03 Dec 2023

 Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) intend to participate in climate change negotiations as a group.

President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi revealed this on Saturday during the World Climate Action Summit at the 28^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at Expo City, in United Arab Emirates.

Landlocked Developing Countries do not have territorial access to the sea and are to some extent isolated from world markets and usually bear huge transit costs.

To this end, President Masisi, who is the Global Chair of the Group of over 32 countries made a clarion call to the UNFCCC not only to support the position of the LLDCs but to also extend support for the group to make this a reality.

“We seek the support of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to provide the necessary assistance for the group to achieve this objective,” he said.

On Botswana’s position on climate change agenda, President Masisi told delegates that the country was doing well towards transitioning from coal-fired electricity to renewable energy.

It is for this reason, he said, that the government had as part of implementing the Energy Policy and Renewable Strategy, decided to increase renewable energy penetration from two per cent to 30 per cent by the year 2030.

He stated that the Transitional National Development Plan placed climate change at the top of the agenda; a thing he accentuated had enabled the integration of climate change risks into all aspects of planning, decision-making as well as implementation.

Furthermore, the COP28 meeting learnt that the Botswana gave priority to adaptation actions that help reduce the vulnerability of communities to climate-related hazards thus protecting livelihoods and the eco-systems as well as enabling them to develop resilience.

He cited the development of drought-tolerant crops and livestock species and the North-South water pipeline, which transfers bulk water to the Southern parts of Botswana where there was a deficit as among the many adaptation actions that were undertaken by the government.

President Masisi was hopeful that this year’s COP would present a perfect opportunity to close down the curtains of the inventory of the Paris Agreement.

“The Global stock-taking initiative will no doubt give us a clear picture that is more than anecdotal on progress towards achieving the pact’s goal to limit global warming to 1,5 degrees Celsius,” he said.

That withstanding, he said it was critical that negotiations at this year’s meeting result in strengthened actions and advancement of the Sharm El Sheik Implementation Plan.

He said the fact that climate finance had been realised as an enabler to fight greenhouse emissions, was imperative to make such funding available and accessible to developing countries.

He reminded the assembly of the need to enhance its action of building resilience and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse impact of climate change to accelerate the implementation of the climate change agenda.

President Masisi was hopeful that the operationalisation of the Loss and Damage Financial mechanism would be concluded before COP28 drew to a close on December 12. Ends