VP: Climate change needs gender-responsive action
ARUSHA: VICE-PRESIDENT Dr Philip Mpango has underscored the crucial link between climate change and gender inequality, advocating for comprehensive, gender-responsive climate action.
Dr Mpango emphasised that a holistic approach is vital to overcoming obstacles in designing, implementing and monitoring effective climate strategies.
Addressing the Climate Forum and the 35th Meeting of the Standing Committee on Finance (SCF) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Arusha yesterday, the vicepresident highlighted the severe impacts of climate change on ecosystems, food security, health systems and social structures, with a particular focus on vulnerable groups such as women, youths and children.
Tanzania, like many other nations, faces significant climate-related challenges, including floods, droughts, invasive plant species, rising sea levels and landslides.
Dr Mpango acknowledged the importance of the meeting in mobilising finance to tackle these challenges and affirmed Tanzania’s commitment to gender-responsive climate financing. He noted that Tanzania is integrating gender-responsive climate financing into its national Budget Act.
Local Government Authorities are mandated to allocate 10 per cent of their own-source revenue to support women, youths and people with disabilities in enhancing their livelihoods and adapting to climate change.
Since its inception at COP 16 in Cancun, the Standing Committee on Finance has been pivotal in supporting countries with financial aspects of the Paris Agreement and the UNFCCC.
The Committee has improved coherence in climate finance delivery, mobilised financial resources and provided oversight for developing nations. Dr Mpango commended the committee for choosing the theme “Accelerating Climate Action and Resilience through Gender-Responsive Financing” and for holding the forum in Tanzania.
He stressed that the ongoing Standing Committee meeting in Arusha is a significant step in advising the upcoming COP 29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, on crucial climate finance issues.
The vice-president also pointed out that the 2024 Forum is the first mandated event on gender-responsive climate finance, following a COP 25 call for both public and private sectors to enhance the genderresponsiveness of their climate finance initiatives.
The 35th Meeting of the Standing Committee on Finance is expected to produce critical technical papers that will inform decisions at COP 29, including reports on climate finance flows, progress towards the USD 100 billion climate finance target and the needs of developing countries.
Dr Mpango outlined Tanzania’s climate initiatives, highlighting President Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan’s leadership in clean cooking solutions across Africa.
Through Tanzania’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), the country aims to ensure 100 per cent access to clean and safe water in both urban and rural areas by 2030.
Tanzania is also working to increase access to clean cooking technologies from the current 7 per cent to 80 per cent by 2034. He urged that clean cooking be prioritised at COP 29, noting that the Africa Women Clean Cooking Support Programme (AWCCSP), led by President Samia Suluhu Hassan, aims to reduce the reliance on charcoal and firewood, particularly benefiting women and girls.
Minister for Finance Dr Mwigulu Nchemba emphasised the combined internal and external shocks the world faces, including climate change, adaptation and resilience challenges.
He underlined Tanzania’s successful navigation of some external shocks, including maintaining stability in key macroeconomic indicators, with an inflation rate between 3 and 5 per cent, in line with targets set by the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Dr Mwigulu stressed the need for collective responsibility in addressing climate change and the crucial role of resource mobilisation for effective mitigation and adaptation.
He reaffirmed that climate change remains a top global priority in international forums due to its widespread impact.
The Minister of State in the Vice-President’s Office (Union and Environment) Dr Ashatu Kijaji acknowledged Tanzania’s vulnerability to climate change and highlighted ongoing mitigation projects.
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Water and Environment Chairman Jackson Kiswaga emphasised the forum’s importance and expressed hope for sustainable solutions to combat climate change. He pointed out the alarming rate of deforestation in Africa, with 400 million hectares of forests destroyed annually and Tanzania losing 465,000 hectares each year.
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He called for urgent access to climate change funds to address these challenges. Representatives from the UNFCCC Secretariat, Diana Layne and Apolonia Miola stressed that without adequate climate financing many communities risk being left behind in the global fight against climate change.
They called for an inclusive approach to ensure that all communities benefit from climate action and adaptation efforts.
