Pascalinah Kabi
ENERGY and Meteorology Minister, Khotso Letsatsi has underscored the urgent need for stakeholders including government to invest in the media to enhance its capacity to effectively contribute to the fight against the deleterious effects of climate change.
Mr Letsatsi made the remarks at the recent Ozone Layer and Climate Change Media Awards in Maseru to honour 17 journalists for their outstanding contributions that raised awareness on climate change issues.
Mr Letsatsi said the future well-being of the country depended on the ability of the local media to appreciate and accurately disseminate information on local and global environmental and climate issues, hence the need to invest and capacitate them.
“There is a need to invest in the knowledge and development of the media who will take the responsibility of advancing the importance of climate change issues and advocate for the protection of ozone layer to ensure sustainability of our environment, the ecosystems and proper utilisation of our natural resources,” Mr Letsatsi said.
“Since the beginning of the 21st century, climate change has emerged as a new and serious challenge and has become a priority in the socio-economic sector,” he said, adding, climate change and ozone layer protection were among the most serious and urgent global challenges requiring global solutions.
He said communities were feeling the impact of climate, ozone layer depletion through water shortages, excess heat, floods, drought, skin diseases, food shortages and many other effects that threatened their lives and livelihoods.
“When I grew up I used to take care of animals, there was grass and rangeland but nowadays there is absolutely nothing.
“I have been to the mountains at Mantšonyane and you see the kind of misery I never saw growing up. I noticed soil erosion because of late there is no vegetative cover, you can go anywhere, you see animals everywhere but there is nothing for the animals to graze on.”
Mr Letsatsi said Lesotho used to have lot of rains but of late there was nothing except heavy hail and snow.
He said the climate was changing as evidenced by the undisputable signs that included changing rainfall patterns and extreme weather conditions.
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