Malawi to benefit from COP 17
Deputy Director of Environmental Affairs Dr Aloysius Kamperewera in the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and the Environment was speaking in Zomba on Friday at the end of COP 17 review meeting for government officials, civil society organisations, media practitioners and church leaders.
He said there are some provisions adopted at COP 17 that enable Malawi to access additional climate funds to help in the adaptation and mitigation of climate change.
“We know already we have existing climate funds but there are new ones like the Green Climate Fund. There are mechanisms that have been put in place which, if used, Malawi can access more money. So, we intend to position ourselves to access more funding to support climate change-related programmes.
He further said another specific area Malawi will benefit from COP 17 is capacity building.
Deputy director of energy in the ministry Lewis Mhango said recognition of agriculture at COP 17 will also benefit countries like Malawi.
“We all know that Malawi is an agro-based country and one of the outcomes includes agriculture. Though not given a full status but that has advantaged us in that climate smart agriculture practices Malawian farmers will be practising in future may be recognised in terms of carbon credits and that can benefit the country. The agriculture practices I am talking about include conservation agriculture,” said Mhango.
The Zomba-review also agreed on a number of factors that need to be addressed to help Malawi make the most of future COP meetings.
Among the agreements, the meeting noted the need for early preparations for the conference by, among other things, developing a pool of negotiators for each thematic area.
The meeting also agreed on an action plan to be implemented between now and the next COP meeting to be held in Qatar later this year.
