The Constitution recognizes the people’s respect for the environment as the country’s her…

Motion text

THAT, aware that the Constitution recognizes the people’s respect for the environment as the country’s heritage and the commitment to sustaining the environment for future generations; further aware that the cyclic drought in the country has caused devastating effects and serious disruption to the economy; recognizing that climate change is a global problem with developing countries being the most affected as these regions are dependent on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture and forestry; further recognizing that the severe effects of climate change are already being experienced in the form of frequent droughts, flooding and other extreme weather occurrences; concerned that the current climate change monitoring mechanisms in the country are based on traditional methods which rely on ground observations and climate models which have limitations in terms of accuracy, timeliness and spatial coverage; noting that the country recently launched its first operational satellite to collect and transmit high-quality data; further noting that this technology can help in accurately monitoring and forecasting climatic and weather patterns; cognizant of the fact that other jurisdictions have made use of this technology to monitor climate change with marked positive impacts; appreciating that the use of technology especially satellite technology would allow enhanced monitoring that can have significant impact on sustainable environmental management; further appreciating that this technology would be useful in monitoring difficult-to-reach, expansive and unsafe areas; now therefore, this House resolves that the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change & Forestry develops a policy on IT that deploys the use of satellites in the monitoring and forecasting of climatic conditions with the objective of ensuring timely and accurate data collection to enhance the country’s capacity to respond to weather-related risks and vulnerabilities including climate change.