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Acting Vice Chancellor of the University of Botswana (UB), Mr. Dawid Katzke, says issues of climate change require concerted efforts from all sectors of society. Mr. Katzke made these remarks when officially opening the Tipping Points Explained by Climate Change (TIPPECC) Stakeholder Engagement Workshop on Climate Change held in Gaborone on the 13th of May 2024.

TIPPECC stands as a significant Euro 2 million multinational research endeavor focused on climate change information to address regional levels of environmental changes in southern Africa. This project receives funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) through the Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management (SASSCAL). SASSCAL is an initiative spearheaded by Botswana, Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Germany, aimed at tackling global challenges. The TIPPECC project is coordinated by the Global Change Institute at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa and involves, the University of Botswana, University of Zambia, Namibia University of Science and Technology, Friedrich Schiller University (Jena, Germany) and the German Climate Modelling Centre GERICS.

Mr. Katzke observed that from policy makers and academics to community leaders and industry experts, each stakeholder played a pivotal role in shaping a collective response to climate change. “The University of Botswana as a leading institution of higher learning [in Botswana], is committed to fostering dialogue and collaboration amongst stakeholders, in both the public service and private sector on critical issues such as climate change,” said Mr. Katzke.

He added that such workshops provided opportunities for bringing together diverse perspectives, sharing of knowledge and identifying innovative solutions that could drive positive change in the fight against the impacts of climate change.

“Over the course of this workshop, I encourage each of you to engage actively, share your expertise and explore opportunities for collaboration,” noted the Acting Vice Chancellor.

Mr. Katzke further urged participants to utilize the workshop as a platform for collaborative efforts towards a sustainable planet and a promising future for all. He emphasized the importance of leveraging collective action to tackle the challenges presented by climate change.Top of Form

Meanwhile, TIPPECC identifies levels of environmental change in the southern African climate and land use system in areas of food security and water security as well as biodiversity conservation through co-production, co-development and targeted research. A major focus for TIPPECC entails the timing and location of potential crossings of tipping point thresholds in southern Africa under climate change. These are then assessed using detailed state of the art regional climate projections and knowledge of system dynamics and tolerances. A major outcome of the project will be a climate service web portal which will be developed to provide climate change information and projections of climate change impacts and adaptation options to a wide range of stakeholders in an accessible and understandable format.

Consequently, as part of its stakeholder engagement programme, TIPPECC Botswana has organised two workshops in Gaborone and Kasane, bringing together participants from different government departments, multinational organisations and private sector as well as TIPPECC teams from Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and their German partners for climate change responses.