The Namibia country programme aims to achieve climate-resilient action that is gender equitable, socially inclusive, and decentralised across all levels in Namibia. In addition, the programme aims to improve access to climate finance for locally-led adaptation, in a gender-inclusive and socially equitable way, and improve the amplification and impact of the voices of Namibian academics and early career professionals as they contribute towards climate change policy and global scientific data that forms the foundational basis for climate action in Africa.  

Context

Climate change in Namibia is highly centralised, and the Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism is the leading institution that holds the climate change mandate at the national level. A National Climate Change Committee, now called the National Committee on the Rio Convention, was established to coordinate climate change, biodiversity, and sustainable land management issues. However, this was not decentralised to lower government levels. On the other hand, disaster risk management, under the Office of the Prime Minister, is concentrated at the local level.

Building on the success of the Namibia knowledge basis project - a three-year (2019-2022) project under CDKN phase two, the CDKN3 Namibia programme, in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) and the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), is working to sensitise national and sub-national level governments to mainstream and integrate climate change adaptation into existing Disaster Risk Management Committees at the local government level, which have been set up across all 14 regions of Namibia. 

The CDKN country programme also works with various line ministries and offices to strengthen vertical and horizontal coordination of climate change. Technical staff at national and regional levels are being sensitised to take gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) into their planning and implementation action. Rural communities - especially youth, women, and marginalised groups - will be capacitated to access appropriate and equitable finance for climate-resilient development that supports locally-led and ecosystem-based solutions. 

Project objectives

CDKN Namibia’s main objectives are to:

1. Strengthen capacity on climate change literacy at national and sub-national levels for climate change mainstreaming in programmes and projects, as well as advocacy for climate justice while enhancing gender equity and social inclusion in decision-making; 
2. Strengthen the capacity of Omaheke, Kavango West, and Omusati Regional Council and selected constituencies to incorporate GESI, EbA, and climate finance for locally-led adaptation into policy and practices for climate-resilient development; and
3. Finalise the institutionalisation, decentralisation, and mainstreaming of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in all regions through the Regional Councils and selected constituencies - a collaboration between the CDKN Namibia team at the University of Namibia (UNAM), the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) and the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM). 

Project activities

The objectives will be achieved through the key activities and approaches below: 

Awareness and sensitisation 

• Creating awareness and building the capacity of  Regional Councils on climate change policy (international to national levels), the climate finance landscape, and vulnerability hotspots in their respective regions.
• Raising awareness and understanding of the implications of 1.5 and 2.0 degrees global warming for Namibia and the geographic regions in Namibia as a form of advocacy building to accelerate climate action.

CCA and DRR integration 

• Presenting the existing National Strategy for Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation into Development Planning in Namibia 2017-2021 (currently under review) and providing inputs into  how an integrated DRR and CCA Committee will look for the regions (getting insight and opinions from Regional Councils). 

CCA capacity strengthening 

• Training Regional Councils on what a climate resilient development pathway is and construct through visualisation (climate resilient rural development for selected constituencies by the year 2035). 
• Carrying out stakeholder mapping in the region to understand potential partners, collaborators, and sources of funders or collaborators that Regional Councils could partner with for climate change adaptation. 
• Undertaking a Vulnerability Risk Assessment (VRA) to understand the key issues, and climatic and non-climatic risks faced in the region and identify the most vulnerable social groups. This is important to help Regional Councils in prioritising their efforts to reduce key risks and enhance the climate resilience of communities in a socially-differentiated manner.
• Developing GESI games suitable for the Namibian context (using Ethiopia GESI game examples) to enhance GESI integration into planning and climate change programming in Namibia.
• Assessing the level of female/women livestock farmers in three regional councils to understand their opportunities and challenges as livestock farmers in a changing environment while  exploring the EbA linkages to livestock farming.

Climate finance training for LLA

• Training of trainers on accessing finance and proposal writing at national and subnational levels, targeting youth, women, and marginalised groups.

Amplifying the voices of African researchers within the climate change space in Namibia