exposed to the impacts of climate change due to our geographical location, socio-economic and environmental context,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said.
She added that the country’s climate change policy advocates for skills development and technology transfer which is also in line with the guidelines of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC).
At the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which will take place in Durban, South Africa next week, Namibia wants the member countries to increase their level of ambition to overcome the wide gap between the pledges they put forward and what is required by science.
The minister said that Namibia expects the countries to commit to a second period of the Kyoto Protocol starting from 2013 to 2017 to further reduce their emission by 40% below the 1990 levels in order to stabilise global average temperature well below 2 degrees Celsius.
Nandi-Ndaitwah said the Cancun Adaptation Framework should also be put in operation and that there is a need to launch the Green Climate Fund and the standing committee on finance in order to provide regular support to the Conference of the Parties in exercising its functions.
She further said there is a need to implement policies in order to address technological and capacity needs of developing countries in addressing climate change.
The environment minister said as a strong player at the negotiation table, Namibia is committed to addressing climate change and upholding the country’s past pledges to do exactly that.
She said that in light of the effects of climate change, the country has made strides in climate change planning to meet the goals of Vision 2030.
“This process has also seen marked efforts to harness our natural resources in a sustainable manner and without negatively impacting our natural heritage. As a young developing nation, we need to ensure efforts are continued to mainstream climate change adaptation into our national development plans with the view of adjusting human and natural systems in response to actual or expected climatic variation for the sake of moderating harm or exploiting beneficial opportunities,” she said.
The National Policy on Climate Change provides a legal basis for addressing climate change and the expected impacts it will have on the country. The policy calls for the transfer of technology, capacity building, and the provision of financial resources. It also promotes and enhances synergies amongst stakeholders across all sectors.