The president of the University Foundation for the Development of Education (FUNDE), Lourenço do Rosário, believes that Mozambique's nomination by the African Union as a champion of the natural disaster risk management program represents a challenge for the country to continue investing in the resilience of its infrastructures in order to cope with climate change.

This statement was made on Wednesday, December 7, by the president of FUNDE, during the opening of the conference on Climate Change, organized by FUNDE, in partnership with the Polytechnic University, with the support of the Aga Khan Foundation and the La Caixa Foundation, the latter represented by the Infanta Doña Cristina of Spain.

On the occasion, Lourenço do Rosário said that the debate, which was attended by the initiative's partners, aimed to strengthen civil society organizations and featured environmentalist Jorge Moreira as the keynote speaker, whose dissertation focused on "Climate Synchronicities".

"The nomination of Mozambique as a resilient country by the African Union means that it recognizes the countries affected by climate change and can lead the program that defines the activities that are part of the 2063 program," said the president of FUNDE.

The event was also attended by speakers Barnabé Alexandre Fondo, from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Domingos Estêvão Tete, from Cervejas de Moçambique (CDM) and Agostinho Vilankulos, head of the Water Resources Department at the National Directorate for Water Resources Management (DNGRH).

In his speech, Agostinho Vilankulos pointed out that, while the country is preparing for greater resilience, it is necessary to fear microclimatic disasters, namely the trends and causes.

"We are located in a risky region. There is little research in academia in Mozambique on climate. Studies show that the tendency in Mozambique is for rainfall to increase and production to decrease if the temperature is not contained.

As a result, Mozambique could become 100% food insecure if it continues to experience temperature variations," the speaker explained.