BUJUMBURA, August 9th (ABP) – The Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock, Mr. Emmanuel Ndorimana, opened on Wednesday, August 7, 2024, a two-day meeting of all stakeholders in the environmental field to discuss the modalities of mobilizing funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
On that occasion, Mr. Ndorimana first specified that Burundi, like all countries in the world, is facing the harmful effects of climate change. He indicated that the phenomenon of climate change is mainly manifested by episodes of drought that alternate with abnormally rainy episodes, the consequences of which are dramatic for the populations and for the country’s economy.
According to him, floods, landslides, delays or more or less long absences of rainfall, strong winds and other extreme weather phenomena have a significant impact on agricultural production, infrastructure such as roads, dams, buildings and the health of populations, through the proliferation of diseases especially from dirty hands in the event of floods. This situation is aggravated by increased overexploitation of natural resources due to a high population and the nature and topography of the country that expose it to significant environmental degradation, he said. Mr. Ndorimana also said that Burundi has not remained idle regarding this situation. It has equipped itself with strategic planning tools for the environmental sector, namely the 2012 National Climate Change Policy, its implementation strategy and its action plan; the National Water Policy and its implementation strategy; the national strategy on biodiversity and its action plan as well as the nationally determined contribution (NDC).
These strategic planning documents, he continued to say, continue to guide action on the environment through various projects and programmes including the Ewe Burundi Urambaye programme, the Soleil Nyakiriza project which aims to mitigate the effects of greenhouse gases through the promotion of renewable energies as well as the umuco w’iterambere project.
He also specified that this meeting constitutes a privileged space to collect useful information to enable Burundi to mobilize funding from the Global Environment Facility. For the said fund, Burundi’s star allocation is $10.89 million, to cover projects relating to biological diversity, climate change mitigation and land degradation. Added to this is the $20 million to cover climate change adaptation projects, Mr. Ndorimana explained.
For his part, the regional coordinator of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) for Africa, Mr. Ibrahim Sow, explained that the GEF is an independent organization that provides private grants and financing to cover the additional costs of transforming development projects into investments, generating global environmental benefits for African countries.
Thus, he recalled, created in 1991, the GEF brings together 183 member states in partnership with international institutions, non-governmental organizations and the private sector. This fund finances projects related to biodiversity, the fight against the effects of climate change, land degradation and waste and chemicals, he said.