© Barbara JonesOpen Billed Storks at Sunset, Botswana, Africa
The former Director of Meteorological Services, David Lesolle, told Mmegi in an interview this week that climate change is manifesting itself in climate variability and excessive rainfall that came even in winter, making its utilisation difficult.
Lesolle said though the developing countries are adversely affected by this climate change phenomenon, they are not its cause. Developed countries caused it. He said, "We cannot stop climate change but adapt it. We can only stop our emissions."
Comment: While it is true that the climate is changing and will have devastating consequences for societies, greenhouse emissions have little to do with this. For a more realistic assessment of what's going on here on the BBM read Forget About Global Warming: We're One Step From Extinction!
He said signs of the vulnerability of developing countries in Africa happened a few years ago when the cyclones occurred in Madagascar and the Indian Ocean. This was in 2000 when the Eline cyclone brought vast rainfalls into Botswana and South Africa where dams were filled beyond capacity. Both countries opened their dams so that their walls would not be damaged. The excessive waters flowed into Mozambique.
"Consequently floods struck Mozambique that year. The country lost 10% of its Gross Domestic Product due to the upheaval. This shows just how vulnerable developing countries are to this climate change. Had the same thing occurred in the Mississippi region for instance, they could have gotten money and fixed the problem without delay, but with a developing country this means debts as money is not always readily available for such disasters," he said matter-of-factly.
It is for this very reason that the former Director called five Non Governmental Organisations' (NGOs) and the Poverty- Environment Initiative (Pei) (the latter is under the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning) representatives, to discuss with them a mechanism with which Batswana can access donor funding from the developed countries. The instrument is his brainchild and he is awaiting a call from the NGOs and other stakeholders so that they pick up from where they left in the past. "There are many challenges that we are facing presently and in the future, due to climate change. These include poverty. My wish is that we remove ourselves from poverty. We should sensitise our rural dwellers of the difficult times ahead due to this phenomenon. They are especially going to be fatally affected due to their dependency on natural resources, some of which are sensitive to climate change," he said thoughtfully.
His worry is that Batswana as a nation are non-readers and non-writers. Research, he said, has shown that the mophane worm (phane) might be affected. But extensive research by its harvesters and others is necessary, regardless of what it will entail. Another affected natural resource is thatching grass.
"There might be several other little creatures that might be in danger due to climate change. If we are not cautious of this there might be a problem in the future where parasites run short of their prey. They will alternatively turn to human beings and this will bring unknown infections," the retired director-cum part-time lecturer smiled, then added; "But there are a lot of funds under the 'adaptation funds' that should benefit Batswana. I am talking about more than US$100m. This climate change is a big topic that needs all Batswana. It is not the government's, civil societies' or private sector's."
And so the summary of the retired civil servant's adaptation mechanism would flow: first there will be the thinkers whose responsibility would be to strategise projects as determined by the environment where they would be implemented. Next there will be consultations with communities to ensure they own developments. Then there will be implementers or implementation groups who will be with monitors. Evaluators of the projects will be next. In a nutshell possible projects needed to mitigate or adapt to climate change will include research, reforestation and carbon projects, to mention but a few. Planning, research, consultation and mobilization, implementation, and finally evaluation will be the stages of this adaptation measure. Lesolle estimates the mechanism to take two years to take-off. But he would not do this alone-hence his cop of other stakeholders. Lesolle, who emphasised that he was not answering on behalf of the government but speaking his own mind said the government's policies regarding environment-related issues was fine. This, he said was evidenced by the provisions of the Environment Impact Assessment(EIA) legislation which dictated that its (EIA) report should be produced before any project was implemented.
"However there is need for community input. Harvesters of natural resources should form groups to ensure monitoring and subsequent sustainable utilisation of such resources," he explained, adding that, "It is unfair to limit people's utilisation of resources for fear of degradation. Some degradation is caused by climate change. Therefore people should not falsely blame themselves of their participation for such outcomes."
Reader Comments
to our Newsletter