Tanzanian civil society organisations have begun planning the next stages in advocating for climate change action. Taking a focus on low carbon development, the workshop aimed to initiate a dialogue between potential partners and to plan the next steps.
Rationale
On 22-23 January 2014 kick-off workshop on Low Carbon Development was held in Dar es Salaam- Tanzania. This workshop was attended by 85 participants local and international with different experiences and expertise. The workshop envisaged:-
On 22-23 January 2014 kick-off workshop on Low Carbon Development was held in Dar es Salaam- Tanzania. This workshop was attended by 85 participants local and international with different experiences and expertise. The workshop envisaged:-
- To take stock and discuss the potential opportunities and challenges of implementation of existing strategies concerning sustainable development, green growth and poverty reduction in Tanzania among different stakeholders.
- To discuss how to link and integrate these strategies with the goals of poverty reduction and socially just growth.
- To exchange experiences with international and regional experts on Low Carbon Development (LDC).
- To design and agree upon the follow-up activities after the kick-off workshop for the course of the project .
In the course of the workshop, the following findings were made:
- Even though Tanzania has a very small carbon footprint, the country needs to build a low carbon economy. The first reason is that, given future projected GHG emissions, it is important to change course now. The second reason is that building a low carbon economy has the potential to positively influence economy and labor markets and thus promote sustainable development.
- However, as Tanzania still ranks 152 out of 186 countries in the UN-Human Development Index (2014), any initiative towards low carbon or sustainable development has to pursue a clear pro-poor approach.
- There are already many initiatives on sustainable or low carbon development. Some of them are labeled as low carbon, low emission, or green growth approaches; others focus on sub aspects of sustainable development such as energy development, climate protection policies or poverty reduction.
- Furthermore, there are a number of problems which inhibit positive effects of these policies:
- There's inadequate funding and inadequate technologies at both local and national levels;
- There's inadequate awareness of climate change issues which makes it difficult to find broad acceptance and ownership for LCD measures among the broad population;
- There's inadequate coordination among key actors/stakeholders implementing LCD measures.
As a consequence of the workshop findings, we agreed to map existing LCD initiatives, measures and stakeholders to see
- What is missing among existing initiatives;
- How existing initiatives can be strengthened;
- How implementation can be improved;
- How synergies between different LCD approaches can be created.
A strong focus should also be put on the role of civil society and local stakeholders as important actors in ensuring an inclusive and bottom-up implementation of LCD initiatives.
So we are currently working on:
a) Background: Sustainable Low Carbon Development in Tanzania. Challenges and Opportunities;
b) Mapping: Existing LCD initiatives, measures and stakeholders;
c) Assessment: An analysis of existing initiatives and influencing factors for their implementation;
d) Recommendations.
a) Background: Sustainable Low Carbon Development in Tanzania. Challenges and Opportunities;
b) Mapping: Existing LCD initiatives, measures and stakeholders;
c) Assessment: An analysis of existing initiatives and influencing factors for their implementation;
d) Recommendations.
We are planning to hold a next meeting in July 2014.
