Minister calls on nation to desist from environmentally harmful practices.
Gaborone, Dec. 17 (BSHD)– Following the recent Climate Change Negotiations, COP 21, Botswana Minister of Environment, Wildlife, and Tourism, TshekediKhama has called on his nation to desist from engaging in environmentally harmful practices.
“In Botswana we have a terrible culture, a culture wherein people can dump garbage everywhere willy-nilly. We have lots of plastics and other rubbish laying around. This affects other sectors, we can’t sale a dirty country,” said Khama.
If the country is going to play an effective role in ensuring that global temperatures do not increase beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius as agreed at COP 21 by 200 countries that graced the event, Khama said Batswana should reconsider their ways.
“Chemical bottles are everywhere. The indiscriminate burning of things in incineration should desist, we should stop littering. If we didn’t litter they wouldn’t be need to spend millions in recycling,” he said.
In implementing the COP 21 agreement, the Botswana government has vouched to increase renewable energy in its energy mix, it has vouched to initiate sustainable agricultural practices, to put in place efficient transport systems in both infrastructure and reduced carbon emissions and to implement waste to energy initiatives and acceptable waste management practices.
The outcomes of the Paris conference are – keeping temperature rises to below 2 degrees Celsius with an effort to limit temperature rises to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius, reviewing progress on implementation every 5 years, to peak greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible and strike a balance between sources and sinks in the second half of the century, as well as the commitments to USD100 billion per annum in climate finance by 2020 with a commitment of more finance to be availed thereafter.
“These outcomes give us great comfort in that as we strive to implement climate change initiatives, we should prepare our strategies to enable us to adequately participate in the process for Botswana to benefit,” said TshekediKhama, adding the Botswana government is developing structures to ensure that Batswana benefit from climate change funding. Structures such as personnel, modalities and how money should be disbursed through which entities.
Given the shortages of water in Gaborone, the Minister said the cost of mitigation and adaptation of such climate change effects have been covered by money retrieved from government reserves, money that was reserved for other developmental projects. This he said is counter development, hence welcomed the fund that will allow the country to continue developing.
“Botswana is eligible for USD300 000 00 for the Green Climate Fund readiness programme. We just need to identify the National Implementing Entity through which the funding will be disbursed,” he said, calling on the private sector and individuals to carry the responsibility of creating, developing and implementing projects. –Enditem-
