N$140 million earmarked for Climate Change action in Kunene region
The Environmental Investment Fund of Namibia this week signed a Funded Activity Agreement with the Green Climate Fund worth N$140 million to support climate change adaptation and disaster risk management in the Kunene Region.
The event took place in the wings of the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24) currently taking place in Poland.
The Prime Minister, Right Hon Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, the Minister of Environment and Tourism, Hon Pohamba Shifeta and the Deputy Minister in the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation, Hon. Christine Hoebes witnessed the signing.
Kuugongelwa-Amadhila in her statement indicated that climate change is viewed as a serious threat to the livelihood of rural communities and that adequate funding must be availed to protect the economic activities of these communities.
She further reiterated the commitment to global and regional climate change goals, saying the signed agreement is testimony to the urgency for climate adaptation in the project’s target area.
“This five-year project will support resident smallholder farmers in the Kunene region to develop early warning systems and disaster risk mitigation mechanisms to improve the resilience of the agricultural sector in the face of frequent droughts and other natural calamities,” she explained.
Andreas Biermann, Deputy Director and Mitigation Coordinator at the Green Climate Fund commended the Environmental Investment Fund for successfully accessing funding for its third project from the multilateral climate financing agency, this time through the Simplified Approval Process (SAP), thereby demonstrating exceptional leadership on the African continent in the design and implementation of climate action projects.
He congratulated the environmental fund for being one of the best-managed climate change agencies in the world, having proven its effectiveness and efficiency in climate change financing.
In a display of commitment to environmental sustainability and general climate change issues in the country, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila pledged the government’s continued support for the Environmental Investment Fund.
“Cabinet, in support of the provisions of our Constitution and several associated statutes promoting sustainable development, has resolved to allocate 30% of all environmental taxes collected from potentially polluting products to the Environmental Investment Fund to finance climate change projects and programmes. The government will also continue to pursue additional resource allocation to the fund, as it is a strong catalyst for sustainable development,” she said.
Caption: From left to right: Andreas Biermann and Douglas Leys, both from the Green Climate Fund, Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, Benedict Libanda, the Chief Executive of the Environmental Investment Fund, Hon Pohamba Shifeta, the Minister of Environment and Tourism, and Hon Christine Hoebes, the Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation.
