Govt beckons private sector in climate change work

Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining has asked the private sector to assist government and stakeholders in cushioning climate change impacts by developing programmes that restore degraded landscapes and ecosystems among vulnerable communities.

Chief director of environment and climate change management Bright Kumwembe said this on Thursday in Lilongwe during national stakeholders’ consultations ahead of a two-week global climate change conference in Poland in December this year.

The Lilongwe meeting was hosted by the ministry with assistance from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)to solicit participants’ feedback in fine-tuning Malawi’s draft strategy that will inform its discussions during the 24th session of the Conference of Parties (CoP24) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Poland.

Kumwembe said: “The private sector can engage in supporting adaptation actions as well as renewable energy technologies and solar technologies, just as examples.”

He added that Malawi needs to uphold its record of utilising international aid well, more so now that some donors will be preoccupied with addressing their own climate change effects.

Through recent negotiations, Malawi is receiving about K36 billion ($50 million) for ation of climate change projects in vulnerable communities.

The projects will address weather forecasting, flood warning, adaptation in agriculture and the reduction of carbon in energy and manufacturing sectors.

Malawi is facilitating its attainment of both its long-term and short-term goals over the technical climate change subject.