Africa-Press – Mauritius. The first session of a series of four capacity building workshops on Climate Change Negotiation, was launched this morning by the Minister of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change, Mr Kavydass Ramano, at the Voilà Hotel in Bagatelle.
The initiative is a joint collaboration of the Ministry of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change, with the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) and the European Union (EU).
The capacity building programme will bring together public officials as well as representatives of the civil society to learn, discuss and participate in mock negotiation exercises.
In his address, Minister Kavydass Ramano extended his gratitude to the Commonwealth Secretariat for its support in organising the training programme aimed at demystifying the multilateral process and meetings of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, in particular the Conference of Parties as well as to the EU and the IOC for the financial assistance provided under the Intra ACP-EU GCCA+ Programme.
The Minister likewise underpinned the two-fold purpose of the training programme, which is to: improve the level of understanding of participants on why and how COP meetings are organised, as well as on the various segments of the multilateral process of the UNFCCC and; provide stakeholders the required skills to understand the nuances and requisites while formulating the national position to defend the country’s interests in the international arena.
Furthermore, Mr Kavydass Ramano urged the participants to be guided by the key findings of the sixth report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which he stressed, has highlighted growing concerns of the impacts of climate change on the world and Small Island Nations.
Coming to the implementation of climate actions at local level, the Environment Minister reiterated that Mauritius is doing its fair share to also contribute to the efforts of the global community to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
We are committed to achieving bold targets in terms of adaptation and mitigation in our updated 2021 Nationally determined contributions and are adopting a multi-pronged, cross-sectoral and inclusive approach towards implementing projects and programmes to achieve set targets, emphasised Minister Ramano.
Present on the occasion, the Chargée de Mission of the IOC, Ms Gina Bonne, remarked that the Indian Ocean region has been experiencing the impacts of climate change, affecting the lives of the populations of the Island States.
This phenomenon touches each one of us and should be the concern of all, she added. She lauded the inclusive approach adopted by Mauritius that is by supporting a training programme at national level, bringing together stakeholders and experts to work together to address this concern.
As for the Head of Cooperation of the EU to the Republic of Mauritius, Mr Milko Van Gool, he underlined the vulnerability of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to the impacts of climate change.
According to him, the Intra EU-ACP GCCA+ Programme comes at an opportune moment to step up actions and build resilience of SIDS against the impacts of climate change.
He also spoke of the initiative as an important platform to build negotiation capacities while highlighting the crucial role played by climate change negotiators in raising awareness on national circumstances, thereby making the voice of the country heard and advancing its agenda.
In a pre-recorded message, the Commonwealth Secretary General, Mrs Patricia Scotland, stated that the training initiative will be beneficial to the participants who will be able to firmly represent Mauritius during the COP28 and other several meetings.
If we are to succeed at COP28, she stressed, we have to remain united and forceful in demanding climate justice, increased access to climate finance and more relevant adaption and mitigation actions. In addition, Mrs Patricia Scotland reiterated the Commonwealth’s commitment to support its members in their quest for ambitious climate actions.
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