Mozambique prepares to the global Climate negotiations COP17/CMP7 in Durban

Mozambique prepares to the global Climate

Maputo, December 2011 - The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, gathers environment ministers and negotiators from 195 countries from 28 November to 9 December. The Kyoto protocol,the world’s only binding climate agreement, expires at the end of 2012, and talks in Copenhagen and Cancún in the past two years have failed to replace or renew it.
Besides taking a national position at the negotiations, Mozambique also participates as a member of two negotiating blocks, the Africa Group and the G77 plus China. As a region, Africa is the least responsible for climate change but will be the most affected. Africa has been speaking with one voice but is struggling to be heard. In the negotiations, the African Position is:

Global warming should be kept below a 1.5 degrees temperature increase by the end of the century – which is almost impossible now given the current trends in emissions;
Developed and emerging countries (China, India, Brazil, etc.) agree to massively reduce their emissions;
The international community should help Africa to adapt to the impact of climate change because its economies are fragile, like the agriculture which is often rain-fed.

Global warming and climate change are threats to the sustainable socio-economic development of Mozambique. The increased climate variability, leading to floods and recurring drought and desertification have contributed to making Mozambique one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. Agricultural production, food security, health, fishing and tourism are all vulnerable. The projected rise in sea levels due to global warming could submerge some of the coastal lands and affect our entire marine industry and the coastal economy.

Mozambique a minor producer of greenhouse gases

As the national production of greenhouse gases is minor, Mozambique places more emphasis on adaptation to climate change rather than mitigation. The emissions per citizen is only 0,09 tonnes of CO2, the world average being 4,39 tonnes per citizen. The table below provides a comparison of Mozambique’s CO2 emissions with some countries in the SADC and other key selected countries.

Country	CO₂ emissions (Mt of CO₂ )[1]	CO₂ /population (t CO₂ /capita)	CO₂ / GDP (kg CO2 / 2000USD)
Country	How much is the contribution to global emissions?	How much each citizen is emitting?	How efficient is the carbon-economy?
Mozambique	1.93	0.09	0.24
Angola	10.56	0.59	0.43
Botswana	4.52	2.37	0.53
South Africa	337.42	6.93	1.84
Brazil	364.61	1.90	0.43
China	6550	4.92	2.30
Zimbabwe	8.78	0.70	1.86
Zambia	1.59	0.13	0.33
Africa	890	0.90	1.02
World	29381	4.39	0.73

Table 1: Key energy indicators of selected countries. Source: National position of the republic of Mozambique at the UNCCF 28.11.-9.12.2011. In www.iea.org/books - Key World Energy Statistics 2010

To effectively defend the Mozambican position, UNDP assisted in the preparations the Government, civil society, private sector and the media

The delegation of Mozambique has the challenge at the negotiations of advocating for both growth and development on the one hand, and mitigation and adaptation to climate change on the other. UNDP helped Mozambique in the preparations by providing technical support to the Ministry for Coordination of Environmental Affairs (MICOA) to develop the Mozambican position at the Climate Change negotiations, as well as by training the meeting participants on negotiation skills and the media on its role. The Mozambican position was developed by 26 participants from Government Ministries, the academia, international partners and NGOs.

Members of Government

Members of Government and CSOs preparing the Mozambique position for COP 17.

The activities related to the Climate Change negotiations are part of UNDP's Africa Adaptation Programme. Mozambique is one of the first African countries to launch the climate change adaptation programme. The focus is capacity building for beneficiaries from government, development partners,including NGOs, industry, students, civil society and communities. The two main national implementing partners are the National Disaster Management Institute (INGC) and the Ministry for Coordination of Environmental Affairs.