Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management players describe Tropical Cyclone Freddy as wake-up call for Malawi

Experts in climate change and disaster risk management see Tropical Cyclone Freddy as a wake-up call for loss and damage conversations, writes Memory Phoso.

Malawi-Players in the climate change and disaster risk management sector have expressed concern following the recent devastating Tropical Cyclone Freddy, describing it as a call to action for the country to engage in loss and damage conversations, writes Memory Phoso.

Speaking at a panel discussion on the management of loss and damage in Malawi on Thursday in Lilongwe, Civil Society Network on Climate Change (CISONECC) National Coordinator Julius Ngoma said, "As a country, we have not done enough in disaster preparedness of such hazards despite all the warnings from the Department of Disaster Management Affairs and Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services."

Ngoma added that there are some climate change effects which cannot be addressed through adaptation and mitigation.

According to Ng’oma, the tropical cyclones which have hit Malawi have proved that the country has not done enough on disaster preparedness.

"We were supposed to take action from the first cyclone that affected the country if we were to avoid such consequences," he said.

Ng’oma, however, expressed optimism about the government's willingness to enact a disaster risk management bill, stating that CISONECC had been advocating for it as the old Act only focuses on response and not preparedness.

Dr. Isaac Tchuwa, a lecturer at the Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST), concurred with Ng’oma, saying disaster response is costing the country funds that could have been channelled to other developmental activities if the country had the new DRM Bill finalized and enacted.

"The country does not have a special fund for disaster response. When disasters strike, like the recent Tropical Cyclone Freddy, the government draws resources for a response from other budgetary allocations. We need to have a special fund for disaster preparedness, and that is why we have been lobbying for the DRM Bill to be finalized," said Tchuwa.

Enifa Malembo from Traditional Authority Mwambo in Zomba shared her experience on loss and damage with tropical cyclones that hit the country, stating that a lot of people from her area have lost their property, crop fields, livestock, and lives due to the cyclones.

Malemba added that Lake Chilwa has overflowed, making graveyards inaccessible and forcing communities to bury their loved ones in other villages.

"Currently, Lake Chilwa has overflowed with the rains we have been experiencing in Zomba. We can’t even access graves in our area because there is water everywhere. Instead, we use boats to cross the lake to ask permission from leaders in nearby villages so that we can use their graveyard to bury our relatives," lamented Malemba.

However, Malemba said people in the area were prepared for the disaster as they were warned through indigenous knowledge.

The loss and damage discussions started in 1991, with only a green light during the Conference of Parties (COP27) Summit in Egypt, where delegates agreed to have a loss and damage fund.

The government of Scotland has become the first country from the global north, which is said to be a heavy polluter to finance loss and damage in the country through CISONECC, Trocaire, Church Action in Relief and Development (CARD), CADECOM Zomba, and the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF).