In Somalia, climate-induced shocks have affected an estimated 8.2 million people (or over 50% of population), including 6.6 million with critical food insecurity conditions. Due to a lack of formal instruments and limited coordination capacities, government adaptation plans haven’t been implemented successfully. According to Mohamed Mire, a research consultant at the Juba Institute for Climate Adaptation, Somalia urgently needs to strengthen its planning and coordination capacities. This will allow for sound leadership and an improved implementation of climate adaptation plans.
In a recent policy brief, Mire covers different dimensions of climate impact affecting Somalia. Amongst its major challenges the country faces floodings and widespread desertification. Droughts may be driven by a combination of Somalia’s heavy dependence on natural resources for energy and a failure of its rivers’ failure to absorb seasonal flooding from neighbouring Ethiopian highlands.
Somalia’s capacity to address climate impacts is obstructed by its limited means to gather and monitor weather patterns. Additionally, it lacks the legal instruments that enable coherent planning, implementation and coordination of climate risk response measures.
Mire recommends policy considerations that may contribute to an improved implementation of climate adaptation plans.
The following measures present an array of policy considerations to tackle existing systemic barriers to implementation of national climate adaptation plans at all structures of governance in Somalia:
- The Federal Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MoECC) should take concrete measures toward adoption and enforcement of national climate change management instruments to enable and guide effective implementation of national climate adaptation plans and strategies.
- A legally binding national climate change management instrument, for instance, will lay the basis for effective coordination and implementation of climate adaptation plans.
- The Federal Government of Somalia should strengthen coordination capacities of lead institutions on climate change at both the Federal and State level.
- Implement capacity-strengthening investments to level up coordination Mechanisms’ technical, analytical and operational capabilities to drive sound implementation of climate adaptation plans.
- The Federal government should improve cooperation and partnership with member States to ensure an integrated and harmonized implementation of climate adaptation plans at all levels.
- Tensions and disagreements over politics as systemic barriers to implementation of adaptation plans should be avoided and addressed accordingly.
The text is an overview of a Policy brief written by Mohamed Mire and published by the Juba Institute for Climate Adaptation (Jica). Read the full brief here.