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UNDP's Environment and Energy
programme focuses on strengthening the capacity of the Government of
Lesotho to manage environment change and adopt an integrated
approach to the sustainable management of natural resources towards
achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, especially Goal 7 –
Ensuring Environmental Sustainability. It is in line with the
overall national programme for tourism, environment and cultural
development as elaborated in the Government of Lesotho's Poverty
Reduction Strategy (PRS) and Vision 2020.
This approach will combine promoting the use of sound environmental
management practices in order to stop and reverse land degradation
in the country, with the implementation of the concepts of
conservation of biodiversity through proper farming and grazing
methods. In addition to this, environmentally friendly energy
technologies will be promoted with the aim to reduce the high
dependence on biomass for energy, which contributes to accelerated
rate of soil erosion as a result of soil cover loss. Burning of
Biomass also contributes to respiratory diseases, which are easily
contracted by people living with the HIV.
The Environment programme will be streamlined for an effective
overall response to the myriad national challenges including
widespread poverty and HIV&AIDS through mainstreaming sustainable
development principles in the implementation of the PRS. The success
of the current UNDP assistance to national policy to scale up the
fight against HIV/AIDS and the process of the government of Lesotho
to decentralize services has created new opportunities for
sustainable land and natural resource management as it depends on a
simultaneous and focused transformative programme delivery that
seeks to break the vicious cycle of HIV&AIDS, Poverty and Food
Insecurity at community level.
Areas of Support
1. Adaptation to Climate Change
To address the serious challenges Lesotho is facing with regards to
a degrading environment due to extensive use and the effects of
climate change, UNDP Lesotho is currently developing several Climate
Change Adaptation programmes in collaboration with GEF and partners
such as the Government of Japan. These programmes will form the
critical backbone of the UNDP environment portfolio in 2010 and
beyond.
2. Public Private Partnerships for Urban Environment (PPPUE)
The Government of Lesotho has committed to ensuring an integrated
response to the development challenges facing Lesotho’s urban areas.
It works in joint partnership with the UN Habitat Sustainable Cities
Programme with the overall aim to build and strengthen the planning
and management capacity of Maseru City Council and its development
partners. It seeks to provide a favourable policy environment for
the provision of services for the urban environment and enhancing
public private partnerships in Lesotho
3. Global Environment Facility (GEF) Programmes/Projects
For a number of years, Global Environment Facility has been and
continues to be one of the major funding bodies for environmental programmes in Lesotho. GEF
is assisting in the areas of conserving natural resources and use of
alternative energy source as a means of halting and reversing the
degradation of land in Lesotho. With respect to this, UNDP Lesotho will
enhance efforts to reduce the dependence on bio-mass fuels, thus
contributing to soil conservation; especially through promoting the
use of renewable energies at the household and community levels.
This will be done through the current Renewable Energy project that
is being developed by the Rural Electrification Unit at the
Department of Energy, which will be implemented through 2012.
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Our Projects on Energy and Environment
Ongoing
projects
Pipeline projects
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