Tunisian Minister of Environment, Leila Chikhaoui El Mahdawi, said that the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27), which was held recently in Sharm El-Sheikh, triumphed for the rights of countries affected by climate change.
The minister added that her country has attached great importance to the issue of climate change for years, and was keen on the success of the Climate Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, noting that the conference came out with many important recommendations, most notably the establishment of a “green climate” fund to support the efforts of developing countries to reduce emissions. This is a victory for the rights of these countries affected by climate change.
She explained that after the end of the climate conference, the ministry organized a number of activities related to climate change, in light of the national strategy for development with low gas emissions and adapting to climate changes for the year 2050.
She added that this strategy is a roadmap and includes two main elements, the first is the transition to a stage marked by the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and the second is the development of Tunisia’s ability to adapt to the risks of climate change, while ensuring the achievement of sustainable development goals.
The Tunisian Minister of the Environment stated that with regard to the first element of the transition to the stage of weak gas emissions, it will be achieved through reaching the stage of carbon neutrality until 2050, which requires the adoption of strategic development options based on restructuring the economy and changing consumer practices and societal organization models, which means that Carbon neutrality will cover all development paths.
And the minister continued, “We relied, in defining the concept of the national low-carbon strategy, on a number of forward-looking models for some sectors, such as energy, industry, agriculture, forests, and waste, where two different emissions scenarios were developed, the first is the continuation of the current level of BaU emissions, and the second is the scenario of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, BaC.”
She added that Tunisia seeks to reduce carbon intensity by 45% until 2030 compared to 2010, which is the goal of the contribution determined at the national level, and by 85% until 2040, and hopes that the level of carbon intensity will decline to zero in 2050.
Chikhaoui indicated that with regard to the second axis of the strategy related to adaptation to climate changes, a long-term vision was defined to make Tunisia able to withstand and adapt to the effects of current and expected climate changes, by strengthening the coping capabilities of its ecological and agricultural systems, its citizens, its economy, and its rural and urban spaces, and working to achieve A number of procedures, measures and transformations necessary to ensure a sustainable economic and social development path.
And she added that this national strategy was prepared to withstand climate change through the methodology of expanded dialogue with all parties and sectors that are most vulnerable and affected by climate change, seeking the help of international and local experts in the field, and benefiting from the available data, tools and modern approaches at the international level, including in particular the reports of the Commission of Governmental Experts. Climate, which is the highest scientific body for guidance in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and all other strategies concerned with this issue and the goals of sustainable development have been taken into consideration.
