Mozambique recorded more than 75 extreme weather events between 2000 and 2023, which generated economic losses of more than 4.5 billion dollars, the Minister of Planning and Development, Salim Valá, announced today (15).

He was speaking at the opening of the First National Conference on Climate Financing, a two-day event taking place in Maputo.

"Climate change is a daily reality that affects our economy, infrastructure, value chains, productivity, family nutrition, health and the well-being of Mozambican families. Every drought, every cyclone, every flood reminds us that the time for action is now," said Valá, quoted by AIM.

However, he argues that this vulnerability reveals the possibility of transforming risk into resilience, dependence into innovation and diversity into sustainable growth.

The minister stressed that, to this end, the government, in coordination with different segments of society and cooperation partners, has been working to mobilize funding for climate action mitigation.

"The list of instruments includes, among others, access to international climate funds, climate insurance, debt-for-climate swaps, forecast-based financing, and we are still preparing the regulatory framework to operationalize other innovative financing instruments through carbon markets and sustainable bonds."

He also highlighted the approval by the Council of Ministers last September of the National Climate Financing Strategy 2025-2034 (ENFC 2025-2034), an instrument that aims to operationalize the National Development Strategy 2025-2044 and the Five-Year Government Programme 2025-2029, "insofar as it seeks to respond to the challenges of mobilizing and appropriately applying the necessary financial resources".

For the Minister for Planning and Development, "these figures are not just statistics, they are lives, they are families, they are the future of our Mozambican children, adolescents and young people".

TheENFC 2025-2034 also proposes exploring debt-for-climate change mechanisms and results-based financing, turning fiscal constraints into opportunities for sustainable progress.

He concluded by emphasizing that "climate finance is not a cost, it is an investment in the future, in fiscal stability, food security, better health and education for the people, clean energy and social stability and peace."

The ENFC 2025-2034 defines financing as "financial resources earmarked for financing, adaptation and mitigation, including financing for loss and damage caused by climate change, while complying with environmental, social and governance considerations".

The document aims to guide the different key players in mobilizing climate finance, with a view to increasing financial resources, guaranteeing transparency and efficiency in the allocation of resources earmarked for climate action.