MINUTES OF THE 8TH NATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING HELD AT
BINGU CONFERENCE CENTER, LILONGWE, ON 09TH APRIL, 2014.
1.0
Members Present
NAME
WeziKayira
DESIGNATION ORG.
PS
OPC
CELL. NO.
0999945892
FAX NO.
-
EMAIL ADDRESS
wezikayira@yahoo.co.uk
Jan Rijpma
ARR
UNDP
-
-
ian.rijpma@undp.org
Carol FloreSmoreczniah
ARRCPD
UNDP
-
-
carol.flore@undp.org
Ben Botolo
PS
EP&D
0999566944
-
bbetolo2000@yahoo.com
A.M. Kamperewera
Director
EAD
0888869446
-
kamphatso1@gmail.com
Y.M. Ntupanyama
PS
MECCM
0993839037
-
yntupanyama@yahoo.co.uk
S. Najira
CEO
EAD
0999895000
-
shamiso_b@yahoo.com
YonaKamphalle
Director
EP&D
0888893405
-
ykamphale@yahoo.com
J. Nkhokwe
Director
MET
0999911314
01822215
j.nkhokwe@yahoo.com
M.B. Kanjaye
Director
MoWDI
0888853188
01773737
Modesta.banda@gmail.com
C.Yonasi
EI
EAD
0888010627
-
cyonasi@gmail.com
M. Mmangisa
Project Manager
EP&D
0111926502
-
Michael.mmangisa@undp.org
MoxWestman
Regional Adviser
UNEP
09705652822
-
Mox.westman@undp.org
Charity M. Gambatula
Economist
MEPD
0993139604
-
Charity01mphatso@gmail.com
SiphoBilliat
Principal
MEPD
2991382843
01788247
siphobilliat@yahoo.com
ThokozaniKapiza
Economist
Principal Mgt
Officer
Admin. Officer
RamoshJiah
Deputy Director
DNPW
0888834220
-
jiahutonga@gmail.com
YoingSamanyika
Chief EH Officer
MoH
0999557170
-
y_samanyika@yahoo.com
Vida Kisyombe
Agric. Officer
AFOB
0882419035
-
v.kisyombe@atdb.org
Sarah McIvor
Program Analyst
UNDP
0994736277
-
Sarah.mcivor@undp.org
Jodie Vanyo
EI
MoECCM
0993164143
-
jvanyo@utexas.ldy
John Kerkering
USFS
0996542832
-
usfs.redd.malawi@gmail.com
SothiniNyirenda
Malawi REED
Advisor
Program Analyst
UNDP
0888773869
-
Sothini.nyirenda@undp.org
Etta Mmangisa
Program Analyst
UNDP
0999950717
01773637
Etta.mmangisa@undp.org
Francis Nkoka
fnkoka@worldbank.org
0991218971
anand.babu@undp.org
Benon Yassin
CEO
World
Bank
UNDP/
MEPD
EAD
0999484423
AnandBabu
DRM/CCA
Specialist
Advisor
0995416850
benyassin@gmail.com
Evans Njewa
PEO(P&P)
EAD
0888853245
njewae@yahoo.com
George Phiri
EAD
0995611748
-
George.phiri@fao.org
John Mussa
Tech.
Contribution
DCSRC
MoAFS
0888876161
-
mussajj@gmail.com
Hannah Kasongo
EO Environment
EAD
0999118262
-
hannahkasongo@yahoo.com
GolivatiGomani
EI
EAD
0999383651
-
ggomani87@yahoo.com
DumisaniMoyo
Program Analyst
UNDP
0881156262
-
Dumisani.moyo@undp.org
Emmanuel C. Mkomwa
EI
EAD
0999307090
-
nafemko@yahoo.co.uk
Davie Chilonga
Lands
0999264489
-
chilongadev@yahoo.com
Tourism
0999747037
-
thokokapiza@gmail.com
George Namasika
CCO
EAD
0888579557
-
georgenamasika@gmail.com
S. Gama
ADF
Forestry
0999441766
-
stallafunsani@gmail.com
WalusunguKayira
Chief Economist
MoLGRD
0999198913
-
wukayira@yahoo.co.uk
2.0
Opening Remarks
The meeting was chaired by the Principal Secretary for Ministry of Economic Planning and
Development, Mr. Ben Botolo. The Chairperson called the meeting to order at 08:40 a.m.
Participants made self introductions.
3.0
Adoption of agenda
The meeting adopted the agenda without any amendments as attached.
4.0
Confirmation of Previous Minutes and Matters arising
The minutes from the previous National Steering Committee on Climate Change (NSCCC)
meeting were confirmed with the following Observations;
 Some names were omitted on the attendance list and it was resolved that each member
should make sure that s/he writes his/her name on the attendance register.

There was late circulation of minutes and it was resolved that minutes for the NSCCC
meeting should be circulated after one week in order to give enough time for the
members to read and comment on the minutes.
On matters arising the following amendments were made:
 It was not possible to have the NSCCC meeting in November, 2013 as most members
were attending the Conference of Parties (CoP) in Warsaw.
 It was agreed that the next NSCCC meeting will be held in August 2014 and the third
meeting will be held between month-end of October or early November 2014 to let
members take some issues discussed during the meeting to the CoP.
 It was agreed thatEnvironment and Natural Resources Management Programme (ENRM),
National Climate Change Programme (NCCP), and the Poverty and Environment Initiative
(PEI) should have joint meetings since their activities overlap.
 It was also agreed that activities for the Climate Change Fund will commence after the
National Climate Change Investment Plan (NCCIP) launch on 25th April, 2014 at Sunbird
Capital Hotel Marquee.
 It was also agreed that communities should be involved in the dissemination of messages
through activities being implemented at National and District levels.
5.0
Updates on the National Climate Change Programme (NCCP)
 The meeting was informed that Malawi Environment and Endowment Trust (MEET)
succeeded as National Implementing Entity (NIE) for the Adaptation Fund under the
United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto
Protocol and for MEET to succeed the Terms of References (ToR) were advertised in the
papers and accreditation was done.
 The meeting was told that the Technical Committee (NTCCC) discussed the ToRs for the
institutions and approved them before the bids were evaluated.
 It was agreed that United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) will help in building
capacity for MEET before submission to the board.
 The presenter for NCCP was asked to number the slides and name the vernacular
languages (in the presentation) to be translated. The Ministry of Local Government and
Rural Development considered Chichewa and Tumbuka as the main vernacular
languages.
 On the production and dissemination of vulnerability maps it was agreed that there is
need for coordination between the Department of Disaster Management (DoDMA) and
the Department of Surveys since they are doing similar things.
 It was agreed that theSurveys Department should call for a stakeholders meeting to
ensure that there are no overlaps.
 UNDP would ensurethat the production of vulnerable maps is well coordinated.
 Based on the NCCP presentation it was concluded that there is a lot of initiatives that
have been made but there is little progress. Hence, Implementing Partners (IP) should
accelerate their activities.
 The meeting was informed that Climate Proofing has been submitted to the GEF and will
be rolled out this year.
 On the support for the development of a teacherresource book, the meeting was
informed that the activity started with the development of the curriculum for primary
schools.
 The meeting was informed that key messages on Climate Change have already been
integrated in the curriculum.
 The meeting was informed that Climate Change thematic areas have been included into
topicsthrough Domasi College of Education.
6.0
Updates on Environment and Natural Resources Management Programme (ENRM)
 The meeting was informed that the unfunded budget components are earmarked
activities whose implementing partner has not been identified yet.

The meeting was informed that the low delivery rate was a result of delays in opening an
operating account with the Reserve Bank of Malawi.
 It was agreed that there is a need to streamline activities and focus should only be given
to those activities whose funds have already been secured.
 It was agreed that the newly elected Members of Parliament were the ones to be
targeted for the sensitization meeting for Parliamentary Committee.

7.0
It was agreed that Councillors should also be targeted for the dissemination of messages
on ENRM.
Update on the Poverty and Environment Initiative (PEI)
 The chair acknowledged the high delivery and hard-working spirit among the PEI
Implementing Partners.
 The review of the Forestry Policy was reduced to priority areas.
 There was need to include the presentation on the PEI phase one closure in the folder so
that members can familiarise themselves with what is involved.
 The meeting was informed that PEI phase one was being closed so that the project can
move on to phase two.
 PEI phase two intends to use the same accounts that were used in phase one. The
Accountant General already gave a go-ahead for the reuse of the accounts.
 The meeting was informed that currently the accounts are being cleared and balanced
before the account can be used for the next phase.
8.0
Organization and Governance Structure of the NCCP
 The meeting agreed that Parliamentary Committee and Ministry of Environment and
Climate Change Management (MoECCM) should be linked by dotted line and this should
also apply to the GoM-Donor Working Group and NSCCC since they only provide advisory
and not executive roles.
 The meeting agreed that MoECCM should be directly linked to the Cabinet Committee as
an executive arm.
9.0
Update on REDD+
 A question was posed as to the necessity of standardizing national land cover and land
use (LULC) standards by the Government of Malawi. It was noted that the standardization
of LULC categories and definitions was critical to the REDD+ and other natural resource
management activities in the country. Without a standardized LULC scheme, Malawi has
no definition of a forest and without a definition of a forest there is no clear figure on the
amount of forest remaining in the country, the deforestation rate, and the transitions
between forest land and other land use types (e.g., agriculture, urban, etc.).
 Malawi will not be able to join the World Bank Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) as
the program’s grant mechanism has closed. Final country applications to the FCPF were
due by June 2013, a date by which the Malawi REDD+ Program was not able to submit a
full application. The Malawi REDD+ Program is presently investigating the possibility of
participating in FCPF as an “observer” country, although such a membership class is not
yet offered by the FCPF.
 A clarification on the difference between deforestation and degradation was given as
follows:
o Deforestation was defined as the removal of forest to the extent that forest land (as
a land use category) transitions to another land use category (e.g., agriculture,
barren land, grassland, etc.).Degradation was defined as the reduction in the quality
of the forest to the extent that forest land remains forest land, yet the forests
capacity to sequester carbon and provide other ecosystem services (e.g.,
biodiversity, water provision, etc.) has been compromised.
 . A question was posed as to the relationship between the Carbon Unit – a Department of
Forestry effort supported by the World Bank – and the Carbon Registry – an activity
detailed in the Malawi REDD+ Program workplan. It was indicated that the efforts are
complementary and would be harmonized as much as possible.

It was noted that a core purpose of a national REDD+ strategy is to provide a clear and
detailed list of actions by which drivers of deforestation and degradation could be
addressed and, in the process, mitigated. As such, a definitive understanding of these
drivers is requisite to a national strategy. Malawi has a wealth of qualitative information
related to drivers, but no definitive quantitative data (e.g., charcoal/fuelwood collection
is responsible for x-ha of deforestation per year and that equates to y-tonnes of
CO2).Without such quantitative data, actionableand informed mitigation strategies
cannot be devised or monitored for their effectiveness.
 On REDD+ governance, the meeting was informed that for continuation and progress the
Chair and Co-Chairs of the REDD+ Expert Group are individuals, not organizations,
although one comes from the Government of Malawi while the other comes from the
remaining sectors (e.g., academia, civil society, media, and private sector).
o The meeting agreed that when developing the inventory of drivers of forest
degradation and deforestation the expert should consult widely, especially by
involving feeders who appear in the work plan.
 Several participants noted that a study focused on the “sustainability of
charcoal/fuelwood” has already been done by UNDP. It was noted that the Malawi
REDD+ Program workplan is not conducting the same analysis; rather, it has called for an
analysis to determine the horizon date for charcoal/fuelwood, or the date (and all the
attendant data) by which fuelwood resources will be exhausted.
10.0 Way Forward
 There is need to provide feedback on possible the overlap of hazard maps between
Surveys and DoDMA.
 There is need to provide a concise financial absorption report with tangible milestones.
 There is need for the NTCCC to make suggestions on the existing TORS for the committee
in order to provide a clear mandate for the forum considering that Climate Change
portfolio has tremendously grown.
 There is need to convene a Government Working Group in June 2014.
 There is need to include councillors in the dissemination of messages on ENRM.
 The next NSCCC will be held in August 2014.
 It was agreed that the Donor Working Group should be included as part of planned
activities for next quarter.
12.0 Closing
The Chairperson thanked all members for their participation. Meeting was then adjourned.
BEN BOTOLO
CHAIRPERSON
ALOYSIUS KAMPEREWERA
SECRETARY