Blutus Mbambi, Climate Activist

“World Leaders To Take Action Before It Is Too Late”

In this journey will focus on some of the required measures we can work on together to combat climate change, for its our duty and responsibility as the inhabitants of this beautiful planet to keep our habitat safe and sustainable for our children and our children’s children.

The shift to a cleaner energy economy won’t happen overnight and tough decisions are to be made along the way but the debate is settled. Climate change is real. Barrack Obama

Zambia is one of most climate vulnerable places on Earth, his excellency Dr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu, once said “climate change is a big problem that we are facing currently and it has hit Zambia where it pains the most” referring to the energy sector. Moving account reminds us all that for so many, the climate crisis is not a distant threat nor is climate crisis just an environmental issue, it is inseparable from issues of human rights and justice. Climate change is already destroying lives and affecting our stay on earth as it needs urgent actions by everyone. Hence young people in Lusaka are taking actions with an admirable resolute spirit and greater determination. According to the disaster report by the United Nations for the coordination of humanitarian affairs some districts east of the country, Mambwe, Gwembe and Siavonga, have been affected by flash floods and severe droughts. What is this telling us? We have to keep pushing and taking the fight against climate change to another level. We have an inspiring opportunity to build the capacity of change in this battle and do what we have failed to do in the past. Zambia is expected to experience heavy rains in the coming seasons, if we don’t act now.

Zambia has 10 provinces, and its facing one of the greatest threats, due to the change in climate, geographically Zambia is a landlocked country surrounded 8 countries which together at large are under the same threat.  The keen interest is to take steps to do our homework to see how we can contribute and help to fight against climate. Our leaders need to listen to our voices as young people, we are being affected by this change in climate, take time to understand and analyze the situation before putting to account what should be done. We speak about climate change, because we already experience its effects and it scares our tomorrow. We may not have statistics, but studies have been carried out and we see the changes that are affecting our lives. Every I walk outside the dusty streets of Lusaka, the waste and industries are in front of everyone. Climate change matters, it is already changing the way people live. Climate change is already taking away what is very precious to our communities. According to the Disaster Management and Mitigation unit (DMMU) crops have been destroyed by either floods or droughts, threatening food security in the country, the worst since 1992. With the adverse impacts of climate change as a result of its geographical location, the multiple socio-economic stresses it is subjected to, and its low adaptive capacity. According to the study on the economic impacts of Climate Change conducted in 2011 by Government, a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) loss of about USD 5 Billion over a 10 to 20-year period was estimated. The study estimated that loss of agricultural productivity and its associated effects on poverty levels, the potential impact of an energy crisis related to power generation, the higher costs of treating climate related diseases such as malaria, and the loss of natural environments which provide critical services to urban, peri-urban, and rural communities are major contributors to GDP loss. It is therefore important to note that Zambia's socio-economic well-being and ecosystem is likely to be mainly impacted upon in the following sectors:

Droughts - mean water scarcity. There was a severe drought a few years ago in the Northern and Eastern communities that resulted in this sort of water scarcity, it left people in desperate need of water, it was a very sad moment for our communities. We also experience shorter rainy season (the rain fall start late and ending early) much more than before, there are frequent storms and strong winds taking place here in the western, increased intensity and frequency of floods and droughts, declining agricultural productivity, reduced hydropower potential altered ecosystems and the spread of vector diseases such as Malaria to new areas. The country is already experiencing some of these impacts as seen from increased flooding and droughts in certain parts the country resulting in damage of agricultural crops, infrastructure such as roads and bridges, and displacements of people with loss of their homes, belongings and livelihoods. Climate change has reversed many of the gains made in various sectors of the national economy, especially efforts to reduce poverty and hunger, this year itself,  300,000 poor Zambians have been affected by climate change pushing them far below the poverty line. Zambia experiencing change in climate spells disaster for our country. This is because the majority of Zambians depend on agriculture. Our staple food is maize, any slight change in temperature maize gets affected and the impact on the lives of the people is so great. If severe weather conditions continue, it will affect one of Zambia’s most critical economic sectors, Tourism. The Mighty Victoria Falls, one of the seven wonders of the world, is estimated that, if extreme weather changes continue an abated in about 50 years, all that will remain of this revered sight will be an empty raven of rock. It is also sad to note that Zambia ranks among the most deforested countries in the world taking position among the 10 most countries vulnerable to climate change. This is important because the climate crisis is a matter of the survival of our civilization. It is an issue of utmost urgency. Any further increase of average temperature risks the end of global civilization as we know it today.

Sustainable development goals, acting to combat Climate Change and its impacts and CO2 level and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and saving lives and livelihoods requires urgent actions to address both the pandemic and climate actions, in order to ensure effective and sustained greenhouse gas inventory the GHGs, the government, parties and system should be implementing the required actions to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.  According to Paris Agreement adopted (2015) the main aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping global temperature use well below 2 degrees celcius above pre- industrial level and strengthen countries abilities to deal with the impact of climate change

 The following required actions measures should be implemented in key sectors of the economy and save our nature and support them in their efforts.

To promote and encourage the investments in climate resilient and low carbon development pathways in order to generate co-benefits and provide incentives for addressing climate change more effectively.

This will help to sustain land use planning to protect key ecosystems and related services such as carbon sinks Ensure that investments adhere to sustainable development principles and are in line with low-carbon development principles. Reduce forest degradation and loss of forest ecosystems;

Capacity Building; To strengthen the institutional and efficiently address all aspects of climate change at, national, provincial, district and local levels.

By involving stakeholder participation and partnerships that integrate climate change in natural resources management at all levels; and Enhance the capacity of rural economies to diversify, this will be promoting alternative income generating activities that are climate resilient (able to recover quickly from difficult conditions); and capacity building in climate change response actions;

Enhance the monitoring and review of the effectiveness of capacity-building programs; Promote consideration of gender aspects and the role and needs of youth and persons with disabilities in capacity-building activities; this   will promote public education and awareness to enhance the capacity to address climate change;

Build capacity in developing innovations and technologies and adoption and utilization of external technologies; by Strengthen the capacity of local technological innovation centers to help strengthen institutional technology generation and transfer through a learning-by-doing approach.

To foster research and development in order to improve understanding and decision making in responding to climate change and other environmental issue

Promoting research and development (R&D) to address climate change/ variability in all sectors; in the use of prediction models and technologies to determine regional vulnerability of the sectors to climate change; Support higher learning and research institutions on climate related applied research; and Facilitate research, development and demonstration of new climate-friendly technologies for mitigation and adaptation.

To promote communication and dissemination of climate change information to enhance awareness and understanding of its opportunities and impacts on the communities by facilitate climate change advocacy, communication and awareness; and Strengthen climate change education, training and public awareness at all levels; let us Promote involvement of local authorities and traditional leaders in climate change education, public awareness including the use of indigenous knowledge .To engenver in Climate Change programs and activities in order to enhance gender equality and equity in the implementation of climate change programs. Promote gender differentiation and implementation of gender specific measures on climate change; however, this will improve the participation of women, youth and children in climate change programs; and Promote gender equity in access to climate finances.

  To develop and promote appropriate technologies and build national capacity to benefit from climate change technological transfer

Promotion of access to affordable environmentally sound technologies; and identification and utilization of available climate-friendly technologies for mitigation and adaptation that meet low-carbon emission and climate-resilient development needs; establishment and strengthening of climate technology centers/networks;

  Promotion of Green Job Investment and sustainable growth

  This will Promote investments in renewable energy resource development and increase the proportion of renewable energy in the total energy mix;

 

To promote mainstreaming of climate change into policies, plans and strategies at all levels in order to account for Climate Change risks and opportunities in decision making and implementation.

a)  Strengthen effective mainstreaming of climate change, response and sustainable recovery from climate related disasters;

b) Promote Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs) as a tool for integration of low emission principles;

c) Promote mainstreaming of gender into all climate change programs;

d) Facilitate mainstreaming of climate change into school curriculum;

e) Develop and implement codes and standards to promote adaptation and mitigation in infrastructure development; and Promote integration of climate change considerations by Local Authorities.

The voices of our Zambian communities are not listened to enough. Maybe it is because big countries or world leaders of large countries across the world think we are useless because we are very small? Maybe they think we are too small to listen to? Yet, it is us who are on the frontline of climate change. We need to continue to fight for climate change required action as climate change is not stopping. Its effects are increasing every day. Climate change will play a big role in destroying the future of our children, all of our children, and the children of future generations.  If we take action today, while climate change will not go away it could still reduce to a significant level allowing us to live and prosper, we could still live a sustainable life. 

 If you insult me, I will let people judge you, but if you talk to me, I will call you in and we talk with these guys. It is about dialogue. He said, solutions lie in implementing whatever you agreed upon, no matter how unpalatable. You have to bite the bullet. President Lungu said.

About the Author: Blutus Mbambi is  from Africa Zambia. An activist for the protection of nature, a fighter for a better tomorrow. He is young, successful and committed to his  goal.