13 Nov 2016

Minister of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism, Mr Tshekedi Khama, some Councillors from Lobatse Town Council, government officials and experts from Non-Governmental Organizations form part of a strong Botswana negotiation team for the climate change conference going on in Morocco
 Meanwhile, member states who have convened in Marrakech, are working round the clock to finalise negotiations and subsequently reach a consensus on the implementation modalities of the Paris Agreement.
The Paris Agreement to which Botswana is a signatory was adopted during the 21th Conference of the Parties (COP 21) in Paris, France in 2015.
The Paris Agreement calls for rigorous climate change action towards reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and promotes clean power economies as well as climate resilient societies.
The head of the Botswana delegation and director of Meteorological Services, Mr Thabang Botshoma said the fact that the agreement entered into force this year as opposed to 2020 as was initially the case, places tremendous pressure on parties.
“A lot of pressure has thus been placed on parties to conclude on modalities to set into motion the implementation of this agreement," he observed. Besides putting pressure on parties, Mr Botshoma stated that the cross cutting effect of the accord is also felt by institutions mandated to support and facilitate implementation. Such institutions, he said are from sectors among others; technology, capacity building, finance and many others. He also said parties are expected to conduct a stock take of the implementation of support before end of the Marrakech meeting. Compliance mechanisms, transparency of support and sustainable finance are among key areas that Mr Botshoma said are instrumental at delivering on Nationally Determined Contributions. The same, he said is true about both commitment and response measures required to save planet earth from the harsh realities of climate change.
He is content, parties have established an enhanced transparency framework for action and support with built in flexibility that takes into account parties’ varying capacities.
 The Marrakech outcome therefore, he said is expected to provide guidance towards successful implementation of the Paris Agreement. ends