The climate change is posing serious threat to North Macedonia’s agricultural production. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy and the Commission for Assessment of Damages at the Government of North Macedonia by average pay €3.5 million to farmers annually in weather and climate-related extreme events compensations, informed the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy for Meta.mk.
The long heat waves and prolonged droughts, the hailstorms and heavy summer storms, freezing of the crops, especially the fruit trees in the spring, due to the warm winters that are followed by unusually cold waves, are part of the unfavorable weather conditions that the Macedonian farmers have been facing with for quite some time. The average air temperatures in Macedonia are rising and, with it, so does the need for investments in capital infrastructural projects that will satisfy the need of water for farmers and the whole population.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy states that it has plans or has started the building of capital hydro-systems for watering and accumulation dams including water supply systems for the citizens in the amount of €307 million. Apart from satisfying the longstanding needs of water for various needs of the population from different regions in the country, these investments are for protection against the impacts of the climate change in North Macedonia.
Apart from the current and future capital projects, through the Program for Rural Development began last year began the cloud seeding, in order to prevent natural disasters and unfavorable weather damage on crops. Through the IPARD2 program, the line “Investments in physical assets of agricultural estates”, farmers can get financial support for efficient use of the resources and renewable sources of energy. Also, in cooperation with FAO and UHMR, the following projects are implemented: “Increased resilience of the agriculture sector through climate-smart agricultural practices” and “Green Climate Fund.”
Otherwise, the climate change, expressed through the increase of average annual air temperatures, is caused by the emission of greenhouse gasses throughout the world. Meta.mk has already informed about official data provided by the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning, that show rises of average annual air temperatures in North Macedonia. At the same time, in 2019, a record number of positive air temperature declinations were registered in Skopje, Gevgelija, and Lazaropole.
On the other hand, our country has been lowering greenhouse gas emissions, especially in the Energy sector. Still, despite this, the adverse gases in certain sectors such as transportation, waste management and forestry, in the past several years are on the rise as a consequence of the increased use of vehicles on part of the population, the use of coal and other fossil fuels for the production of electricity and heat, cutting woods and setting them on fire, the substandard landfills and the extremely low percentage of recycling and waste composting.
The European Union is demanding from North Macedonia that it should adopt the law on Climate Action and an Overall Strategy for Climate Action in accordance with the EU’s climate and energy framework which the Government claims are in their final stages of preparation and will be adopted by the end of 2021.
