Posted on May, 31, 2021 at 09:41 am
After the historic 2015 Paris Agreement, the world is looking forward to another appointment to fine-tune efforts at tackling climate change impact. Thus, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26, holds in Glasgow, Scotland from November 1-12, 2021. In preparation for the event, the Ministry of Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development, MINEPDED, the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP Cameroon and partners on May 27, 2021 began holding a two-day workshop in Yaounde to review Cameroon's Envisaged National Contributions or climate change response plan.
Speaking at the opening, Alassane Ba, UNDP Cameroon Deputy Resident Representative cited the Cameroon Climate Change Observatory as reporting that the years 2019 and 2020 saw rising temperatures negatively impacting agriculture, transport and livestock. Failure to tackle the impact of floods could cost Cameroon 3 Billion US Dollars (about 1,614.5 billion FCFA) a year. While droughts could cost an estimated 7.4 billion US Dollars (about 3,983.1 billion FCFA) a year, Ba warned.
Prof. Tchawa Paul, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development, explained that Envisaged National Contributions will enable Cameroon to align development projects with financing windows. He said an estimated 30,000 billion FCFA (about 55.7 Million US Dollars) was needed to appropriately redress climate change impact. "The fact that the United States has rejoined the Paris Climate Change Accord means that all of the world's largest nations are now part of efforts to contain climate change impact. And Cameroon cannot afford to be left out," Prof. Tchawa noted.
Dr Martin Zeh-Nlo, UNDP Cameroon Assistant Resident Representative, explained that Cameroon, UNDP and partners were still in the process of assessing Envisaged National Contributions to handle climate change. When this is done, UNDP will help government in mobilising resources, he promised. He disclosed that UNDP will also build capacity in the country. Government has to finalise the Envisaged National Contributions by July 2021 in readiness for the Glasgow Climate Change Conference, Dr Zeh-Nlo said.
Source: Cameroon Tribute