COP28 – SADC BELIEVES IN COMBINED EFFORTS TO REDUCE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE.

Intensifying environmental protection activities, coaching and strengthening the capacity of communities to cope with climate change and initiating disaster response mechanisms remain among the priorities of the Anglican Church of Burundi at this time.

As effects of climate change increase day by day, the enhancement of actions and community mobilization is mandatory.During his participation in COP28 held in Dubaï, Bishop Aimé Joseph KIMARARUNGU, Chairperson of Board of Directors of Anglican Service for Community Development (SADC), who represented the Anglican Church in the delegation from Burundi, reiterated the determination of the Anglican Church of Burundi to continue and within the limits of its possibilities to promote community resilience against climate change.

Through its development agency “SADC”, the Anglican Church of Burundi has for several years supported efforts of Burundi in protecting the environment and reducing the effects of climate change.According to Bishop Aimé Joseph the gathering of international actors engaged in environment protection is a particular opportunity for local actors to learn from others, understand current initiatives conducted around the world but also to discuss the best ways for advocacy for concrete actions.

Regularly Burundi is affected by climate change. The predominantly rural population living from subsistence agriculture and people living on the coasts of rivers and lakes are the most affected. Every year, SADC actively participates in the intensification of environmental protection activities by planting several hundreds of thousands of trees, supporting farmers in the adoption of new resilient agriculture techniques soil protection and intensification of initiatives aimed at ecosystem restoration.In Burundi, the reduction of agriculture production, landslides, floods, the destruction of infrastructure and homes and the precarious living conditions of populations forced to move to temporarily safe places, are the main effects caused by climate change.