Mozambique Shapes New Climate Strategy to Protect Communities From Extreme Weather

The National Strategy for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, known as ENAMMC, sets out a path towards greater resilience and low-carbon development.

Mozambique has opened a five-day technical workshop to review an updated national climate strategy that could shape how the country protects communities, infrastructure and livelihoods over the next decade. Supported by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the process brings together people responsible for turning national policy into practical protection against cyclones, floods, droughts and coastal erosion, with discussions focused on a draft that still requires approval.

The National Strategy for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, known as ENAMMC, sets out a path towards greater resilience and low-carbon development. Once approved, it will establish targets, indicators and responsibilities across sectors, giving public institutions a clearer framework for organising climate action and measuring progress against the risks affecting Mozambique's people and economy.

Bringing Local Experience Into National Planning

The workshop began on 14 September, bringing together representatives from public institutions, provincial and district authorities, development partners, businesses, civil society and academia. Opening sessions explored lessons from the preceding strategy and the direction proposed for the next implementation period, with participants reviewing the draft alongside an Action Plan, a Resource Mobilisation Strategy and a Communication Mechanism.

The technical review gives those involved in delivering the strategy an opportunity to examine how its commitments would work in practice, including how responsibilities would be shared and resources secured. Participants are expected to reach technical consensus on the draft, its institutional structure, implementation plan, climate-finance framework and national monitoring system by the end of the workshop, preparing the documents for the next stage of the approval process.

Putting Food, Water and Safer Homes at the Centre

"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 described how cyclones, floods, droughts, coastal erosion, rising sea levels and ecosystem degradation are already affecting communities, agriculture, infrastructure and livelihoods, placing everyday needs at the centre of the discussion.

Muando said vulnerable people and communities must remain central to the strategy, with climate action delivering better food security, reliable access to water, stronger infrastructure, safer housing, protected livelihoods and greater economic opportunities. Her call for adaptation to remain a national priority included greater investment in prevention, preparedness, early-warning systems, spatial planning, resilient construction and the protection of coastal and terrestrial ecosystems.

Measures to cut emissions also need to support Mozambique's development, Muando said, identifying clean energy, energy efficiency, sustainable transport, climate-smart agriculture and sustainable forest management as priorities. These areas connect the country's climate response with decisions about energy use, farming, mobility and natural resources that influence household incomes and economic opportunities.

Turning Commitments Into Work on the Ground

Goran Lima, the AfDB's Principal Country Programme Officer, speaking on behalf of Mozambique Country Manager Rômulo Cunha Corrêa, stressed that adopting the strategy would only begin the work. "Finalising these documents is not the end of the process; it is the beginning of the more important task of implementation," he said, calling for broad stakeholder support so the plan can function as a "whole-of-government and whole-of-society" instrument.

The African Development Bank is financing the update through its Africa NDC Hub and the Africa Climate Change Fund Multi-Donor Trust Fund. The support complements the Bank's wider work in agriculture, transport, energy, water and sanitation, governance and disaster preparedness under its 2023–2028 Country Strategy Paper, connecting the strategy's priorities with sectors that will carry much of the responsibility for putting them into practice.