Final ResMob Stakeholder Dialogue
The Resource Mobilisation for Biodiversity Conservation Project held its final stakeholder dialogue on the 25th September 2018. The workshop aimed to share key outcomes of the Project, as well as engage stakeholders for inputs on the prioritised economic instruments to be incorporated into the drafted Financing Strategy including the proposed Biodiversity Economy in selected Landscape in Namibia.
The workshop kicked off with a keynote speech by the Honourable Deputy Minister Bernadette Jagger who highlighted that the ResMob Project played a valuable role in supporting the Ministry of Environment and Tourism in the areas of valuing ecosystem services and developing economic instruments for biodiversity conservation. These issues are listed in the Second National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP2) for Namibia and further reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals, specifically Target 15.9 which states that; “By 2020, integrate ecosystem and biodiversity values into national and local planning, development processes, poverty reduction strategies and accounts”. read more…
Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity Dr. Christiana Pasca Palmer vistits Namibia and the ResMob project
Spending on biodiversity is not a cost but an investment with a high return to sustainable development. The international Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) reports indicate that if human kind invests in nature, the return can be as high as 50:1, or more.
This was the overall message by the UN Assistant Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Dr. Christiana Pasca Palmer, when she addressed a high-level briefing on Biodiversity Finance in Windhoek on 6 August 2018. read more…
NUST Summer School 2018: The Importance of Environmental Services in the Context of the Biodiversity Economy
For the fourth year running NUST and the ResMob Project, an initiative by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and the GIZ, joined forces to host a course on the assessment and valuation of ecosystem services in the context of the biodiversity economy.
From the 2nd to 7th of July post-graduate students from NUST and UNAM as well as professionals from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and selected members of the Environmental Economics Network of Namibia came together in order to get a better insight into ecosystem services, both in theory and practice.
Ministerial economists & environmental experts equipped with insights and skills on environmental economic tools
About 25 economists and environmental experts from line ministries as well as members of the Environmental Economics Network of Namibia participated in a 3-Day specialist training on methods and examples of the Economics of Ecosystems & Biodiversity (TEEB) Namibia Country Study.
The training was offered by the ResMob Project, an initiative jointly implemented by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and the GIZ, commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and nuclear Safety (BMUB). read more…
Biodiversity Economy Planning Workshop developed innovative solutions
Members of the biodiversity economy steering group and selected key stakeholders designed ideas, which could become innovative solutions for further development and implementation in Namibia’s biodiversity-based sectors. They actively participated in a three-day planning training-workshop at River Crossing Lodge, close to Windhoek, from 30 May to 1st June 2018.
The extension of the ResMob Project, with the help of a new component, will directly aim to kick-start the development and implementation of a biodiversity economy in selected landscapes. A biodiversity economy is a landscape-centred green economy approach. It focuses on biodiversity-based sectors, value chains and targets the communities, conservancies and businesses living and active in these landscapes. Therefore, the new component aims at facilitating the prioritisation process (selection of landscapes, sectors and value chains), activating, and involving relevant stakeholder through workshops and baseline studies. (more…)
EENN members and family contribute to the national clean-up campaign
To fully grasp the essential meaning of environmental economics, one occasionally has to grapple with undesirable realities such as pollution, a sore for the eye alongside Namibia’s roads, but also in Windhoek – many a times described as one of the cleanest cities in Southern Africa.
The EENN did also heed the call of the President of the Republic of Namibia, Dr. Hage Geingob, by participating in the National Clean-up Day. Due to various prior commitments to 25 May, the EENN arranged a clean-up event on 2 June, which took place at the famous Eveline Street in Windhoek. read more…
Relevant accurate data vital to a Green Economy Framework
Relevant accurate data and statistics are vitally important to a Green Economy Accounting Framework (GEAF) for Namibia. The lack thereof may constrain the design, implementation and evaluation of green growth policies, and even be detrimental to a green economy. Mr Mwala Lubinda, Lecturer in the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the Namibian University of Science and Technology (NUST) addressed the 11th After-work-talk of the Environmental Economics Network of Namibia (EENN) in Windhoek on 23 May, on how a Green Economy Framework could be created for Namibia. He is also a member of the EENN. read more…
Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) 3rd Global Conference held in India, March 2018
Representatives from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and the GIZ’s Resource Mobilization Project travelled to Mamallapurram, Chennai, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu to attend the UNDP’s 3rd Annual BIOFIN Global Conference from March 6th to 8th. Developed by the UNDP as a methodological framework to facilitate evidence based plans and solutions, BIOFIN seeks to support improved financing of biodiversity initiatives in developing countries. The third BIOFIN global conference saw delegates from over thirty countries — spanning from the Pacific and South East Asia to Sub-Saharan Africa to the Caribbean and Latin America – come together to support south to south dialogue on the challenges and opportunities for financing biodiversity initiatives. read more…
10th EENN After-Work Talk: Incorporating natural capital would put businesses on the way of going green
Going green would certainly pay-off for Namibian businesses if they were to strategically introduce the impacts and dependencies on natural capital into their business models.
Prof. Edeltraud Günther, Director of PRISMA, Centre for Sustainability and Policy at the Technische Universität of Dresden (Technical University of Dresden), delivering her presentation.
Prof. Edeltraud Günther, Director of PRISMA, Centre for Sustainability and Policy at the Technische Universität of Dresden (Technical University of Dresden), addressed the tenth After-Work-Talk of the Environmental Economics Network of Namibia (EENN) in Windhoek on 6 April 2018. About 80 members and other like-minded persons attended the event at the Hotel School of the Namibian University of Science and Technology.
Focus group preselect and prioritize finance solutions for the National Biodiversity Resource Mobilization Strategy
The Resource Mobilization for Biodiversity Conservation (ResMob) Project conducted an expert focus group meeting in Windhoek on 14 March to utilize the expertise of stakeholders to select and prioritize 10 to 15 finance options for inclusion into the National Biodiversity Resource Mobilization Strategy.
This is a further effort and consultation to involve stakeholders in an interactive and participatory process to develop a National Biodiversity Resource Mobilization strategy.