Namibia Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

depletion and degradation of water and aquatic resources; desertification; land degradation; loss of biodiversity and biotic resources; wildlife poaching

Environment - international agreements

party to: Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Climate

desert; hot, dry; rainfall sparse and erratic

Land use

agricultural land: 47.2% (2018 est.)

arable land: 1% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 46.2% (2018 est.)

forest: 8.8% (2018 est.)

other: 44% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 54.9% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 3.64% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Food insecurity

severe localized food insecurity:due to localized shortfalls in cereal production and rising food prices - cereal production increased in 2022 and this is expected to have a positive impact on food security, however, rising prices of basic foods is likely to limit a more substantial improvement (2022)

Revenue from forest resources

0.47% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 11.81 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 4.23 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 10.4 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 256,729 tons (1993 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 11,553 tons (2005 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 4.5% (2005 est.)

Major rivers (by length in km)

Zambezi (shared with Zambia [s]), Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique [m]) - 2,740 km; Orange river mouth (shared with Lesotho [s], and South Africa) - 2,092 km; Okavango (shared with Angola [s], and Botswana [m]) - 1,600 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: Orange (941,351 sq km)
Indian Ocean drainage: Zambezi (1,332,412 sq km)
Internal (endorheic basin) drainage: Okavango Basin (863,866 sq km)

Major aquifers

Lower Kalahari-Stampriet Basin, Upper Kalahari-Cuvelai-Upper Zambezi Basin

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 70 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 10 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 201 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

39.91 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)