The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) have launched Liberia’s Climate Vulnerability and Risk Assessment Report for the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors in Gbarnga, Bong County central Liberia.
The Climate Vulnerability and Risk Assessment study was commissioned by the EPA and the UNDP with support from the National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) in order to give decision makers and the most vulnerable population adequate tools and information that will enable them to adapt to climate change.
The National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) project funded by the Green Climate Fund and implemented by UNDP and its partner, the EPA, is helping Liberia in its medium-term investment planning in climate sensitive sectors including agriculture, energy, waste management, forestry, health and coastal areas.
Speaking at the start of a two-day National Awareness and Sensitization training on Climate Change Adaptation Strategies for the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors on Wednesday, NAPs Project
Manager E. Abraham Tumbey said Liberia’s economy, population and environment are highly vulnerable to climate variability and change.
Tumbey said a range of studies including the Republic of Liberia’s Initial National Communication under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established that the impacts of climate change are expected to intensify as changes in temperature and precipitation affect economic activity.
The two-day training seeks to raise awareness and sensitize local and national stakeholders on the adaptation strategies and action plans developed for the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors as well as the launching of the climate vulnerability and risk assessment report for these sectors.
The workshop brought together about 100 persons from across the 15 counties, as including local authorities and representatives from the relevant government agencies, community dwellers, civil society organizations, private sector and university and research institutions.
Also speaking at the start of the workshop, EPA Deputy Executive Director, Randall M. Dobayou, said climate change is an uncompromising and revolving environmental human induced phenomenon affecting our ecosystem. “When the ecosystem is affected, the food we eat is threatened, animals are left vulnerable and our forest gets severely impacted because of the change in weather pattern, high temperature, aggressive humidity and fluctuating precipitation,” Dobayou said.
According to the EPA Deputy Executive Director, summary of the Climate Vulnerability and Risk Assessment Report among many others, disclosed that climate change and climate vulnerabilities are already negatively impacting the productivity of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sectors including their associated food chain.
TSS/abj/APA