Environmental Investment boss to sit on experts panel in South Korea
Environmental Investment Fund of Namibia (EIF) CEO, Benedict Libanda is going to be one of 35 global experts on climate change to be attending the first of its kind Technical Experts Workshop in Songdo, South Korea on 5 and 6 March 2018.
The workshop will bring together technical experts on Climate Change adaptation and will explore the current status of climate adaption finance, activities and identify emerging best practices in climate adaption projects and programmes.
Libanda who considers climate change as the single greatest threat to humankind, expressed his appreciation and humility for being considered part of this historic process and the opportunity to contribute towards shaping policies that deliver global impacts.
“This assignment is important as it will address climate change challenges for the benefit of billions of the world’s populations,” he said.
Libanda said Namibia remains one of a host of countries globally that are hard hit by the impact of climate change and for whom climate change adaptation is prescribed as a long-term strategy.
“Unlike climate change mitigation that has matured in both academic theory and practice, scholars and practitioners are split by differing opinions on what constitutes climate changes,” he added.
Libanda informed that adaptation is site specific and what works in one locality does not necessarily mean it is scalable and application to another.
“Moreover there is also a challenge of delineating climate change adaptation from normal development, whereas other practitioners challenge that notion and argue that climate change adaption should not be delinked from development,” he continued.
According to him climate change poses multiple challenges to development, because it affects lives and livelihoods, slows economic growth, destroys infrastructure and institutions as well as beliefs, cultures and identities.
“There is a growing recognition that the social dimensions of vulnerability and adaptation now need to move to the forefront of development policies and practices and all this issues will need to be unpacked with additional research required to enhance adaptation globally,” he said.
Under Libanda’s leadership the EIF has rapidly grown into Namibia’s leading authority on climate change action, becoming the first Namibian entity to be accredited by the Green Climate Fund and the first to receive financing to the amount of US$19.5 million.
