Burundi’s NDC provides that at the institutional level, the Ministry of Water, the Environment, Land Management and Urban Planning, with its departments and personalized institutions such as IGEBU and OBPE, handles matters relating to climate change. For the fulfilment of its mission, the Ministry enjoys the support of frameworks for dialogue such as the National Environment Commission, the Sectoral Group on Water, Sanitation and the Environment (GSEAE), the National Water Partnership (PNE-Bu), and the National platform for Risk Prevention and Disaster Management.
The NDC highlights that the Burundian economy is dominated by the primary sector. The current production structure is dominated by subsistence farming, making the economy very vulnerable and fragile due to its dependency on climate conditions. As various sectoral adaptation vulnerability assessment studies have shown, climate change affects every sector of the country’s economy, particularly agriculture. The NDC states that studies show that in Burundi, through 2050, the average annual temperature will by 1°C, rainfall will rise by roughly 10%, and the precipitation regime will be disrupted such that there will only two seasons remaining: a rainy season and a dry season. It explains that these climate changes will engender a large number of risks associated with the following phenomena:
The NDC goes on to detail specific impacts relating to climate change In Burundi across various sectors.
The NDC notes that Burundi’s adaptation priorities are outlined in the following documents:
It then outlines its priorities for adaptation to climate change across various sectors, and the current policy and strategy documents for those sectors:
National Water Resources Management Policy and Action Plan (2001) and Water Code (Law 1/02 of 26/03/2012 enacting the Water Code in Burundi)
Sectoral Strategy for the Energy Sector in Burundi (2011) and Law 1/13 of 23/04/2015 reorganizing the electricity sector in Burundi
National Forestry Policy of Burundi (2012)
National Agricultural Strategy 2008-2015 (2008), National Sustainable Land use Strategy (2007), National Action Programme to Fight Land Degradation
The NDC also details the components of the priority adaptation programmes identified as part of the National Strategy and Action Plan on Climate Change (2012), namely climate risk adaptation and management, and capacity-building, knowledge management and communication.
Finally, the NDC lists the following current initiatives to support adaptation:
Burundi’s NDC references the National Platform for Risk Prevention and Disaster Management, which is one of the frameworks supporting the Ministry of the Environment in the implementation of the NDC.
Requirements for Additional Planning, Financial and Technical Capacities
Burundi’s NDC sets out its adaptation needs that have been identified to reduce Burundi’s vulnerability and boost its resilience. These relate to human, institutional, technical and financial capacity-building, as well as technology transfers.
In terms of Human and institutional capacity-building needs, the country needs to:
In terms of technical and technology transfer needs, the country needs to:
The NDC asserts that most of the climate change adaptation actions identified in previous national and sectoral action plans have not yet been implemented for want of the financial means to do so. It then summarises the financial needs for implementation of the NDC, setting out the cost of various programmes. In total, these come to US$1,493,590,000. Of this, US$3,719,000 is for climate risk adaptation and management.
The climate risk adaptation and management programme identified as part of the National Strategy and Action Plan on Climate Change (2012) involves establishing functional monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, as well as knowledge management and information mechanisms.