Is Climate Change real?

The twenty-second session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 22), the twelfth session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 12), and the first session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA 1) were held in Bab Ighli, Marrakech, Morocco from 7-18 November 2016. Zambia was represented at the conference by President Edgar Lungu. During the Conference, President Lungu reaffirmed Zambia’s commitment to take action on climate change. The President said Climate Change has the potential to reverse developmental gains made by the country in the recent years.

 However, despite the international scientific community's consensus on climate change, some critics continue to deny that climate change exists or that it is a hoax caused by humans. Although some level of debate is useful in looking at the issue of climate change, society must eventually move on and actually address this global phenomenon. As one author puts it “to do nothing about the problem of climate change is akin to letting a fire burn down a building because the precise temperature of the flames is unknown.”

Zambia has not been spared from the effects of climate change. For instance, despite having abundant surface water resources, reduced rainfall has caused reduced water levels in major water bodies in the country. Moreover, population increases in urban areas have also put pressure on groundwater through mismanagement of this scarce resource. The hydro-electric power generation has also been negatively affected by the droughts and floods. Drought has had devastating effect on the hydropower generation in Zambia which has significantly led to economic reduction in the power generation hence causing power rationing as the country depends largely on hydropower. The resultant effect has been the loss of productivity in critical sectors of the economy such as mining, manufacturing and agriculture.

 In the agriculture sector, reduced productivity and perennial food shortages are some of the effects of climate change. Particularly crops and livestock production are affected by increasing temperatures, changing rainfall patterns and more frequent and intense extreme weather conditions.

In terms of human health, studies have indicated that the vulnerability assessment shows that the entire country is at risk to a multitude of other climate-sensitive diseases such as dysentery, cholera, respiratory infections and malnutrition. These diseases are more pronounced in the provinces that are most vulnerable to climate.

What is the Paris Agreement on climate change all about? The Paris Agreement builds upon the Convention and for the first time, brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, with enhanced support to assist developing countries to do so. As such, it charts a new course in the global climate change effort. The Paris Agreement’s central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Additionally, the agreement aims to strengthen the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change.

Zambia signed the Paris Agreement on climate change on 20^th September, 2016 when President Edgar Lungu appended his signature to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change during the Treaty Event at the High-Level Segment of the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. This renewed the country’s commitment and resolves to take action on the ground that can put the country on a path to sustainable development. This therefore, means that Zambia has ratified the Paris Agreement on climate change and only awaits necessary measures to ratify the agreement to the United Nations.

Therefore, the formulation of a national policy on climate change will be another important milestone for the country in mitigating the impact of climate change. It is however, worth noting that Zambia is in the process of adopting a comprehensive National Policy on Climate Change which has been formulated and only awaits Cabinet approval. The goal of this policy is to support and facilitate a coordinated response to climate change in the country. It is aimed at enabling the country re-align its climate sensitive sectors of the economy and its society in order to meet its developmental goals through adaptation and mitigation interventions.

 Although the Paris agreement will always be paper commitment by countries, Zambia will have to do much more to reduce the impacts of climate change on the ecosystem, food security, environment and economic production. The solution to climate change therefore, is to help reduce carbon pollution and make renewable energy like wind and solar power more affordable. Other measures will include sustainable management of forests and strengthening early warning systems. All these efforts will require substantial financial commitment by government and other cooperating partners including the mainstreaming of information provision and access to all stakeholders to meet the Paris Agreement on climate change.