BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)—President Peter Mutharika has asked for a concerted effort between various stakeholders in order to effectively address the long standing negative effects of climate change.
Mutharika made the request during the commemorations of the world environment day in Lilongwe on June 6 at the Bingu International Conference Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe where he presided over the 2016 commemorations of World Environment Day (WED).
Malawi is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change and this has affected agriculture production which is the backbone of the country
The impacts of climate change in Malawi are being manifested in various ways such as intense rainfall, changing rainfall patterns, floods, droughts and prolonged dry spells.
Apart from such natural disasters wild life has also been affected with animals such as Elephants and Rhinos being poached to supply an illegal ivory market in Asia.
Mutharika underscored the need for collective efforts in the fight against environmental degradation.
“Issues of climate change have now become central to all our development plans in view of adverse effects brought by the same on livelihoods.
“As a nation, memories of what adverse climate change and environmental degradation can do to human beings are still fresh: during the past two raining seasons, we have lost people and property including thousands of hectarage of would-be agricultural produce due to destructive rains and floods,” he explained.
“Malawi subscribes to all global development and climate change charters we cannot promote sustainable development unless we address its environmental dimensions.
“Everyone of us must get involved in managing the environment so that we reverse all effects of climate change that have affected us mostly through natural disasters and drought among others,” he added.
During the function, the President also launched the Ecosystem Based Adaptation for Food Security Assembly (EBAFOSA) and the National Climate Change Week.
According to the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining, the EBAFOSA is aimed at combating food insecurity, climate change, ecosystems degradation and poverty in Africa.
The theme for this year’s commemoration is “Zero Tolerance for the Illegal Wildlife Trade”.
WED is one of the greatest annual events celebrated across the globe on 5th June. The objective of the event is to raise awareness about the leading issue of the sustainability of the environment.
It was initiated in 1973 by the United Nations General Assembly and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to address colossal issues like global warming, deforestation and food shortages among many others.