Tanzania: Why Climate Change Is Tanzania’s Top Agenda

Tanzania: Why Climate Change Is Tanzania’s Top Agenda

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In: Tanzania Foreign Investment News

TANZANIA is currently experiencing severe weather as a result of a changing climate.

Increased temperatures, prolonged droughts and erratic rainfall are resulting in significant impacts to public health and livelihoods, with climate projections indicating that the situation is expected to intensify.

The extreme drop of water levels of Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika and Lake Jipe in recent years and the dramatic recession of 7 kilometers of Lake Rukwa in about 50 years, are associated, at least in part, with climate change, and are threatening economic and social activities.

The severe droughts which hit most parts of the country leading to severe food shortages, food insecurity, water scarcity, hunger and acute shortage of power signify the vulnerability of the country to impacts of climate change.

The country depends on the media to speak out on all these environmental issues, for the betterment of us, human beings and other living creatures provided that we depend on each other for our survival.

Engineer Matage Dotto, on behalf of the Managing Director of Bukoba Urban Water and Sanitation Authority (BUWASA), appealed to the media across the country to make climate change their top agenda by educating the public on its effects and necessary steps to be taken.

“Specialization makes a journalist to be perfect. You should focus on specialization in different fields, including environmental reporting,” he said.

Several people are reported to have died while significant infrastructures were destroyed by floods that recently hit Kagera Region.

Also Read: Fueling equality: How clean cooking drives women’s empowerment in Tanzania

Over 300 households were recently displaced following landslides which hit Muleba District’s Ilemela village.

Reports indicate that the landslide started slowly on April 17th of this year, followed by a big landslide that swept through Bushabo hamlet, damaging at least 14 houses completely while over 300 families were displaced.

However, there were no casualties. A camp for fishermen located at Bushabo hamlet was completely destroyed by the landslide. This is the first incident involving a landslide.

The incident has caused panic among citizens. A significant number of crops had also been washed away. A landslide is a mass movement of material, such as rock, earth or debris, down a slope.

This can happen suddenly or more slowly over long periods of time. When the force of gravity acting on a slope exceeds the resisting force of a slope, the slope will fail, and a landslide occurs. Landslides are caused by rain, earthquakes, volcanos and other factors.

Vice President Dr Philip Mpango, on the other hand, has called on international stakeholders to cooperate and support Tanzania in climate change adaptation, including disaster control and response, and building the capacity of the early warning system.

Cooperation can be further increased in building the ability to cope with climate change and facilitating modern agriculture that is compatible with the climate to improve productivity for smallholder farmers.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan has already launched the African Women Clean Cooking Support Programme (AWCCSP) and the National Strategy for Clean Cooking Energy 2024-2034.

President Samia recently co-chaired the Paris Clean Cooking Energy Summit, alongside African Development Bank Group President Dr Akinwumi Adesina, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store of Norway and International Energy Agency Executive Director, Fatih Birol.

The Paris summit aimed to secure commitments toward 4 billion US dollars (about 10tr/- ) needed to close clean cooking funding gap for African women.

The landmark event aimed to drive significant change in clean cooking access for the nearly one billion Africans using polluting fuels, which cause the premature deaths of approximately half a million women and children every year.

Women and girls spend up to five hours a day collecting fuel and cooking. This leaveslittle time for education, social or economic activities.

Also Read: COLUMN: FROM TABORA WITH LOVE. I think soon we will have to own a boat

Worldwide, according to the African Development Bank (AFDB) statement, the annual economic cost of women and girls’ time searching for fuel wood is estimated at 800 billion US dollars. The health costs are as high as 1.4 trillion US dollars.

“The capital investment needed to ensure universal clean cooking access in Africa by 2030 is accessible,” AFDB said adding, “The 4.0 billion US dollars needed annually is a small fraction of the 2.8 trillion US dollars invested globally in energy each year”.

Clean cooking initiatives are eligible under the Climate Action Window (CAW) of the African Development Fund (ADF), the AFDB Group’s concessional window for 37 of Africa’s poorest and most vulnerable countries.

Increased adoption of clean cooking fuels such as electricity, biogas and sustainable biofuels will improve the health and well- being of Africa’s women and children and also protect Africa’s forests.

Several African countries have begun taking proactive measures to accelerate clean cooking adoption. Data indicate that about 6.7 per cent of Tanzanian population are using clean cooking energy, Kenya (23 percent), Uganda (0.7 percent), Ghana (30 percent) and India (71.7 per cent).

The AFDB’s commitment to addressing the clean cooking crisis aligns with its high five priorities- particularly “Light Up and Power Africa” and “Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa.”

Source: allafrica.com

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Air Tanzania Banned From EU Airspace Due to Safety Concerns
Tanzania Foreign Investment News
Chief Editor

Air Tanzania Banned From EU Airspace Due to Safety Concerns

Several airports have since locked Air Tanzania, dealing a severe blow to the Tanzanian national carrier that must now work overtime to regain its certification or go the wet lease way

The European Commission has announced the inclusion of Air Tanzania on the EU Air Safety List, effectively banning the airline from operating in European airspace.

The decision, made public on December 16, 2024, is based on safety concerns identified by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which also led to the denial of Air Tanzania’s application for a Third Country Operator (TCO) authorisation.

The Commission did not go into the specifics of the safety infringement but industry experts suggest it is possible that the airline could have flown its Airbus A220 well past its scheduled major checks, thus violating the airworthiness directives.

“The decision to include Air Tanzania in the EU Air Safety List underscores our unwavering commitment to ensuring the highest safety standards for passengers in Europe and worldwide,” said Apostolos Tzitzikostas, EU Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism.

“We strongly urge Air Tanzania to take swift and decisive action to address these safety issues. I have offered the Commission’s assistance to the Tanzanian authorities in enhancing Air Tanzania’s safety performance and achieving full compliance with international aviation standards.”

Air Tanzania has a mixed fleet of modern aircraft types including Boeing 787s, 737 Max jets, and Airbus A220s.

It has been flying the B787 Dreamliner to European destinations like Frankfurt in Germany and Athens in Greece and was looking to add London to its growing list with the A220.

But the ban not only scuppers the London dream but also has seen immediate ripple effect, with several airports – including regional like Kigali and continental – locking out Air Tanzania.

Tanzania operates KLM alongside the national carrier.

The European Commission said Air Tanzania may be permitted to exercise traffic rights by using wet-leased aircraft of an air carrier which is not subject to an operating ban, provided that the relevant safety standards are complied with.

A wet lease is where an airline pays to use an aircraft with a crew, fuel, and insurance all provided by the leasing company at a fee.

Two more to the list

The EU Air Safety List, maintained to ensure passenger safety, is updated periodically based on recommendations from the EU Air Safety Committee.

The latest revision, which followed a meeting of aviation safety experts in Brussels from November 19 to 21, 2024, now includes 129 airlines.

Of these, 100 are certified in 15 states where aviation oversight is deemed insufficient, and 29 are individual airlines with significant safety deficiencies.

Alongside Air Tanzania, other banned carriers include Air Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe), Avior Airlines (Venezuela), and Iran Aseman Airlines (Iran).

Commenting on the broader implications of the list, Tzitzikostas stated, “Our priority remains the safety of every traveler who relies on air transport. We urge all affected airlines to take these bans seriously and work collaboratively with international bodies to resolve the identified issues.”

In a positive development, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has been cleared to resume operations in the EU following a four-year suspension. The ban, which began in 2020, was lifted after substantial improvements in safety performance and oversight by PIA and the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA).

“Since the TCO Authorisation was suspended, PIA and PCAA have made remarkable progress in enhancing safety standards,” noted Tzitzikostas. “This demonstrates that safety issues can be resolved through determination and cooperation.”

Another Pakistani airline, Airblue Limited, has also received EASA’s TCO authorisation.

Decisions to include or exclude airlines from the EU Air Safety List are based on rigorous evaluations of international safety standards, particularly those established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

The process involves thorough review and consultation among EU Member State aviation safety experts, with oversight from the European Commission and support from EASA.

“Where an airline currently on the list believes it complies with the required safety standards, it can request a reassessment,” explained Tzitzikostas. “Our goal is not to penalize but to ensure safety compliance globally.”

Airlines listed on the EU Air Safety List face significant challenges to their international operations, as the bans highlight shortcomings in safety oversight by their home regulatory authorities.

For Air Tanzania, this inclusion signals an urgent need for reform within Tanzania’s aviation sector to address these deficiencies and align with global standards.

The path forward will require immediate and sustained efforts to rectify safety concerns and regain access to one of the world’s most critical aviation markets.

Source: allafrica.com

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December 16, 2024