The visible impacts of climate change on Mozambique

Mozambique’s geographic position make it prone to tropical cyclones, floods, and droughts. The country is situated along the inter‐tropic convergence zone that is responsible for rainfall patterns in Southern Africa. The long low‐lying stretches of coastal areas (about 2 700 kilometers in length) make Mozambique one of Africa’s most vulnerable countries to climate change. This is further worsened by the fact that several major international rivers (the Zambezi, Limpopo, Rovuma, Inkomati, Save, etc.) enter the Indian Ocean through Mozambique. After very heavy rains in the region, the riverbanks in Mozambique usually burst, causing flooding in most parts of the country. Populations living in coastal areas are increasingly becoming vulnerable to sea‐level rise and coastal erosion. It is predicted that along coastal areas climate change will result in the destruction of houses and the depletion of fish stocks that are crucial for the livelihoods of coastal communities. The historical climate tendency can be seen as follows: The mean temperature increased 1.5 - 2°C between 1961-2010; the Southern region of the country has registered more persistent droughts, whereas coastal regions have registered more episodic floods since 1960. The province of Zambézia and coastal regions of Nampula had lower mean precipitation, Zambézia and Sofala had more successive droughts between 2000-2014, however, the rest of the Country received mean precipitation more marginally in the same period. Up to approximately 2030, more severe cyclones will pose the biggest threat to the coast; beyond 2030, the accelerating sea level rise will present the greatest danger, especially when combined with high tides and storm surges. The city of Beira is already at risk, with inadequate coastal protection for annual return events. Predictions have shown that there will be increasing in droughts on the central and southern sides of the country, more floods during the rainy season, and an additional rise of the sea level from 13-56 cm by 2090. The El-Niño conditions in 2015-2016 provoked the worst drought in the last 35 years, reducing Food Availability by about 15%. The food insecurity provoked by the drought worsened in 2017 with the Dieno Cyclone which damaged crops and destroyed infrastructures. The increasing frequency and gravity of the Cyclones put also the crops at risk, as the Dieno Cyclone destroyed almost 30000 hectares of crops and 135000 cashew trees and coconut trees. According to UN-ISDR (2015), more than 700 mil people lost their lives, more than 1.4 million people were left injured and about 23 million were left homeless as a result of natural disasters. In total, more than 1.5 billion people were affected by natural disasters in various ways. Mozambique was affected most recently by Idai and Kenneth Tropical Cyclone (2019) and Tropical Storm Ana (2022). The Table below shows the impacts caused by the cyclones and Storm: Indicators Cyclone Idai Cyclone Kenneth Tropical Storm Ana Obits 45 603 29 Injured 94 1642 196 Affected Houses 44907 223947 23400 Sanitary Unities 19 93 13 Classrooms 480 3504 543 Affected students 41694 335123 46000 Hectares of lost crops 55488 715378 There are many projects around the country aiming to Adapt, Mitigate and to build Institutional and Human Capacity, some of them are described below. In 2012, Mozambique launched its National Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Strategy for 2013-2025 (NCCAMS). The national priority is defined in its mission as “to increase resilience in the communities and the national economy including the reduction of climate risks and promote low-carbon development and the green climate economy through the integration of adaptation and mitigation in sectoral and local planning. Mozambique also received a grant (2015) from the Climate Investment Funds through its Clean Technology Fund (CTF) for solar PV development by the private sector. Mozambique is one of five countries in a regional program, which will support private sector investments in utility-scale solar PV plants. Recently (2017), Mozambique has received approval from CIF Forest Investment Program (FIP) for projects focusing on national and landscape level interventions that aim to reduce emissions and promote rural development and leverage the private sector to link communities to the opportunities provided by major forest sector plantation investment. References www.unicef.org/mozambique/tempestade-tropical-ana-em-moçambique Bicuana, G. 2009. Mozambique and Climate Change. Climate Change and Trade: The Challenges for Southern Africa. SAIIA. 17pp. ATLAS (Adaptação às Mudanças Climáticas, Lideranca do Pensamento e Avaliações). 2018. Perfil de Risco Climático – Moçambique. USAID. 6pp. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Netherlands. 2018. Climate Change Profile – Mozambique. 20pp. National Institute for Disaster Management (INGC).2012. Responding to Climate Change in Mozambique. The Republic of Mozambique. Ministry of State Administration. 144pp.