Speech of
The Hon. Devanand Virahsawmy, GOSK, FCCA
Minister of
Environment & Sustainable Development
on the occasion of the
Opening of the Inception Workshop
on
Climate Change Adaptation Programme
In the Coastal Zone of Mauritius
on
Thursday 30 August 2012 at 09.15 hrs
Hennessy Park Hotel, Ebene
Mr Simon Springett, UNDP Resident Representative,
Mr P. Jhugroo, Permanent Secretary,
Mrs Ng, Director Department of Environment,
Ms Jessica Troni, UNDP Regional Technical Adviser,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure for me to be in your midst this morning for the opening of
the Inception Workshop under the “Climate Change Adaptation Programme in
the Coastal Zone of Mauritius” project.
I would like on behalf of the Government of Mauritius to express my
appreciation to the Adaptation Fund Board for its financial support towards the
realization of this very important project on coastal adaptation.
As at to date, only eighteen countries across the world has benefitted from this
Adaptation Fund set up under the Kyoto protocol of the United Nation
Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Mauritius is, up to now, the
second largest beneficiary with a grant of Rs 275 million behind the Maldives.
This undoubtedly represents the largest Adaptation Project ever implemented in
the local context.
Our presence here today is a clear indication that the threat from climate change
is serious and urgent. No nation, however big or small, wealthy or poor, can
escape the impact of climate change. Rising sea levels threaten every coastline.
As you are all aware the science of climate change at the global level is assessed
periodically by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change whilst the
global policy making forum is the United Nations Framework Convention on
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Climate Change. The evolution of these two bodies has moved over the last two
decades to respond to the new challenges facing the world as the issue of
climate change has evolved from impacts to vulnerability and then to
adaptation.
The first IPCC assessment report came out in 1990 and alerted the world to the
looming problem of climate change due to high emissions of greenhouse gases
into the atmosphere. Since this was a global problem it required a global
solution and all countries of the world met in Rio de Janeiro, in June 1992, to
sign the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. During
this meeting, known as the Earth Summit, all participating countries pledged to
combat the problem in a "common but differentiated" manner.
The second IPCC report came out in 1995 and showed that the level of
greenhouse gases emissions was still rising despite the pledges taken to reduce
them. This led to the Kyoto Protocol which was agreed upon at the third
conference of parties of the UNFCCC in Japan in 1997. Developed countries
took the commitment to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases thus
replacing the purely voluntary pledges provided for in the original convention.
The third IPCC assessment report, which came out in 2001, appraised the
international community that despite earlier pledges to reduce the level of
emissions, the concentration of greenhouse gases continued to rise and that
climate change had become an unavoidable process.
The third IPCC
assessment report also stressed on the fact that some countries, namely small
island developing states and the least developed countries in Africa were
particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
The report also
recommended that a new adaptation strategy be devised to respond to the threat
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of climate change. This led to the creation of several new funds to support
adaptation policies in developing countries.
The fourth IPCC assessment report, published in 2007, stated that the time
window for preventing catastrophic impacts of climate change over the next
fifty to hundred years was a narrow couple of decades. It was suggested that the
only option was to adapt to the inevitable and unavoidable impacts over the next
two to three decades.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) foresees an accelerated
sea level rise of up to 0.6 m or more by 2100. This dramatic situation can
worsen if the potential breakdown of the West Antarctica and Greenland ice
sheets is taken into account, with sea level continuing to rise for many centuries
beyond 2100. Storms temporarily exacerbate higher water levels, by 20 to 110
centimetres. Increasing storm intensity and larger storm surges will result in
more coastal erosion and inundation of low lying areas.
Nearly one quarter of the world’s population lives within 100 km zone of the
coast. The coastal population is projected to grow from 1.2 billion people in
1990 to 1.8 and even up to 5.2 billion people by the 2080.
This implies that we will be faced with increased risks of severe climate change
impacts, more particularly, in the case of small island states like Mauritius. As
you are aware, our coastal zones are critically important to the economy in
terms of domestic and international tourism, as well as fisheries. The future of
our tourism industry is the main concern in the coastal adaptation strategy, since
so much revenue and so many jobs are at risk. There are 100 public beaches
around the island, with a total length of 32 km, making up 12% of the coastline,
out of which 23% have been experiencing accelerated erosion since the last ten
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years. On the other hand, out of 104 registered hotels, 86 are adjacent to
beaches. These beach hotels represent 92.5% of the total guest capacity. Apart
from the beaches, other sites have experienced surges and flooding in the recent
past.
All the above coasts and beaches need special attention, with sound adaptation
policies and measures that will make these coastal sites resilient and sustainable.
In this context, my Ministry is responding to the findings of the Fourth
Assessment Report by implementing the project “Climate Change Adaptation
Programme in the Coastal Zone of Mauritius’’.
It’s perhaps a trait of human nature to act only when the worst happens. But
that not a trait we can afford to rely upon. Once the worst will happen, I’m
afraid this time, it will be too late to act at all. That’s why my Ministry is
embarking in this proactive adaptation project with a 50 year ahead vision.
The objective of this programme is to increase climate resilience of
communities and to reinforce their livelihoods in the coastal areas, up to Year
2060 horizon, through the following interventions:
1.
application of adaptation measures to protect currently vulnerable coastal
ecosystem and community features at three priority sites, Mon Choisy,
Quatre Soeurs and Rivière des Galets
2.
development and implementation of an early warning system for
incoming surges
Given the previous experiences with storm surges on the south coast, a
warning circumference around each island, Mauritius, Rodrigues and
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Agalega will be defined such that coastal communities have at least three
hours warning of possible incoming surges.
3.
training
and
capacity
building
of
relevant
stakeholders
Capacity development will cover a range of ministries, NGOs, the private
sector and the community at large. Training sessions will be delivered on
a regular basis over the course of the programme. Courses on coastal
engineering will be developed and delivered to engineers, both in the
public and private sectors.
4.
policy mainstreaming
A National Coastal Zone Adaptation Strategy that addresses all climate
perceived risks in the coastal zone of Republic of Mauritius will be
determined.
In addition, the District Outline Schemes, the Tourism
Development Plan and other such documents will be reviewed.
5.
knowledge dissemination and management
Public awareness campaigns on climate change in the coastal zone will be
broadcasted in the media.
The project will also have a regional
dimension whereby the lessons learned from this Adaptation project will
be disseminated to other countries in the Southern Indian Ocean.
The programme will focus on the development and the application of new
approaches and tools to resolve specific vulnerability issues in the coastal zone.
The overall approach is to work from the level of technical solutions at specific
coastal sites to the policy and regulatory level. Future replication of coastal
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adaptation measures will be supported by new policies, and guidelines. Hence,
the coastal communities will be empowered and will become increasingly
resilient to climate change. Thus they will be better prepared to protect their
livelihoods.
The proposed coastal protection measures will benefit directly some 3,150
people whose jobs, houses, and families are currently threatened by coastal
erosion, storm surges, and tidal flooding.
Our strategic response needs to be two fold, one characterised by “Adaptation”,
where we need to develop ways to protect our people and infrastructure by
reducing their vulnerability to climate change impacts, and the second one
through “Mitigation” so as to slow down the process of global climate change.
Two other important projects related to climate change management in coastal
areas are underway:
1.
The “Maurice, Ile Durable” project which aims, amongst others, at
reducing dependence on fossil fuels, with special focus on the energy
sector as a mitigation measure. MID will also promote adaptation as a
process to guide policy to ensure sustainable development, reduce
vulnerability, and minimise risk to humans from climate change.
2.
The second initiative is the “Africa Adaptation Programme – AAP. The
AAP is designed to: introduce long-term planning in the field of climate
change; build institutional frameworks at the local and national levels;
implement climate-resilient policies and measures in priority sectors;
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examine financing options to meet national adaptation costs at the local,
national, sub-regional and regional levels.
To-day, we are taking a very important step forward on the journey in migrating
from a vulnerable island to a resilient island state. The journey is long. Let
us resolve to work tirelessly so as to achieve our common goal: an island that is
more resilient to climate change and a future that is worthy of our children.
With these words, ladies and gentlemen, I have the pleasure to declare this
workshop open and wish all participants fruitful deliberations.
Thank you for your attention.
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