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National Adaptation Plan

Introduction

In order to address vulnerabilities to climate change that Lesotho is faced with, the Government of
Lesotho through the Ministry of Defence, National Security and Environment under the Lesotho
Meteorological Services (LMS) is implementing a three-year project titled “Strengthening Lesotho’s
capacity to advance the National Adaptation Planning process (NAP)”. The three-year NAP project
was approved in June 2020 by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) under the Readiness and Preparatory
Support Programme Proposal. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the Delivery
Partner (DP) supporting the Ministry of Defence, National Security and Environment in the
implementation of this NAP project in accordance with its Framework Agreement with the GCF and
will the role of supporting and overseeing the project implementation and providing technical
support. The NAP intends to build on the NAPA, the National Climate Change Policy and the other
plans and strategies by assessing opportunities for implementing medium- and long-term climate
change adaptation actions.

A Stakeholder Capacity Development Needs Assessment in Climate Change Adaptation was conducted in 2011. Its purpose was to to identify priority capacity needs for climate change adaptation in Lesotho. The assessment aimed to facilitate implementation of capacity development and training needs in the various stakeholder sectors, all geared toward addressing the effects of climate change in the country. Among the key findings, it underscored the necessity of addressing deficiencies in policies, institutions, and legislation. 

Project Objective

The main objective of the proposed project is to enhance Lesotho’s national response to the threats of climate change at the national and local levels by strengthening the technical, institutional and financial capacity of the country.

Outcomes

Outcomes

Targets

  1. Institutional capacity and stakeholder engagement processes for adaptation planning in Lesotho strengthened.

1.1 Clear mandate for the

coordinating body of the NAP

process and strengthened

capacity for this group and

national and local decisionmakers to formulate and

implement the NAP process in a

participatory and gender-equitable

manner

1.2 Participatory, crosssectoral and gender-equitable

NAP working processes in place

and a roadmap for the NAP

established.

1.3 Awareness of, and

access to, climate information

increased in Lesotho through

improved storage and

dissemination of climate change

information and NAP updates

1.4 Relevant stakeholders

have access to all training

programmes developed during

and for the NAP process, thereby

strengthening institutional and

technical capacity

  1. Climate change information generation, analysis and dissemination enhanced.

2.1 Access to and

understanding of climate

scenarios and climate change

risks at district level increased,

and ability to generate climate

information for the NAP process

and for future project development

increased.

2.2 Access increased for

district- and national-level

planners to information about

alternative adaptation strategies

and their costs and benefits to

inform the development of the

NAP.

  1. National capacity for mainstreaming climate change adaptation into policies, plans and strategies strengthened.

3.1 Systematic

mainstreaming of climate change

adaptation into development

policies, strategies and plans, as

well as associated budgets, is

taking place across sectors and

government levels.

  1. Enabling environment for financing of the NAP process enhanced

4.1 Additional climate finance

is leveraged through private

sector engagement and the

development of a comprehensive

finance strategy

  1. National capacity for monitoring and reporting on the NAP process enhanced.

5.1 A monitoring and

reporting framework to monitor

and report on the effectiveness of

the NAP process is established

and used by relevant institutions

to generate lessons learned.

5.2 Lessons learned from

implementing the NAP process

are shared with all relevant

stakeholders and used to inform

the next iteration of the process

  • Contacts +266 53791245
  • Mr Neo Mosito: Project Manager
  • Lesotho Meteorological Services
  • neo.mosito@gov.ls
let’s talk

Lesotho Climate Change Unit

Contact us

The Lesotho Meteorological Services (LMS) is the national meteorological agency of the Kingdom of Lesotho. 

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Contact Info

Lesotho Meteorological Services
Options Building 2nd and 3rd Floor Pioneer Road | Maseru 100

+266 22324376

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The GEF Trust Fund constitutes the most popular source of climate finance in Lesotho, having funded over 42 projects, including both national and global/regional initiatives. In terms of focus, GEF funded projects have been geared broadly towards tackling the drivers of environmental degradation. As such, the major focal areas of the fund disbursement in Lesotho have been biodiversity; land degradation; climate change policies, strategies and plans; organic pollution and water – all of which are more or less in line with the fund’s priority globally. Direct climate financing from Global Environment Fund (GEF) is accessible through the Department of Environment, which is a GEF focal point in the Ministry of Defence, National Security and Environment. (Home | GEF)

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The Green Climate Fund has the potential to help countries like Lesotho meet their adaptation and mitigation finance needs. Currently, there is one cross-cutting GCF-funded project in Lesotho, among other three recipient countries – South Africa, Eswatini and Namibia. 

The project is geared towards addressing critical market barriers in accelerating private sector climate investments. Lesotho has also accessed five (5) projects under the GCFs Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme. The process for accessing funding under the GCF begin from an assessment of the needs of Lesotho and includes extensive stakeholder engagement. The fund is accessed through the National Designated Authority (NDA) and the Accredited Entity (AE) (Lesotho | Green Climate Fund).

 
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Like the Adaptation Fund, the Climate Investment Funds constitutes a climate funding stream that many African countries are not able to access. CIF is an enabler of pioneering climate-smart planning and climate action in low and middle-income economies, many of which are the least prepared yet the most prone to the challenges of climate change. CIF responds to the worldwide climate crisis with large-scale, low-cost, and long-term financial solutions to support countries achieve their climate objectives. In Lesotho, there is only a single project with finance from the fund. The project, entitled “Lesotho Renewable Energy and Energy Access Project”, is geared towards funding renewable energy investments. The fund is accessed through the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning in Lesotho. (The Climate Investment Funds (CIF)).

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The Special Climate Change Fund is also being governed by GEF and Lesotho has not accessed funds as the fund is dry majority of the time. Lesotho as an LDC competes with other developing countries to access the funds. (Special Climate Change Fund – SCCF | GEF)

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The LDCF, which is governed by GEF, is a vital source of climate funds in the context of Lesotho. It constitutes the most significant finance stream in Lesotho, having funded national projects to the tune of over US$ 36 million as of 2022. Indeed, it is second in significance to the GEF Trust Fund only in terms of the number of nationally funded projects (8 national projects compared to 15 for GEF). Regarding sectoral distribution and focus of LDCF, the data suggests that LDCF resources are geared towards water resources management, enhancing the resilience of agricultural production and food systems, and climate information services and capacity building. (Least Developed Countries Fund – LDCF | GEF)

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The Adaptation Fund is one of the least accessed climate funds and Lesotho just accessed funds (count of US$ 10 million) through Word Food Programme as the accredited entity. The project, entitled “Improving adaptive capacity of vulnerable and food-insecure populations in Lesotho”, is being implemented and pertains to agriculture and food security. It is accessed through LMS and Accredited Entity (AF | Adaptation Fund)

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