Swaziland National Climate Change Policy 2016.

The National Climate Change Policy is a national policy with a multi-sectoral approach. This Policy lays down strategies to ensure a sustainable, climate resilient and inclusive low-carbon green growth society. The objectives of this Policy are to (I) strengthen policy framework for effective implementation of climate change adaptation and mitigation measures, (II) enhance climate-resilient and inclusive low-carbon green growth investments, (III) raise public awareness on climate change through education and information, and (IV) strengthen coordination and partnerships in addressing climate change.
Climate change adaptation and mitigation will be ensured to reduce the vulnerability and enhance the resilience of the communities and the economy to the impacts of climate change and disasters. A national adaptation plan will be developed to enhance investments in adaptation in the key areas, in particular water resources, agriculture and food security, energy security, climate risk management, disaster risk management and resilience, forestry and health. Integrated Water Resources Management Strategy will be promoted to address integrated river basin development and protection of water catchment areas. Rainwater harvesting technologies will be adopted for water conservation. Flood prevention will be strengthened by improving flood-warning system and flood-controlling facilities. Climate-smart practices will be promoted, such as diversification and intensification of food and crops, altering the timing and location of cropping activities, agricultural intensification and adoption of sustainable land management practices. The access and use of climate forecasting will be improved to reduce production risk and enhance the capacity to predict climate variability at seasonal and inter-annual scales. Pest, disease and weed management practices will be improved through wider use of integrated pest and pathogen management and use of varieties and species resistant to pests, diseases and drought. The conservation and management of soil and water will be improved by enhancing educational and outreach programmes. Agricultural extension and advisory services will be strengthened. Furthermore, energy-efficient and renewable energy technologies will be deployed, energy supplies will be diversified and the dependence on limited traditional energy sources will be reduced. Affordable, effective, sustainable and integrated waste management strategies will be implemented to increase rates of waste minimization and recycling and combustion of waste-to-energy. The resilience of ecosystems will be increased by improving forest management systems so as to control deforestation, reforestation and afforestation with an ecosystem-based approach. Carbon emissions will be reduced through forest management, forest conservation, longer forest rotations, fire management and protection against insects. In addition to that, mitigation measures will be taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the priority sectors, such as energy, industry agriculture, forestry, waste management, and transport. Research, development and demonstration innovation centres will be established to create and commercialize new low carbon industrial technologies. Moreover, disaster risk management policy and regulatory framework will be developed to adopt a comprehensive Disaster Risk Reduction and Disaster Management Framework. The roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders will be identified to enhance coordination of climate and disaster risk response at the national and subnational levels. Public awareness will be raised on the impacts of climate change by improving access to disaster and climate risk information. Public health will be protected against the impacts of climate change by developing health information systems to facilitate a better understanding of the relationship between climate, disease outbreak and response. The involvement of women in the development planning and implementation of climate change adaptation and mitigation actions will be promoted and gender will be integrated into all climate change-related policies, programs and plans.
The evaluation of this policy will be carried out every five years and updated in accordance with the emerging climate knowledge from the IPCC as well as the new developments as a result of the decisions of the Conferences of the Parties, indigenous knowledge and experiences, and lessons learned from implementing climate change adaptation and mitigation actions.