THE Vice- President Dr Philip Mpango has made an appeal to nations to ensure climate change adaptation and mitigation issues are adequately mainstreamed in their development plans, especially those targeting sectors most vulnerable to the problem, such as agriculture, water and energy.
He, however, called for regional and global partnerships as key pillars in finding solutions to the global challenge.
Dr Mpango issued the call during the onset of the High-level Thematic Round Table Two: Leveraging the power of science, technology and innovation for the sustainable development of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Doha, Qatar yesterday.
The meeting is part of the fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5), which kicked off on last Sunday.
"Let us collectively invest in appropriate innovative technologies to address climate change and associated challenges towards a better future," said Dr Mpango noting that Tanzania welcomes strong partnerships in key priority areas in dealing with climate change impacts.
Outlining the priority areas, the VP underscored issues including solar and wind energy, waste management disposal and green technologies.
Like many other LDCs, he revealed that Tanzania is already affected by climate change and variabilities, with extreme events such as droughts and floods, unpredictable rainfall patterns, rising sea level and sinking islands resulting in food insecurity, water and social conflicts, disruption of livelihoods and major economic costs.
"Tanzania is estimated to have recorded economic losses to the tune of 33.7 million US dollars (about 77bn/-) due to adverse effects of climate change over the past ten-years due to floods," he noted.
In mitigating the problem, the VP said the country has developed a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and the National Environmental Master Plan for Strategic Interventions (NEMSI), 2022-2032, which charts out strategic interventions to address environmental challenges based on their spatial variation.
In line to this, priority actions and specific areas for interventions regarding climate change adaptation and mitigation have been identified.
Such include country wide tree planting, use of clean cooking energy, building small and medium sized dams to store rainwater for use during the year, and construction of seawalls for protection of the coastline from erosion.
"I hereby call upon our development partners for enhanced support to LDCs in climate financing," the VP said.
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Meanwhile, Dr Mpango met and held talks with the President of Slovenia Natasa Pirc Musar on the sidelines of the meeting.
The two leaders deliberated on issues of cooperation in development sectors and environmental conservation.
In response, Slovenia President Musar welcomed Tanzania to collaborate with them in seeking environmentally friendly technology, an area which is being prioritised by the country.
The meeting was also attended by the Finance and Planning Minister Dr Mwigulu Nchemba, Zanzibar Minister for Finance and Planning, Dr Saada Mkuya Salum, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Mbarouk Nasser Mbarouk and Tanzania's Permanent Representative in United Nations (New York) Dr Suleiman Haji Suleiman.
Besides, in the previous meeting held on Monday, Dr Mpango requested the Green Climate Fund (GFC) to consider working with Tanzania on capacity building including development of fundable proposals.
He indicated that Tanzania has also begun work on carbon trade in some of the districts, indicating a huge knowledge gap.
However, they have tried to develop guidelines at the ministry's level on how local authorities should engage on the matter, indicating that it will be useful to get more advice on minds that are more familiar in the crucial area.
