United Nations recognise climate adaptation project in Mozambique

A UCL-led project dedicated to empowering the urban poor to design and implement activities to adapt to climate change in Maputo, Mozambique, has been recognised as one of the 2013 Lighthouse Activities 2013 under the Momentum for Change initiative of the United Nations. The project, Public Private People Partnerships for Climate Compatible Development (4PCCD), enabled local residents in an informal settlement in Maputo to establish a climate planning committee whose members wrote a plan for local development under climate change. Community representatives have now started negotiations with government institutions and the private sector to implement their proposals for drainage improvement, waste recycling and environmental education. The project demonstrated both the capacity of local citizens to intervene in local planning and their engagement with climate change issues in their neighbourhood. "The 2013 Lighthouse Activities are true beacons of hope, demonstrating what happens when innovation and passion come together to address the biggest challenge of our time," United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres said. She added: "There are thousands of examples of people taking action to address climate change all over the world. The Lighthouse Activities highlight some of the most practical, scalable and replicable examples of what people, businesses, governments and industries are doing to tackle climate change, which I hope will inspire others to do the same." - The project emerged from a need, as identified by the government of Mozambique, to understand the concerns and needs of local residents in the context of climate change.