Higher adaptive capacity leads to lower vulnerability to climate Change-Experts
By Elias Hakizimana.
Shravya Reddy an environment expert from Pegasys, has recently said that higher adaptive capacity ensures lower vulnerability to climate change stressing that ability to respond to climate change will be very high.
The expert was speaking through her presentation on Climate Resilience and Adaptation during the training on climate resilience and adaptation hosted by the Rwanda Green Fund (FONERWA).
The training was led by Pegasys and was organised thanks to financing provided by the World Bank in support of the country’s Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience and brought together experts in planning, monitoring and evaluation, agriculture and natural resources to gain a deeper understanding of Rwanda’s Strategic Programme for Climate Resilience.
The workshop focused on how to integrate climate resilience into different sectors. It introduced overview of the Strategic Programme for Climate Resilience, specific investment programmes and the country’s Green Growth and Climate Resilient Strategy.
Participants also looked at investment programmes related to water security, climate resilient human settlements and stable and sustainable landscapes.
They looked at major climate change impacts in Rwanda and East Africa and got the chance to ask and provide suggestions on how climate change in Rwanda can be addressed.
The workshop was marked by an engaging session on “Best Practice in Climate Change Resilience” where participants learnt about what makes a programme best practice.
Shravya emphasised on learning from global and regional best practices, including from Malawi, Kenya and Mozambique: “Your best practice should be determined by identifying your vulnerability and your adaptive capacity,” she said, sharing that one of Rwanda’s best practice was creating a warehouse for harvests which has since been adopted by Kenya.
At the training, participants discussed the national policy and strategy landscape on climate resilience in Rwanda with a focus on the Green Growth and Climate Resilience Strategy. Breaking into small groups, participants also talked about high priority climate adaptation actions in Rwanda that can reduce climate vulnerability and also support sectoral policies.
They then presented their suggestions around the following main sectors,Infrastructure including urban settlements and cities housing and transport, Agriculture, forestry and fisheries,Water supply storage, reticulation and sanitation and Rural settlements, human health and safety disaster risk reduction
The training also covered the Strategic Programme for Climate Resilience Gaps and Needs Assessment as well as climate finance where participants looked at the criteria to access Green Climate Fund support. They also learned about the project preparation cycle, which was presented by Nura Suleiman from Pegasys.
The two-day long training concluded with recognition of the efforts made by trainors, participants and the fund to make the workshop productive.
“Our thank to the Rwanda Green Fund for an educative and comprehensive workshop and our trainers and my colleagues who made this learning beneficial,” said Charles Uwiragiye, a representative of participants and Executive Director of the Culture Conservation Act.
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