Comesa states to be drilled in climate change adaptation
ZAMBIA is among the 17 countries which will participate in a training on the implementation of urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
COMESA head, Corporate Communications, Mwangi Gakunga, said in a statement yesterday that the training was being organised under the Transparency clause of the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change and would take place in Zimbabwe on July 30 to 31st, 2019.
Mr Gakunga named Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, D.R Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Uganda and Zimbabwe as the other countries that would participate in the programme.
He said the transparency provision of the Paris Agreement required developing countries to, among others, provide information relating to climate change adaptation and mitigation.
Mr Gakunga said all COMESA member states were fully engaged in the on-going discussions and negotiations to find a lasting and sustainable solution to the challenge of climate change.
They, had ratified the Paris Agreement of 2015 and submitted very ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to give their circumstances.
“COMESA is supporting its member states to enhance their capacity in NDC implementation. It is envisaged that with adequate capacity, COMESA Member-States will effectively monitor, track and report the progress achieved in implementing their NDCs. This is essential in meeting the requirements of article 13 of the Paris Agreement,” Mr Gakunga said.
He explained that the NDC target indicator tracking training would specifically focus on transparency of the actions and reporting on the Paris Agreement.
Mr Gakunga also said COMESA was implementing a regional climate change project with funding from the European Union under the Intra-African Caribbean and Pacific Global Climate Change Alliance + programme.
The overall objective of the training programme, he said, was to increase the resilience of the COMESA region to climate change and achieve the UN’s sustainable development goals.