Tanzania gets $2.2 million for climate change fight

James Mwakisyala in East Africa Business Week: The Tanzania Government will receive $2.2 million from the Global Climate Change Alliance' for ensure the country take urgent remedial climate change action that will prevent the vulnerable people from devastating effects of global climate change. Tanzania has been selected among an initial set of four pilot countries - along with Cambodia, Vanuatu and Maldives - to benefit from a new financing mechanism called the 'Global Climate Change Alliance (GCCA)'. The Alliance aims at providing a platform for dialogue together with financial and technical support.

The EU announced that last week in Dar es Salaam which is part of a larger financial contribution of the Alliance of $ 140 million. In a joint message during the launch of the climate change fund, Tanzania and the European Union called for 'urgent and strong action against climate change' to save the world from climatic catastrophe.

The Head of European Union Delegation in Tanzania, Ambassador Tim Clarke and the Minister of State in the Vice President's Office (Environment), Dr Batilda Burian, acknowledged that climate change was gravely affecting the most vulnerable in the Least Developed Countries (LDC). Minister Ms Burian, who was represented by Richard Muyungi, an Assistant Director in the Vice President's Office and the National Climate Change Focal Point, said Tanzania was "a typical case of high vulnerability and low adaptive capacity."

She explained that: "Droughts, floods and rising sea levels are some of the more visible effects of climate change. Hunger and diseases like malaria are indirect consequences. The most vulnerable populations, especially in rural and remote areas in Tanzania are most exposed. Women and children in particular are bearing a disproportionate share of the burden."…

Locator map of Tanzania by Vardion, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative CommonsAttribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license