Tanzania: Boost funding on climate change effects
Addressing the conference, the Deputy Minister in the Vice-President’s Office (Union and Environment), Musa Sima, said global warming has had a terrible impact on Tanzania, especially because of heavy rains not experienced in past decades, causing deaths and destroyed costly infrastructures.
The trends and warnings highlighted this year by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) are already evident in Tanzania, he asserted.
“These trends are already affecting Tanzania through extreme rainfall events and temperature-rise causing widespread flooding associated with loss of life and devastating socio-economic impacts, including destruction of infrastructure such as roads and bridges.
“Unlike similar periods over the last decades in many parts of the country, October has been the wettest month in many parts of Tanzania. Therefore, concerted global efforts in forging effective, appropriate and adequate adaptation strategies are urgently needed,” he told the delegates.
He told the meeting that Tanzania appreciated efforts made during the first formal replenishment process of the Green Climate Fund leading to pledges of $9.66 billion, noting however that in spite of several developed countries pledging voluntary contributions to the funds, “we are still far from bridging the gap of financial needs of developing countries and the financial target of collecting 100 billion for climate change global mitigation efforts.”
Internally, he said, the government has strengthened the capacity of the National Meteorological Authority, buying two weather radars that have enhanced weather monitoring and prediction capacity.
In a long-term bid to reduce gas emissions, he said, besides the construction of hydro-electric dams, the government has built a Bus Rapid Transport system in Dar es Salaam and was building a Standard Gauge Railway. The government was also keen on a countrywide tree planting campaign to halt deforestation and forest degradation, he stated.
He told the meeting that Tanzania believed the costs of adaptation and participating effectively in mitigating needed significant and predictable international support including financial and technology transfer.
The deputy minister paid tribute to the Chilean government, the host Kingdom of Spain and the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for making the meeting possible.
UN Secretary General António Guterres deserved plaudits for organizing the precursor UN Climate Action Summit in New York on September 23, he added.
