Presidency

H. E. Joseph N. Boakai, Sr.

President of Liberia

H. E. Zegben J. K. Koung

Vice President of Liberia

Executive Director's Speech at The Climate Change Strategy Workshop

SPEECH DELIVERED BY H.E MADAM ANYAA VOHIRI

AT THE CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGY VALIDATION WORKSHOP

JANUARY 27, 2017

GOLDEN KEY HOTEL, MONROVIA

All Protocols Observed

Distinguished stakeholders and guests, ladies and gentleman.  It is my profound pleasure to speak to you today on the national validation meeting of Liberia’s National Climate Change Policy and Strategy. This meeting is intended to review and endorse our country’s approach to addressing the challenges posed by climate change.

Ladies and gentlemen, global climate is changing regularly as a result of the increasing trends of global warming due to natural and anthropogenic activities. All the changes have significant impact on people’s livelihood and our ecosystems. The average global temperature has been raised by 1(one) degree in the last 30 years.  And, the increase in temperature is due to the increasing emissions of greenhouse gases that trap and hold heat in the atmosphere.

If any of us need evidence of the impact of climate change in Liberia just take a few steps from here to West Point or D. Tweh High School and look behind JFK hospital. The scars of sea erosion are very glaring and the impacts on socioeconomic activities and livelihood cannot be overemphasized. Flooding and pests invasion in the agriculture sector are indicators of the impact of climate change. Our farmers are no longer certain as to when to engage in their different farming activities; that sector is heavily dependent on rainfall and other climatic factors.

Local and international experts predict that Liberia’s future climate for 2050 and 2080 will be warmer and wetter climate in most parts of the country; and some areas will be drier than current. It is projected that most parts of Liberia will experience an increase in temperature at 1°-2° during the hottest month (February) compared to current temperature. Sea level is projected to rise from less than 1 m to over 2m over the next century, with an upsurge in storm events. All of these represent changes in the frequency, intensity and timings of weather events.

The United Nations panel on climate change has strongly emphasized that if no actions are taken to reduce the current trend of increasing Green House Gas emissions, the earth surface could experience further warming with projected rise in the global average temperature by 2100 of 1.8ºC - 4.0ºC.  Africa is most vulnerable the any rise in temperature above 2degrees C

Global climate change if left unchecked could leave millions of the world population vulnerable to flooding as a result of sea level rise. loss of vulnerable ecosystems with the risks of extinction of certain species. Sea erosion could impact heavily on livelihoods and physical infrastructures for coastal cities and their populations; changes in marine life; and the impacts on human health could have serious socio-economic implications.

Our own National Adaptation Program of Action (NAPA) report of 2008 and recent reports on the impacts of climate change in Liberia 2013, states that Liberia could be impacted greatly due to the current low economic base, dependence on rain-fed agriculture and forest resources, and our low capacity to adapt at the community and national levels.

Allow me to remind you of some of the impacts of climate change on Liberia and why we should take this exercise we are engaged in today seriously:

Climate change could potentially significantly affect our productive sectors and affect our national development goals and efforts to alleviate poverty. In the agriculture sector for example, more intense weather events, such as torrential rains, excessive heat and severe dry winds could affect agriculture, with a potential for water and heat stress, the outbreak of pests and diseases. The 2009 army worm scenario is a classic example. With about 70 percent of the economically active population engaged in agricultural activities and agriculture accounting for a significant percent of our national GDP, climate change could affect livelihood significantly and could result in a loss of GDP that could have a ripple effect on the economy of our country.

A drier climate and increase temperature could affect the forestry sector for example replacing forest with grassland as in Foya, upper Yekepa and Grand Cess. and reducing our overall floral and fauna population.

In the area of health, climate stressors cause diseases to spread,  for example, the population of disease-carrying mosquitoes will increase and result in increased malaria epidemics, which already accounts for more than 30% of Liberian deaths according to the Ministry of Health.

Intense rainfall and flooding like what is being observed in many parts of Monrovia today can affect the water infrastructure, as sewer systems and water treatment plants are overwhelmed by the increased volumes of water. This could also lead to an increase in the amount of runoff into rivers and lakes, washing sediment, nutrients, pollutants, trash, animal waste, and other materials into water supplies; making them unusable and unsafe. Flooding is an obvious and immediate threat to economic growth, energy supply, roads and transport, food and agriculture, education, health, water and sanitation, gender and social protection.

All of these impacts pose serious challenges to national development, with clear evidence that many of Liberia’s key economic assets – the forestry, coastal zone, and agriculture and water resources are affected, as well as the country social development in terms of poverty reduction, health and livelihoods. In all of these instances, women and children are particularly vulnerable and more likely to suffer.

Ladies and gentlemen, while it is true that our country’s contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions is insignificant, the effects of global warming could have dire consequences on our national development effort and increase the current challenges we face in alleviating poverty.

For these reasons, Liberia has developed a national policy framework to ensure that a qualitative, effective and coherent climate change adaptation process takes place.  Based on the effort of our Climate Change Enabling Unit, national and international consultants and broad national stakeholders; we have before us a National Climate Change Policy, which will serve as the pillar for comprehensive sectoral strategies and action plans. This policy seeks to enable better coordination of climate change work in the country and provides opportunities for cooperation and collaboration between the government and people of Liberia. This policy provides further impetus to Liberia's past and ongoing climate change-related efforts, including the National Adaptation Plan and our Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) submitted prior to the signing of the Paris Climate Change Agreement in 2015.

Liberia looks forward to adequate and predictable financial, technical and capacity building support from all stakeholders. This includes funding under the UNFCCC and its Kyoto protocol, Government of Liberia and private sector during the implementation of this policy. Support for implementation is important to enable the country to adapt to climate change, manage risks and reduce vulnerability, as well as contribute our fair effort to the global mitigation efforts.  Without commitment to implementation, this Climate Change Policy becomes only another document on the shelf.

Distinguished stakeholders and guests, ladies and gentleman; I like to conclude on this note--climate change is no longer just a future threat; it is a current reality that presents risks to our livelihood and existence as a nation; we must therefore combine our collective effort. The EPA, on behalf of the Government of Liberia will continuously engage on the international stage in climate change negotiations, specifically at the level of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to ensure that the country receives the necessary support as a Party to the UNFCCC Convention. We must however, as a country, demonstrate a clear national commitment and support to this effort.

I thank you.