By Ishmael Sallieu Koroma
Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio has said he intends to replicate the government of Kenya’s Financing Locally Led Climate Action (FLLoCA) in his home country in order to strengthen its climate challenges.
Speaking at the maiden African Climate Summit 2023 in Kenya, Nairobi, Julius Maada Bio said, across the African continent, they are experiencing heart wrenching tales from increased storm surges, flash floods, drought and high winds, accompanied by pollution, landslides, mudslides, coastal erosion, deforestation, and biodiversity loss which he said aren’t merely stories but stern warnings.
‘’We are at a crossroads of making tangible decisions to move from policy statements to taking concrete actions to combat this global menace of climate change,’’ Bio said.
Julius Maada Bio said his country is amongst the 20 most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change adding that the impact of climate change is real for his nation as the West African country continue to experience storm surges, flash floods, and high winds, accompanied by pollution, landslides, mudslides, coastal erosion, deforestation, biodiversity loss, and increased prevalence of pests and diseases.
‘’If we do not act now, valuable ecosystems in Sierra Leone will be wiped out, and more communities will be displaced and their livelihoods destroyed,’’ Bio added.
Bio congratulated his African counterpart Kenya’s President Ruto for successfully launching what he termed an ‘’innovative initiative’’ adding it is a great example of a homegrown solution to a homegrown problem.
‘’It is also true that climate impacts are local and affect the most vulnerable people in communities and far off localities. I do not doubt that the Financing Locally Led Climate Action (FLLoCA) Program will benefit millions of Kenyans and lay the foundation for robust climate adaptation efforts over the next decade. We hope our development partners will be willing to replicate it in other African countries,’’ Julius Maada Bio stressed.
Bio added the transformative actions taken by the Kenyan government to reduce community-level vulnerability and build resilience to climate change impacts through the FLLoCA Initiative is a laudable step from policy to action.
‘’I look forward to bilateral, South-South cooperation with our friends in Kenya to undertake the necessary assessments and formulation of a similar program in the near future. We hope our donor partners will be encouraged to support this learning model among African countries. Such cooperation could shorten the time for the design of various programs. It could also help countries move faster into developing bankable projects to crowd in more significant private investment flow,’’ Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio added .
Bio further added that his government recognises the threats posed by climate change and has taken necessary steps and actions to minimise the potential for further damage stating his government’s actions in Sierra Leone respond to the overall objectives of the UNFCCC’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Guidelines for reducing vulnerability to the impacts of climate change by building adaptive capacity and resilience of the country and facilitating the integration of climate change adaptation into relevant existing and new policies, programs and activities.
Bio revealed that his country’s initial NAP also gives guidance and provides information on actions to reduce climate change vulnerability regarding water resources, agriculture and food security, public health, coastal zones, and communities across the country.
‘’We are implementing coordination and reporting mechanism for all climate-related activities and projects at Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies to facilitate and coordinate the country’s climate change programmes and projects to be developed in line with national programs and the SDGs and outcomes derived from the UNFCCC process. The range of adaptation options has been well defined through systemic and bottom-up national-level consultative processes. The process has been a significant achievement in raising awareness, building technical and institutional capacities, and integrating adaptation concerns into national development dialogues,’’ Bio lamented.
