02 Nov 2021

By Kehumile Moekejo

Botswana representatives are among over 30 000 from across the globe who have converged in Glasgow, Scotland for the 2021 UN climate change conference, COP26, which started October 31.

Opening yesterday with a world leaders summit  scheduled to end today, the two-week conference will discuss, among others, progress on the 2015 Paris Agreement which called for parties to device mitigation measures towards achieving nationally determined contributions on climate change.

Countries are expected to communicate their individual efforts to reduce national emissions and adaptation strategies to the effects of climate change.

One of the key issues for the parties is developed countries’ financial support  to their developing counterparts, which could help fund mitigation targets aimed at reducing emissions. 

Botswana had set a target of reducing overall emission by 15 per cent between 2010 and 2030 estimated to cost a whopping USD 18.4 billion.The country recently established a Climate Change Policy, which focuses on adaptation and mitigation measures in key national priority areas such as agriculture, water, human health, forest management, land use and allocation, biodiversity and ecosystems, gender, carbon budgets, sustainable energy and waste management.  

The policy also promotes stakeholder involvement to ensure that various organisations have an input in climate change response measures.The Botswana delegation, led by Minister of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism Ms Philda Kereng comprises technical experts in various fields such as agriculture, meteorology and energy as well as stakeholders for example Parliamentary Committee on Wildlife, Tourism, Natural Resources and Climate Change. ends