Partners involved in environmental issues in Seychelles received on Monday a copy of the third National Communication Report and the First Biennial Updated Report showcasing the island nation’s commitment to tackling the challenges of climate change.
The documents form part of the global effort to ensure transparency, accountability, and shared responsibility in mitigating and adapting to climate change. UNEP financed the production of the reports at a cost of $500,000.
The reports fulfill Seychelles’ obligations as a party to the United National Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) and demonstrate the country’s progress in meeting its international climate change commitments.
They also describe Seychelles’ greenhouse gas emissions and document the mitigation action of the island nation.
In his address, the Minister for Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, Flavien Joubert, explained that the two documents mark an important update to the small island nation’s previous communications in the first and second national communications.
He said, “These reports reflect the progress we’ve made, the challenges we face, and the strategic steps we’ve taken to enhance our climate resilience.”
Joubert added that the reports “provide a comprehensive overview of our national circumstances, including our greenhouse gas inventory, the impact of climate change on our vulnerable ecosystems, and the policies and measures we have implemented.”
The project manager who drafted the two reports, Benjamin Vel, told the press that the reports “looked at greenhouse gases and the measures the country has taken where mitigation and adaptation to climate change is concerned.”
He said they also deal with the assistance Seychelles will need to achieve its targets where climate change is concerned.
It has taken a team of around 20 consultants to produce the report with each one working on specific topics and Vel said, they “also made use of other consultants to complete their work for instance the bigger chapters such as adaptation and greenhouse gases had to employ others.”
Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, considers adaptation to climate change a high priority to reduce the country’s vulnerability – embarking on a series of measures to tackle the issue.
The focal point for the United National Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), Wills Agricole, said the reports provide a good feel as to how “the authorities go about the task of protecting and improving the global climate change environment and doing so effectively at a time when government budgets are under extraordinary pressure.”
Agricole added, “The two reports provide a succinct climate change assessment, readable and engaging narrative, and analysis of the past five years climate change assessment in Seychelles.”
He added that the report will be presented overseas, especially when environmental meetings and those on climate change our focal points present these findings on an international stage.
The third National Communication Report and the First Biennial Updated Report have also been published on the UNFCCC website.
Source: SNA
