22 September 2026: Mozambique has opened a five-day technical workshop to pre-validate an updated national climate strategy, supported by the African Development Bank, to strengthen the country’s response to extreme weather over the next decade.
The updated National Strategy for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation (ENAMMC) aims to strengthen Mozambique’s resilience to climate-related shocks and support low-carbon development. Once approved, it will set targets, indicators and institutional responsibilities across sectors, helping the country address growing risks from cyclones, floods, droughts, coastal erosion and other climate-induced impacts.
The workshop, which began on 14 September, brought together representatives of public institutions, provincial and district authorities, development partners, the private sector, civil society groups and academia. The opening sessions examined lessons from the preceding strategy and the proposed strategic direction for the new implementation period. Participants reviewed the draft Strategy and supporting documents, including an Action Plan, a Resource Mobilisation Strategy and a Communication Mechanism.
“Climate change is no longer a distant threat. It is part of our present reality,” said Sónia Muando, Mozambique’s National Director of Environment and Climate Change, in her opening remarks.
She said cyclones, floods, droughts, coastal erosion, sea-level rise, and ecosystem degradation were already affecting communities, agriculture, infrastructure, and livelihoods.
She emphasised that vulnerable people and communities must remain at the Strategy's centre and that climate action should translate into improved food security, access to water, resilient infrastructure, better housing, protected livelihoods and greater economic opportunities.
Muando called for adaptation to remain a national priority, with greater investment in prevention, preparedness, early-warning systems, spatial planning, resilient construction, and the protection of coastal and terrestrial ecosystems. She also highlighted the need for mitigation measures that support Mozambique’s development, including clean energy, energy efficiency, sustainable transport, climate-smart agriculture, and sustainable forest management.
Goran Lima, the AfDB’s Principal Country Programme Officer, speaking on behalf of Mozambique Country Manager Rômulo Cunha Corrêa, said the Strategy’s success will hinge on effective implementation, not adoption alone.
“Finalising these documents is not the end of the process; it is the beginning of the more important task of implementation,” Lima said, adding that broad stakeholder buy-in was essential for the plan to function as a “whole-of-government and whole-of-society” instrument.
The African Development Bank is funding the updated Strategy through its Africa NDC Hub and the Africa Climate Change Fund Multi-Donor Trust Fund. It complements the Bank’s broader engagement in Mozambique, spanning agriculture, transport, energy, water and sanitation, governance, and disaster preparedness, as outlined in its 2023-2028 Country Strategy Paper.
By the end of the workshop, participants are expected to reach technical consensus on the draft Strategy, its institutional architecture, implementation plan, climate-finance framework and national monitoring system.
