Namibia readies Pavilion at COP28 with collective N$1.8 million sponsorships
By Freeman Ya Ngulu.
With a large group of important local companies and organisations standing together to support the 28th COP of the UN Climate Change Conference, Namibia’s participation is guaranteed.
COP28 is scheduled to run from 30 November to 12 December at Expo City in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The total local financial support comes to N$1.8 million.
Environmental Commissioner in the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Timoteus Mufeti said the purpose of COP28 is to come up with solutions to combat climate change, involving bilateral conversations with multiple stakeholders. “For this COP28, we would like to see how much progress has been made and it is now time for action as African countries. The realities of climate change are no longer a myth, but now we can feel the effects with rainfall and heat in the different regions,” he said.
Ever since the first United Nations climate agreement in 1992, the conference has been conducted annually. Governments are expected to reach consensus at the COP conferences on measures to curb global temperature increases and to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Four pillars — (1) finance, (2) adaptation, (3) mitigation, and (4) capacity building and technology transfer — as well as an article of the Paris Agreement serve as the foundation for Namibia’s COP28 involvement.
Namibia calls for the scaling up of climate finance levels by providing specific long-term targets for climate finance pathways and accounting methodologies. Furthermore, Namibia requests that the Parties create a worldwide goal for adaptation and allocate climate funds equally between mitigation and adaptation. The Adaptation Fund should receive the proceeds from the global carbon market system established by the Paris Agreement to fund initiatives and projects in developing nations.
Namibia also urges all stakeholders to set aggressive timetables for reaching net zero emissions and to submit more ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Namibia further requests rich nations to provide developing nations the tools and assistance they need to successfully implement the NDC.
Ultimately, Namibia hopes to expedite the transmission of climate technologies, as well as the development of information and knowledge on these technologies and cooperation among stakeholders in climate technologies.
Namibia’s participation at the next Conference of the Parties (COP28) is sponsored by a variety of public and private institutions who collectively pledged N$1.8 million.
