Namibia’s environment is highly fragile and vulnerable owing to its geographical characteristics, with over 90 per cent of the country characterised by semi-arid, arid and hyper arid conditions.
This was said by Minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Pohamba Shifeta, during the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Glasgow on Wednesday.
He said an estimated 35 per cent of Namibia’s environment is considered to be in a degraded state, with over 36 per cent of the population affected.
“In spite of these conditions, agricultural activities are practiced on over 70 per cent of the country’s land mass by an estimated two-thirds of the population,” the minister said.
Shifeta noted that Namibia’s aridity and climatic variability make land use a risky business and sustainable land management is therefore of paramount importance, adding that such risks are amplified by the frequent occurrence of droughts which are expected to become even more frequent and severe under the current and forecasted climate change scenarios.
According to the minister, for Namibia to deal hands on with climate change, it has ratified three Rio Conventions namely the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1995; the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) and United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in 1997 respectively.
Namibia has also embraced the concept of Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) and aims to meet concrete targets that reduce land degradation, at the same time contributing to the achievement of the UNCBD and UNFCCC objectives.
“Namibia has put in place several multi-sectoral policies aimed at reinforcing LDN at various levels. The most important ones are Vision 2030, which includes goals related to water resources, agriculture production and forest management, and the third national action programme for Namibia to implement the UNCCD. We are optimistic that the Call for Action on Living Lands and ultimately, the implementation of the three Rio Conventions, will be a success moving forward,” said Shifeta.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
