Nov 09, 2022
The mighty Zambezi River flows from Zambia to Mozambique and the Indian Ocean, crossing seven countries and providing one of the largest freshwater catchments in Africa and worldwide. 47 million people live along the shores of the Zambezi watercourse, most of them dependent on rain fed agriculture. With climate change, Zambezi basin farmers and communities are faced with emerging risks of drought, decreased crop yields, and damaging floods. But nature can help. By protecting, for example, the river’s headwaters, and forest areas and wetlands along the watercourse, communities can adapt, safeguard livelihoods, and at the same time contribute to mitigate climate change.
This vision was laid out by Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania and Zambia as they jointly presented their letter of interest to participate in the Climate Investment Funds’ new Nature, People & Climate (NPC) investment program. Today, at COP27, the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) announced that this group of East African countries was selected, together with the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Fiji, and Kenya as the first countries to participate in the program. At this stage, contributor countries have pledged USD350 million to NPC that will pilot and scale nature-based climate solutions in developing countries.
“For the Dominican Republic, as a small island developing state, mitigating the risks of a changing climate and achieving real food security independence can be within our reach, thanks to programs like this one,” said Minister of Agriculture Limber Cruz. Zambia’s Minister of Green Economy and Environment Hon. Collins Nzovu said, “this award comes at the right time as the Zambian government has upscaled its resource mobilization efforts to address the various challenges its people are facing due to climate change.”
NPC investments will focus on promoting and protecting natural environments integral to climate action, sustainable agriculture and food supply, healthy forests, resilient coastal systems, and empowers Indigenous peoples and local communities. The program aims to support the first group of participating countries, after they present investment plans, to meet some of their most pressing climate challenges, as outlined below.
The Dominican Republic sought support for its Ridge to Reef vision. This strategy promotes economic growth and resilience in communities from the mountain to the coast, fostering an inclusive and gender equal development. It lays out, for example, measures to protect watersheds and coastal ecosystems, which includes the mouth of the Yuna River, the largest single mangrove stand in the Antilles region. Methane emissions from rice production will also be addressed as part of this strategy.
Egypt, COP27’s host country, wants to invest in adaptation in the Nile Delta area, which stands to lose 30% of its food production by 2030 as a result of climate change. There, priorities include addressing the threat of sea rise and promoting sustainable agriculture with water efficient and heat resistant crops.
Fiji, an island nation, is highly vulnerable to climate change and pledged to use CIF funding to further develop a natural environment that protects local communities against the growing threat of natural disasters. This vision includes costal ecosystems such as mangroves and seagrass meadows. In inland areas, Fiji wants to promote agroforestry to reduce erosion, and increase soil fertility and biodiversity.
NPC investment in Kenya is intended to support sustainable forest management and water towers protection and restoration, notably in the Mt Elgon and Cherangany areas. Kenya pledged to harness the power of nature to build the resilience of local communities. This includes the Rendile, Turkana, Samburu and Borana peoples, who are being severely impacted by climate change.
Finally, as described above, Africa’s Zambezi River Basin Region (Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, and Tanzania) presented a joint vision to preserve the environmental integrity of the larger Zambezi basin. The objective is to maintain valuable ecosystem services that support food security and economic development and build resilience to climate change. For example, 20,000 farmers will be trained in conservation agriculture and 30,000 hectares of wetlands preserved.
55 developing countries spanning six continents and representing over two billion people submitted Expressions of Interest to participate in NPC, demonstrating the urgency of addressing the destruction of nature and the outsized carbon footprint of unsustainable land use. The CIF governing board made the final decision announced at COP27 following a comprehensive process, informed by independent experts. The next step is for the selected countries to prepare investment plans in collaboration with partner multilateral development banks.
