President Lazarus Chakwera says Malawi has become a world leader in the race to create an environmentally sustainable society and economy.
The Malawi leader was speaking at the National Green Climate Conference at BICC, Lilongwe, which is running under the theme; Collective Responsibility for Enhanced Climate Action in Malawi.
According to Chakwera, his administration is taking collective climate action now to reduce the rise in temperatures across Malawi and to stop the destruction of food production systems caused by changing rainfall patterns.
“For us as a nation, our response to the climate crisis and its effects has focused on relevant, collaborative and urgent action.
“I am proud to say that because of our commitment to this principle, Malawi has become a world leader in the race to create an environmentally sustainable society and economy,” said Chakwera.
The Malawi leader in his speech, however, noted that climate change is the biggest threat to Malawi’s economic development as its impacts are burdening the poorest and most vulnerable people and damaging an already fragile economy.
He added that Malawi is considered a climate change hotspot country with a history of water scarcity and falling food production caused by floods and droughts.
The Malawi leader further said that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought restrictions to efforts to adapt and build resilience to impacts of climate change. According to Chakwera, Malawi requires over K300 billion to recover from adverse effects of climate change.
He then said that the guiding principle of collective action can help Malawi to become the greenest society on the continent.
Chakwera said actions that need to be taken include implementation of innovations aimed at reducing emissions, increasing investments in clean and green technologies, improving access to climate information, increasing adaptive capacity of Malawian people and supporting climate friendly economic and social activities.
“In pursuit of this vision of a green Malawi, I challenge this conference to come up with concrete strategies that will steer Malawi to a climate resilience and low carbon pathway.
“Let us use this national green climate conference to take stock of climate action and identify ways of working collectively on reducing climate risk, sifting the country towards a low carbon economy,” said Chakwera.
He added that his administration is committed to allocate resources towards climate change adaptation initiatives and to resource the national climate change fund.
Chakwera then called for support from the global community to enable Malawi to fulfil its leadership role on collective climate action.
Speaking at the conference, United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator for Malawi Jose Maria Torres said the UN has been working with Malawi Government to create a framework for a common climate action agenda that is deeply rooted in the Malawi Vision 2063.
She added that the UN is committed to ensuring that no one is left behind and to help Malawi to mobilize the necessary support to promote resilience and adaptation to climate change in Malawi.
