Speaking at a Maputo seminar on climate change on Tuesday, Manjate said “Our greatest concern is with adaptation and mitigation. We would like adaptation to be duly discussed in Durban. We also think that mitigation can be undertaken to help the country develop sustainably".
This position, Manjate added, is held by rest of the African continent, which also takes adaptation as a top priority, although there is space for individual countries to present their own concerns.
Mozambique's position, drawn up with the assistance of a hired consultant, is still under debate, but will be finalised before the Durban conference.
Mozambique is likely to be severely affected by climate change, and some of the impacts already being felt are variations in temperature and rainfall patterns and increased frequency of cyclones.
Although some measures of adaptation and mitigation are under way, the Environment Ministry argues that a common vision, principles, strategic goals and national priorities should be drawn up. In such a plan, the role of each stakeholder - the government, private business, civil society organisations, academics, the mass media and cooperation partners - should be set out. Read the full report here.
Source: The Zimbabwean.
