Development a National State of Environmental Outlook report for Malawi is half way through, that is according to Malawi Environmental Protection Authority.

Director General of MEPA Dr Wilfred Kadewa told Zodiak Online that the review of the first order draft is currently underway where environmental scientists and development experts are providing input before issuing a second order draft.

“This report is a critical tool for guiding evidence-based decision-making on environment management and natural resources utilization,” he said adding that there is a lot that has happened over the past 15 years that would demand policy change for effective enforcements and management of the environment,” Dr. Kadewa said

The country’s Environment Management Act of 2017 recommends that such reports be updated every five years or earlier as may be considered necessary but the last one was done in 2010 owing to funding challenges. 

“With the draft, we are looking at what is happening, what is the state of the various aspects of the environment be it water, be it soil be it air so that then we know what’s going bad that needs to be managed through policy changes and policy interventions,” MEPA’s director general explained.

Development of the next NSEOR began in March last year with MEPA leading the process supported by Norwegian government and United Nations Environment Program.

Co-chairperson of the team working on the report Dr. Zacharia Magombo said at the end of a technical meeting that “the urgency for developing the NSEOR in Malawi stems from a combination of environmental degradation, socio-economic pressures, climate change-induced disasters, and the need for informed policy-making and development planning.”

He believes having an updated report is also key for the country to attain the Malawi 2063 aspirations with environmental sustainability identified as one of the key enablers.

The team has incorporated Malawian scientists and authors, 60 in total in framing the report with 12 chapters.