Africa-Press – Botswana. The sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) offers Botswana an opportunity to look for strategic partners who will help strengthen efforts against the adverse effects of climate change.
In an interview on the sidelines of the stakeholder dialogues of the UNEA-6 meetings at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday, Acting Minister of Environment and Tourism Mr Machana Shamukuni said Botswana would look for collaboration opportunities with development partners.
“We need strategic partners to assist us on various issues so that we deal with climate change concerns. We need partnerships around financing to ensure that our economy is climate resilient. We are looking at sectors such as water, mining, agriculture and tourism,” he said.
Minister Shamukuni said government was looking at technical expertise to assist with environmental concerns that required the technical know-how.
He said UNEA-6 offered Botswana the opportunity to network and the country had embraced the invitation wholeheartedly.
Mr Shamukuni said the priority for government now was research which was wide-ranging and would help in formulating effective policies.
“We want research around issues of agriculture so that we can make it more resilient in the face of unfriendly weather conditions. Botswana is hard hit by the adverse effects of climate change as our crops are failing, we suffer biodiversity loss so we want a research base that will provide solutions to these challenges,” added Minister Shamukuni.
The government has proposed P1.02 billion for research and development programmes, which would drive research across strategic categories including environment and climate change.
To augment the existing donor funds, enhance economic resilience and protect livelihoods a development budget of P1.37 billion was also proposed to address the effects of climate change.
Mr Shamukuni said government would also focus on projects and programmes that would mitigate climate change shocks and ensure sustainable adaptation to emerging adverse challenges.
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