. Nkoya

By MELBOURNE MUSHITU –
THE Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) has handed over computers worth US$50,000  to five Government departments to help them improve on climate change monitoring.
The computers have been provided under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) emission capacity programme for green house gas inventory.
The five beneficiaries are the departments of Energy and Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Local Government and Housing and the Department of Industry.
ZEMA acting director general Maxwell Nkoya said there was need for huge participation in mitigating climate change effects.
“It is understood that climate change is caused by the effect of green house gases emitted through human activities. The global community has, therefore, come together to address climate change through some climate change agreements,” Mr Nkoya said.
He said the five sectors had been designated to take the lead in compiling green house gas inventories in their respective sectors.
The five sectors are supposed to formulate, implement, publish and regularly update national programmes for mitigating and adapting to climate change.
Mr Nkoya said the Ministry of Lands, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection had embarked on a project of low emission capacity whose main objective was to develop capacities for a low carbon emission and climate change development pathway.
He also said an information technology platform would be developed at ZEMA with a central server which would be networked with computers at the five Government sectors.
Mr Nkoya urged the recipients of the computers to use them for their intended purpose.