Climate change is unavoidable
Mmegi Editor | Wednesday October 21, 2015 15:36
As Batswana look to the sky for the much needed rains, they are greeted by dry heat and winds, with no sign of moisture. This is a very sad reality, which is expected to worsen especially in southern Botswana as authorities brace for driest season ever in 34 years.
Climate change is here and it is unavoidable.
It is, however, highly commendable that Botswana is among the few on the African continent confronting this challenge head on. Botswana has committed to reducing its greenhouse emissions and adopting various interventions that may require at least $18.4 billion over the years.
It is critical that efforts to educate the public on this ‘new normal’ must be accelerated, given the threat climate change poses to all aspects of our way of life.
As much as the HIV and AIDS epidemic was tackled through effective engagement of the public through mediums such as radio and through avenues such as the schools, the same ought to be extended to climate change.
Unfortunately, climate change is still regarded as a foreign subject seen once in a while on television and far removed from our own reality. The reduction of greenhouse emissions is a problem for the industrialised countries, which actually produce more of this deadly gas than anyone else, the logic goes.
In fact, Botswana and Africa cannot afford to slumber. Experts are agreed that Africa will be hardest hit by climate change, regardless of the fact that it produces less of the harmful gases partly behind climate change.
Already, this is evident in Botswana where we are witnessing back-to-back droughts, crop and livestock losses, drying up of dams and the consequent impact on poverty levels and development.
Public awareness campaigns must be rolled out to explain what this climate change animal is, how it is a concern to every citizen and what can be done individually and collectively to help minimise its impact. Messages must be tailored to reach every segment of the population – from pastoralists, to arable farmers, herd men, urban dwellers, city planners and others. It is critical that these are packaged in all the languages spoken in this country and that the jargon is simplified.
Somewhere in this country a farmer is busy working the land using farming techniques and seeds that run counter to climate change, while elsewhere a worker has not been able to go to work as their taps have run dry.
Policymakers, parliamentarians and community leaders have a responsibility of taking this new challenge by the horns and leading Batswana through it with unity of spirit and purpose.
Today’s thought
“For the SADC region in particular, adaptation remains first and foremost a development and poverty alleviation concern.”
- President Ian Khama