Journalists were addressed on Monday in Gaborone by the head of EU delegation Alexander Baum, with French Ambassador Anne de la Blanche, Oliver Richard (British High Commission) and the German official Joachim Schmitt.
“The Climate Change Protocol, which will be decided in Paris will be the first climate change agreement to be applicable to all countries worldwide. The Kyoto Protocol, which was adopted in 1997 and entered into force in 2005, already was a first step towards limiting GHG emissions on a more global scale,” said Baum. He added that global warming is a challenge facing the entire globe irrespective of who is contributing how much greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. He said the gases are produced by humans through activities such as transportation, building, deforestation, manufacturing, fertiliser use as well as burning fuel. He explained that whilst Botswana may not be producing significant amount of the gases, deforestation has been identified as the main contributor. He cautioned that climate change can lead to food insecurity, water scarcity and can result in spread of diseases such as Malaria. “Scientific evidence suggests that an average world temperature rise of more than 2 degree Celcius above pre-industrial level will greatly increase large scale, irreversible changes in the global environment. In this regard, climate change is a global issue that requires coordinated efforts at the international level,” he said.
