Mozambique is one of Africa’s most vulnerable countries to climate change. Located on the south-eastern coast of the continent, it is exposed to a number of extreme weather events including droughts, floods and tropical cyclones. In 2000, the country was hit by four cyclones. One of these, Cyclone Eline-Leon, was responsible for severe damage and the deaths of many people. Mozambique has a long coastline of about 2700 km, with more than 60% of its population of 22 million living in coastal areas, exposing large numbers of people to sea-level rise and climate extremes. The country’s economy is largely dependent on agriculture, and for most of its people, fishing and rain-fed farming forms an important part of their livelihood. Destruction to crops from extreme weather and falls in agricultural productivity and drought threaten the health and economic stability of many Mozambicans.

Climate change is expected to lead to greater variability in rainfall and more frequent and intense extreme weather, as well as sea-level rise and temperature increases of up to 3°C (INGC, 2009).

Mozambique Climate Change and Development (CCD) Combined Work Programme

The Government of Mozambique is making strides to enhance its climate change response framework. The Ministry for Coordination of Environment Affairs (MICOA) is developing a national climate change strategy. In June 2011, MICOA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with OneWorld Sustainable Investments to support the Government of Mozambique on climate change and development responses. Building on this work, CDKN and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in collaboration with OneWorld-implemented Regional Climate Change Programme (RCCP) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID), developed a joint and coordinated approach to support the Government in responding to the country's specific climate change needs. The RCCP collaborated with MICOA to improve the capacity of the Government's multi-sectoral climate change team including developing the expertise required to identify and formulate Project Idea Notes (PINs) targeted at accessing funding from the Adaptation Fund. This coordinated response has resulted in the Mozambique Climate Change and Development (CCD) Combined Work Programme.

CDKN supported three of the six streams of work under the full CCD Combined Work Programme:

• A health, climate change and disaster risk assessment undertaken by Kulima Integrated Development Solutions, drawing on work done in 2009 by the National Institute for Disaster Management (INGC) on health vulnerabilities. This assessment further enhanced understanding of the health impacts of climate change in the country to integrate climate change into public health policy and Mozambique’s disaster risk reduction strategy.

• The registration of FUNAB, Mozambique’s environment fund, as a National Implementing Entity (NIE) under the Adaptation Fund of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Attaining NIE accreditation opens access to adaptation project finance. It serves as a first step toward the project development and management capacity required to meet the strict fiduciary standards for Mozambique to access broader climate finance opportunities. CDKN’s assistance formed part of the joint UNDP/UNEP NIE Support Programme and built on an initial assessment by the UNDP/UNEP team of the main areas where policies, procedures and systems need to be put in place to meet the criteria of the Adaptation Fund.

• Capacity building and awareness raising of the Disaster Risk Reduction strategy being funded. This work provided an actionable, concise strategy document on Mozambique’s response to climate change in order to raise awareness amongst key stakeholders. The document emphasised the importance of natural disaster risk reduction; proposing a clear delineation of stakeholder’s roles and serving as a contribution to the overall national strategy for responding to climate change.

CDKN funding: £180,000

Resources:

• Final Report: Climate Change Health, Agriculture and Disaster Analysis in Mozambique, Kulima Integrated Development Solutions

Image courtesy of USAID Southern Africa.