Monrovia – Liberia will this year host the thirteenth Least Developed Countries (LDC) Experts Group Meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Monrovia.
Report by Henry Karmo – [email protected]
The Government of Liberia through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), will convene the meeting at a local hotel in Monrovia from September 7-10, 2016.
Finance and Development Planning Minister and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Environmental Protection Agency, Boima Kamara, will deliver the key note address at the opening of the meeting.
The purpose of the meeting, according to an EPA release, is to deliberate on the activities capture in the Least Developed Countries Work Programme 2016-2017 ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference to be held in November in the city of Marrakech, The Kingdom of Morocco.
Key amongst the activities will be how the least developed Countries Experts Group can provide support to the least developed Countries to access funding from the Green Climate Fund for National Adaptation Plans (NAPs).
The NAPs are intended to address medium and long term adaptation needs for building the resilience of developing countries against climate change.
The meeting will also discuss the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and how countries like Liberia can best benefit.
The ratification by China and the USA of the Paris Agreement a few days ago, has raised the expectation that this ground-breaking agreement may come into force as early at the end of this year.
About twenty five experts drawn from developed and least developed Countries as well as the Green Climate Fund and several UN Organizations are expected to attend the four days Meeting.
Thematic presentations and discussions on key strategic interventions will dominate the meeting, considering the needs of the least Developed countries in adapting to Climate Change.
The work of the LDC Expert Group is facilitated by the UN Climate Change Secretariat based in Bonn, Germany.
The meeting will be climaxed on the fourth day by a field trip to the community of New Kru Town in Montserrado County to assess the vulnerability of the community as well as visit the Port City of Buchanan in Grand Bassa County to tour the coastal defense pilot project implemented by the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy.
The pending International Climate Change Meeting will be the biggest of late in the Liberian Environmental Sector, meant to afford international Climate Change experts the opportunity to visibly see Liberia needs for possible assistance.