10 Mar 2024

Government remains committed to combating the effects of climate change, says Minister of Environment and Tourism, Mr Dumezweni Mthimkhulu.

Presenting his ministry’s 2024/2025 budget proposal in Parliament on Thursday, Mr Mthimkhulu emphasised the gravity of the threats posed by climate change and highlighted the government’s proactive engagement in securing resources to support its interventions.

He noted that the country participated at the 28^th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, in December 2023. 

“The objective of the conference was to evaluate the implementation of the Paris agreement, global commitments made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, financial support for climate action to developing countries as well as efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius,” he said.

Highlighting key outcomes from COP28, Mr Mthimkhulu referenced the United Arab Emirates (UAE) consensus, which advocated for a comprehensive global stocktake to assess progress since COP21 in Paris. 

He said the consensus also proposed a plan to address implementation gaps by 2030. 

“Another outcome is the operationalisation of the damage and loss fund which is to be hosted by the World Bank for an initial period of four years,” he said.

Mr Mthimkhulu said the resources would be allocated based on the available evidence and that 19 countries made commitments totalling US$792 million towards the fund. 

“To access the funds, Botswana needs to establish a structure, hence the process has started,” he stated.

He said in order to address some of the challenges of adverse weather conditions and changes in average temperature, his ministry had upgraded the automated weather observing stations to measure the weather elements. 

“The first phase of the information communication technology infrastructure for the Department of Meteorological Services has also been upgraded to the required international standard,” he said.

The minister further indicated that during the 2024/2025 financial year, his ministry would intensify campaigns to create awareness on climate change issues. 

“This will commence with a climate change Pitso subsequently followed by awareness activities at community level, the populace mostly affected by climate change,” he said.

He also outlined plans to develop and upgrade systems such as the Weather Radio Detection and Ranging and weather observing to meet international standards. Ends