Continent Urged to Develop National Plans On Climate Change
For Personal Use Only
African countries have been urged to develop national plans on climate change in order to alleviate the impacts of global warming on the continent.
Speaking at a tree-planting programme event organised under the auspices of the “Food and Trees for Zambia” organisation on Wednesday, George Edgar, Britain’s Special Envoy on Climate Change in Africa said: “There is a need for African countries to take account of the impact of climate change in their planning in a bid to forestall the negative impacts of global warming.”
He said the changing rain patterns and the floods that most countries are experiencing in the world were good examples of climate variability, which has become as common as temperatures rise.
Mr Edgar noted climate change was both a serious threat to the environment and to the economy.
It requires a global solution to alleviate the impacts of global warming, he said, adding that African governments should come up with a means of planting trees in order help sustain the environment as well as find ways to reduce the rising temperatures.
British High Commissioner (ambassador) to Zambia Alistair Harrison said there was need for African countries to find solutions to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas effects which are the main contributors to global warming.
Mr Harrison said the British government would help the Zambian government come up with measures to help resolve matters of climate change.
Executive Director Edwin Sekelechi of “Food and Trees for Zambia” commended the British government for playing a crucial role in spearheading awareness efforts on climate change in Africa.
Earlier this month at the G8 Summit in Germany, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described climate change as the “defining issue of our era”.
Mr Ban welcomed the agreement by the world’s richest nations to address the threat as an “important first step.”
The G8 countries including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States pledged $60 billion to meet earlier commitments and support new development initiatives for the developing world.
President Thabo Mbeki also took part in the G8 + 5 leaders of the South (India, Brazil, South Africa, China and Mexico) with a view to advancing the developmental agenda.
The agreement by G8 leaders on “strong and early action” to combat climate change, and to pursue related negotiations under UN auspices, is “only a first step - a beginning, not an end,” the Secretary-General stated.
He emphasised that political will at the highest level was “desperately” needed to make significant emissions reductions and to help countries adapt to climate change.
Filed by Maria Robson under The Environment, Climate Change