Experts in climate change from the Least Developed Anglophone Countries in Africa gathered in Kigali this week for a five-day workshop to discuss climate change adaptation on the continent.

The workshop intends to let countriesshare expertiseand look at how to alleviate climate change, a phenomenon that will disproportionately affect African countries more than many others.

According to Stanislas Kamanzi, Minister of Natural Resources, adaptation to climate change is imperative, and is a hindranceto the economic development of countries in the region. The least developed countries still lack the capacity to find solutions, but with their agriculturally driven economies and often tropical, they will also be the hardest hit by climate change.

Generally, a lack of commitment among leaders has made Africa one the slowest regions to address climate change. "There is still poor participation from the states," Kamanzi lamented, before clarifying Rwanda as the exception.

Rwanda has undertaken measures including planting trees, preserving forests, and reforming agricultural practices to make them more environmentally friendly.

Kamanzi also pointed out the government'snewNational Climate and Environment Fund (FONERWA), a toolfor enhancing projects that support national sustainable development goals.

Richard Muyungi, the chairman of scientific and technological advice of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), saidcountries need to mainstream climate change mitigation in planning processes and government agendas in order to avoid serious consequences for their most impoverished citizens.

But environmentalism does not have to be anti-industrialization. Muyungi argued that Africans need to industrialize sustainably. "No country has developed itself without industrialization. We need to use the industry in a much more efficient way. Industrialization is the history of our development we don't need to stop it. There is a need of efficiency in technology," he added.

Ben Yassin, Malawi's Chief Environmental Officer, believes that African countries need to take both short-and long-term actions against climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He stressed that industrialization projects require intensive assessment to make sure that they will not impact negatively on the environment. "When you are planning, you have to include issues of climate change, adaptation, mitigation, in manner that prevent what we are using from disappearing for the future generation," he noted.

Dr. Rose Mukankomeje, Director General of Rwanda Environmental Management Authority (REMA), called upon experts to use their skills for a transformation in the approach to climate change. She criticized African countries of simply copying developed countries instead of implementing their own strategies.

Mukonkomeje stated that Africa should work independently on their issues rather than waiting for help from the United Nations. "Our states need to handle their problems independently without being helped by the United Nations Development Program."