MaSP intensifies awareness on climate change conference of parties’ summit

In its bid to ensure that more Malawians follow deliberations at the forthcoming 26th United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), Malawi Scotland Partnership (MaSP) has embarked on a campaign to raise awareness about the summit.

Speaking at an awareness meeting held in Lilongwe on Tuesday, MaSP Project Coordinator, Hendricks Nkhata, said keen following of the summit by more Malawians, through established hubs and platforms, would bring more domestic understanding of the resolutions emanating from the summit.

He added that would help the country effectively fight the effects of climate change.

The Lilongwe meeting brought together scores of young people drawn from various youth groups and clubs, spread across the central region.

Nkhata described the meeting as crucial, saying “it enabled the participating young people to understand the priorities of the Government of Malawi to be presented at COP 26”.

“Awareness meetings such as these will empower people, especially the youths, with knowledge and skills to be able to help in implementation of resolutions that will emanate from COP 26. Already, young people here are demanding World leaders to provide more funds to work on recovering losses and damages occasioned by climate change impacts such as floods, droughts and heatwaves,” said Nkhata.

According to Nkhata, there will be similar awareness meetings in the northern and southern regions.

Postponed last year due to the outbreak of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, COP 26 will be hosted by the United Kingdom (UK) at the Scottish Events Campus in Glasgow from 1-12 November, 2021.

Thousands of delegates and scores of world leaders, including Queen Elizabeth 2, will attend the conference, which, among other important things, seeks to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The summit is also set to demonstrate the urgency and the opportunities of the pathway towards a zero carbon economy and a green and resilient recovery that promotes sustainable growth.

National Coordinator for National Youth Network on Climate Change, Dominic Nyasulu, concurred with Nkhata, adding that the awareness meetings “present the opportunity to young people to demand why COP26 is important and why urgent and ambitious outcomes are needed from this summit”.

“The climate change issues highlighted in Malawi’s position paper and globally, are very crucial. We need long-term implementation of these issues, with a greater involvement of young people. For instance, on climate financing: what are the locally generated mechanisms in place? What about global level? Countries made commitments. We need to ensure that our leaders fullfil these commitments,” said Nyasulu, who was a facilitator at Tuesday’s meeting.

A participant, Joanne Chigwenembe, who is a program associate for Youth Civil Engagement at National Youth Council of Malawi and an alumni for MaSP climate change young leaders project, said social media is another tool that could be used to raise more youth awareness about the forthcoming COP26.

Some of Malawi’s selected thematic areas as its priorities to be advanced at the COP26, are;

Finance- predictability, accessibility, adequacy, based on science and on developing countries-needs.

Adaptation -provision of support, public money that is grant-based is Malawi’s preference.

Agriculture – provision of support, move the agenda item into implementation by agreeing to modalities on how to address the outcome from the workshop reports.

Mitigation – flexibilities of developing countries in preparing, and updating their NDCs.

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