MUTHARIKA’s SPEECH AT UN CLIMATE CHANGE SUMMIT

Considering that the climate change portfolio under the global setting is conducted based on key thematic areas of adaptation, mitigation, capacity building, and climate finance, and that each of these thematic areas has sub-agenda items, Malawi subscribes to the following position points on a few selected areas:

a) ‘Adaptation’
i. Malawi believes that adaptation and mitigation are both crucial but adaptation should take overriding priority in programming. Our position on funding for adaptation is that funding should be grant money and not loans. Malawi considers that global warming has created a huge ecological debt which present and future generations of the developing world will disproportionately bear for hundreds of years to come. It is contrary to the spirit and intent of the Convention to pile financial burdens on developing countries from the consequences of global warming for which they are not responsible.

ii. Climate Change Issues relating to agriculture: Malawi well understands that the issue of agriculture is critical and complex. We therefore support the position that agriculture is the mainstay of most developing countries in terms of food security, sustainable development, adaptation co-benefits, and its contribution to emissions of greenhouse gases and their removals. In this respect, it ought to be treated seriously under the Convention.

iii. Mechanism for loss and damage associated with impacts of climate change: Malawi welcomes the establishment of an International mechanism on ‘loss and damage’ that is meant to provide the most vulnerable populations with better protection against loss and damage caused by extreme weather and climatic events. Most importantly, we urge developed countries to mobilize and secure funds, technology and capacity building activities to address loss and damage associated with climate change impacts.

b) ‘Mitigation Ambition and New Global Agreement’
i. Regarding ambition on reduction of greenhouse gases, Malawi is of the view that developed countries should put forward ambitious targets for reduction of greenhouse gases to prevent catastrophic change in the climate system.

ii. On the anticipated new 2015 Global Agreement under the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action on Climate Change, Malawi supports the proposal that Parties should commit to reduce global anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases no later than 2020 and to reduce net global anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases to zero by 2050.

c) ‘Climate Finance’

i. Regarding long-term climate finance, Malawi believes that Climate finance is a central pillar in the global effort to combat climate change. Therefore scaling up public climate finance is of immediate importance if we are to address serious issues of climate change effectively. I am therefore urging all developed country Parties to set out what climate finance they will provide over the period 2013 – 2015, and commit to a roadmap for scaling up global public climate finance in order to reach the desired US$100 billion mark per year by 2020.

ii. On public finance for adaptation, Malawi is of the view that an agreement must be reached so that a minimum of 50% of all public climate finance should be spent on adaptation between now and 2020;
iii. Regarding access to and modality of financial resources, Malawi is of the view that such resources should be provided on direct access basis with a significant proportion of the funds being channelled through the Green Climate Fund (GCF).