Figure 1: His Worship, Honourable Derek Klazen of Municipality of Walvis Bay, giving the Opening address at the African Mayors Climate Change Declaration - Namibian Conference. ICLEI Africa ©.


Namibia National Mayor’s Forum Annual General Meeting (AGM)

2001/08/24

Over 120 political leaders in the form of Mayors and Chief Executive Officers from local authorities and parastatal organisations from across Namibia have attended and participated in the Namibian African Mayors Climate Change Declaration Conference on 22-23 August 2011 ahead of the Namibia National Mayors Forum/ Annual General Meeting. The conference was co-hosted by the Municipality of Walvis Bay, in partnership with ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability  Africa, UN-Habitat and the Namibian Coast Conservation and Management Project (NACOMA).

The event was aimed at providing a platform for Namibian local, regional and national authorities and partners to exchange ideas and strengthen understanding and engagement around key issues pertaining to sustainable development and economic growth within a changing climate.

The event has served as a key preparatory opportunity for Namibia’s local authorities and their partners for participation and representation at the United Nations Framework for Climate Change Convention Conference of the Parties 17 (UNFCCC COP17/CMP7), to be hosted by the City of Durban in South Africa in November/December 2011. The UNFCCC COP17/CMP7 is a two week event which will draw political leaders from the nations of the world to come together to agree and commit towards binding targets and actions to be taken in the fight against climate change.

Key note address given by Mr Cleophas, the honourable governor of the Erongo region. ICLEI Africa ©.

During the first day of the conference, introductions and welcoming speeches were presented by a range of high level representatives. Welcoming the delegation was the Honourable Mayor of Walvis Bay, Mr Derek Klazen.

Whom, in his welcoming speech commended ICLEI – Local Governments for sustainability and UN-Habitat for their on-going and tireless efforts towards assisting Namibian local authorities to be prepared for the plights associated with climate change. The keynote address was given by Mr Cleophas, the honourable governor of the Erongo region in Namibia.

The speech addressed issues that are currently faced by Namibian local authorities such as food security and poverty issues. The governor stressed that it is in the hands of the local authorities, that investment can be drawn from other sectors such as the private sector through the delivery of reliable services and infrastructure. He commented on certain elements of competition in this nature using examples such as those between the likes of Walvis Bay, Luderitz and Swakopmund as port towns along the coast of Namibia. He strongly indicated that such competition is healthy for the economic growth of the Nation and should be encouraged as driving force for income generation such as the tourism and industry often leads to new and innovative idea generation.

Vote of thanks by Honorable Mayor of Luderitz Ms Susan Ndjaleka. ICLEI Africa ©.

Thanks of attendance was given by the Honourable Mayor of Luderitz Ms Susan Ndjaleka.

Thereafter, delegates were introduced to a range of different issues that are associated with climate change and its potential impact upon the sustainability of Namibian local authorities. Delegates were then split into two groups, in order to discuss issues pertaining to climate change and other developmental issues at differing levels.

Mayors of Namibia attended an exclusive high-level roundtable session where the African Mayoral Climate Change Declaration was presented and distributed, whilst discussions pertaining to sustainable development, potential partners and financing opportunities were further unpacked. The high level mayoral session resulted in 13 main points as outcomes to the discussion (this final version can also be made available by ICLEI upon request). Namibian Mayors received the African Mayors Climate Change Declaration and were given the opportunity to peruse the contents, which were agreed upon by Mayors from across the African continent during the Pan African congress entitled ‘Local Climate Solutions for Africa 2011’ (LOCS 2011).

Mayors across Africa have been encouraged to support the initiative so as to gather further momentum as part of a consolidated voice of African local authorities that requests and commits to a number of local actions that will be submitted to the UNFCCC COP17 /CMP7 in Durban later this year. The declaration calls for the due recognition of the role of local governments and local actors within the international climate change debate and for climate action implementation.

Namibian mayors gather in an informal manner within the Mayoral Level Segment to discuss urban leadership and sustainability in the local context.

The CEOs of the Namibian local authorities attended a parallel technical training session that included presentations and discussions pertaining to:

- Coastal issues in Namibia by representatives of NACOMA (Mr Ignatius Kauvee) and the development of the Namibian coastal policy as a result of the recognition of these issues. The processes associated with this from stakeholder engagement to the development of a green paper and then the white paper. The Coastal policy contains ten articles altogether, it within article number nine, that climate change and climate actions are outlined.

- Downscaled climate system modelling for Walvis Bay Municipality (temperatures, rainfall and precipitation patterns) and comparisons with local data from Windhoek (by way of demonstrating the use of local level climatic data) were demonstrated and discussed as a result of a study that has recently been undertaken as part of ICLEI – Africa’s Five City Adaptation Network project, funded by the IDRC and Dfid through the CCAA program). This presentation was led by Dr Mark Tadross of the Climate Systems Analysis Group from the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

- To further expand on this and in an effort to try to gain an overarching understanding of the impacts associated with climate change within the different regions of Namibia, Lucinda Fairhurst (ICLEI Africa Climate Adaptation Programme Manager) led a process that took delegates through ICLEI Africa’s Rapid Adaptation Prioritisation tool - part one (developed during the undertaking of the Five City Adaptation Network project mentioned above). The results of which, clearly demonstrated that different climatic variables are considered to be exerting the most pressure upon different regions in Namibia – ranging from sea level rise, to fresh water flash flooding and drought.

- A discussion pertaining to developmental issues and the role of different governance levels and systems was then facilitated by UN-Habitats Mr Kibe Muigai. This lead to some very fruitful discussions pertaining to what is currently regarded as realistic threats to development and economic sustainability of local authorities and decentralisation in Namibia.

Cllr AM Kafula, President of the Association of Local Authorities in Namibia (ALAN) adds her signature to the African Mayors Climate Change Declaration accompanied by 31 of Namibian mayors looking on.

The second day of the conference kicked off with feedback back from the afternoon’s side sessions to the plenary. Thereafter, the African Mayoral Climate Change Declaration was discussed in some detail, where the commitments and requests upon the UNFCCC were thoroughly discussed with an idea of the implications for Namibian local authorities. The conference wrapped up with a closing session during which Namibian Mayors were invited by the hosting Mayor, His worship, the Mayor of Walvis Bay Municipality, to sign and endorse the African Mayoral Climate Change Declaration.

A total of 31 Namibian Mayors came forward and signed their personal endorsement of this continental initiative - a comprehensive list can be made available by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, upon request.