South Africa plays a prominent role and is specifically honoured that the keynote address was given by Rejoice Mabudafhasi, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Water and Environmental Affairs.
The Deputy Minister is well known in environmental circles in the global arena. According to Mr Al Duda of the global environmental facility international waters portfolio she is playing a leading role in issues of environmental sustainability.
Rejoice Mabudafhasi is one of the most supportive Ministers of the International Waters portfolio’s programmes in Africa. She is a real champion of good governance for better environmental protection and improved livelihood for the poor. Her enthusiasm inspires us all.
In Africa alone, millions of people depend directly on marine resources for their income and survival. And it is no secret that living marine resources are dwindling like never before. Not only are many of the fishing stocks dangerously low, some may already have reached a level of depletion from which there may be no return. To top it all off coastal erosion and sea level rise have become pressing problems in many coastal countries and island states. Last week the Maldives held their first cabinet meeting under water to draw attention to the disaster that is looming over their country.
Fortunately there is hope on the horizon. For the week starting Sunday, 25 October, hundreds of experts, politicians, project managers and government officials from all over the world converged at Cairns in north-eastern Australia to share information and search for solutions.
The fifth International Water Conference is taking place under the auspices of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) which represents the biggest consolidated response from the international community to the problems facing the world’s oceans, coastal areas and freshwater bodies.
The Deputy Minister carried a special message from Cape Town to Cairns’ as South Africa hosted the fourth International Waters Conference in Cape Town two years ago. Since then there have been many advances in the region, including in the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem and the Agulhas and Somali Currents large Marine Ecosystem. There is also a far stronger emphasis by the GEF and its partners on the involvement of local communities, a direction that is very much applauded by Deputy Minister Mabudafhasi who is well known for the emphasis she places on grass roots involvement in solving environmental problems.
According to Mr Duda, increased large-scale programmes are needed across the globe to avert the looming disasters already starting us in the face. He added that more politicians should follow the example of the Deputy Minister. Environmental disasters go beyond political borders, and politicians need to reach out and take hands in order to make GEF funding truly effective in addressing issues such as climate change and dwindling marine resources. No longer can a country by country approach alone be enough. We need to tackle the problem at the level of large marine ecosystems that transcend international borders.
Indeed, the world’s oceans, rivers, lakes, and groundwater systems do not respect political borders. These systems cover most of our planet, but they continue to be managed in a national and fragmented way that is endangering the food supply and livelihoods of billions of people. For example, our coasts and oceans have become degraded almost to the point of no return with the depletion of oceanic fish stocks. Water is at the heart of our planets natural resource base. We need water to produce food, power industry, quench thirst, and nurture ecosystems.
Today, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) remains the world’s largest financier of transboundary water collaboration. The GEF International Waters portfolio consists of 180 projects with some US$1.1 billion of GEF grants and $4.5 billion in co-financing invested in 149 different GEF recipient countries. These projects target many of the worlds most threatened and damaged transboundary water ecosystems.
From 24 to 29 October 2009, Cairns will host over 300 of the world’s leading scientists, natural resource managers, civil society, international organisation staff, country representatives and private sector specialists in the area of transboundary water management during the fifth GEF Biennial International Waters Conference (IWC5).
Implementing agencies of the GEF include the World Bank, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), other international agencies and NGOs will all take part in this watershed event.
The IWC5, hosted with the generous support of the Government of Australia and the Australian private sector, has the objective of facilitating experience sharing across the project portfolio with a special emphasis on climatic variability and results-based management. Climatic variability could have debilitating consequences for many of the world’s water systems from groundwater to oceans.
Media enquiries may be directed to:
Sello Mabotja
Cell: 082 611 1192 or 074 319 2794
E-mail: sellomabotja@gmail.com or MabotjaSe@dwaf.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Environmental Affairs
29 October 2009
