Environmental Protection Agency Launches Liberia’s First National Adaptation Plan and 1st AdCom
Monrovia – The Environmental Protection Agency has launched Liberia’s First National Adaptation Plan (NAP) and adaptation communication. The NAP is intended to address Liberia’s medium and long term climate change adaptation interventions in order to strengthen the country’s resilience against climate change.
At the launch of the NAP, the Executive Director of the EPA, Prof. Wilson Tarpeh, said the launched of the first adaptation plan is a milestone development in the history of Liberia and expected to tackle the issue of climate change through the adaptation program that involves a whole-of-society approach to achieve the goals, vision, and specific objectives.
“The official launch of Liberia’s National Adaptation Plan and first adaptation communication is another tremendous progress for which we must sincerely appreciate the Liberian Government headed by H.E Dr. George Weah,” he said.
According to Prof. Tarpeh, the National Climate Change Policy and Response Strategy, Liberia is among the country of the world that is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
“Liberia’s vulnerability is attributed to the high level of poverty rate among the population, weak infrastructures, limited national budgetary support to fight climate change, inadequate experts and lack of technology,” he added.
He said despite of the high level of vulnerability, the Government of Liberia is fully committed to ensure that Liberia fulfills her national obligations under the United Nations Climate Change frameworks especially the development of climate change strategies and plans in order to address climate change at the national level
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dr. Bhofal Chambers, performing the launching exercise, lauded the EPA for its effort to tackle Liberia’s Climate biodiversity issues through the NAP document.
The NAP was developed through a consultative multi-stakeholder process and informed by sectoral climate vulnerability and risk assessments, and the disaster risk assessment.
It focuses on six sectors that are priorities of the Government of Liberia in its efforts to adapt to the impacts of climate change: agriculture, coastal zones, forestry, energy, waste management and fisheries.
The EPA, earlier in a statement, not that the program is intended to increase awareness among sub-national decision makers, civil society organizations, private sector actors, and citizens in vulnerable communities on the adaptation priorities in the NAP document.