UN-Habitat and UNEP join hands to help officials strengthen climate resilience

Maputo, 25 September 2023 — UN-Habitat, with financial support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), has kicked off a process to strengthen the institutional and technical capacities of local government officials in the Greater Maputo Area (GMA) in ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) for building climate resilience.

This initiative is informed by the accelerated urbanization that the Maputo metropolitan area is experiencing, which is influenced by population and economic growth, climate change, and other factors, placing increased demand on natural resources and exceptional pressure on natural systems.

GMA is host to the framework for strengthening adaptation-related institutional capacities called “Building resilience in the coastal zone through ecosystem-based adaptation approaches (EbA) in the Greater Maputo Area (GMA).”

The framework is funded by UNEP through the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), and implemented by UN-Habitat. EbA, which is receiving increasing attention from the international community, is defined as the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services as part of a global adaptation strategy to help people adapt to the adverse effects of climate change.

During an induction workshop for the institutional and technical capacity building framework held recently in Maputo, the National Director for Environment, Guilhermina Amurane, stressed that EbA has the potential to serve as a basis for learning in the country and reducing risks associated with climate change.

"With the implementation of this project, the institutional and technical capacity of municipal and district authorities will also be strengthened to assess the impact of EbA in urban, peri-urban and coastal zones in the Greater Maputo area," Amurane said, recalling that the effects of climate change represented a major challenge for ecosystem adaptation in Mozambique, and emphasizing the importance of EbA in a context where ecosystems play a vital role in the sustainability of families.

Among the various areas addressed by EbA, one focuses on community capacity-building, as National Project Coordinator Sónia Silveira explains: "EbA includes the community capacity-building component, which aims to strengthen the needs of these communities to adopt the ecosystem-based adaptation approach, including the restoration of ecosystems such as mangroves. In addition, EbA seeks to offer alternative means based on the needs of the communities."

The Head of the UN-Habitat Programme in Mozambique, Wild Do Rosário, reaffirmed the continued support to the government in various strategic axes: "UN-Habitat and UNEP will continue to support the Government of Mozambique and promote transformative changes in cities and human settlements through the sharing of experiences, technical assistance and collaborative actions to ensure that no one and no place is left behind", he declared.

The 2022 Global Risk Report lists Mozambique as the seventh country in the world and the first in Africa with a high risk of disasters. The results expected from this initiative reflect, among others, the aspirations of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Mozambique 2022-2026, the New Urban Agenda, and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 on cities and SDG 13 on climate.