“What is Climate Change ?
Climate Change implies an increase of extreme events, both in terms of magnitude and frequency !”
Prof. Dr. H. Flohn, University of Bonn, Germany
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When Manfred W. Buch in 1978 started his University career by studying Geography at the University of Bonn, climate change was rather a niche topic among environmental sciences. This was although Professor Dr. Hermann Flohn with his Habilitation thesis and published as
Die Tätigkeit des Menschen als Klimafaktor. In: Zeitschrift fuer Erdkunde. 9, 1941, S. 13–22
already in 1941 initiated the discussion of nowadays climate change by formulating:
„Damit wird aber die Taetigkeit des Menschen zur Ursache einer erdumspannenden Klimaaenderung, deren zukuenftige Bedeutung niemand ahnen kann.“
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In the meantime, Manfred W. Buch – after Diploma in Geography, Soil Science and Botany studies, 
PhD in Geography and Soil Science, and Habilitation with venia legendi in Geography – is a widely traveled Geographer and Climate & Environmental Change Senior Expert as well as Project Team Leader by professional experience. He ensures integrated risk management perspectives to be translated into economic spatial planning and development policies.
Manfred W. Buch has worked over a period of 12 years (1989-1998 and 2010-2013) in Namibia as Team Leader
of complex projects on sustainable management of natural resources, integrated land use planning & land registration, disaster prevention & landscape-ecological risk assessment and climatic change, providing information and building capacity for national policy and programming. Starting as early as 1989, he managed various projects from concept through to implementation in Etosha National Park and adjacent rural areas of Northern Namibia by creating public and political awareness on the landscape-ecological implications of climatic change, mobilized financial resources to strengthen the role of the Etosha Ecological Institute as the leading institution of the Ministry of Environment & Tourism on land 
managing issues, there established a laboratory for soil and water analysis, and facilitated various high level negotiations on additional investments, such as a NOAA satellite receiving station based in Okaukuejo. All this during the 1990ies led to the design of a highly complex ‘Landscape-Ecological Risk Information System’ (LERIS®), a GIS based early warning system assisting to prevent desertification, to strengthen capacity to encourage the establishment of community led conservation and management initiatives and to path the way towards sustainable land use in a highly vulnerable semi-arid environment.
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The latest milestone in consultancy services on Climate and Environment Change was Manfred W. Buch’s assignment as Technical Assistant (2014-2017) to the African Centre for Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD) based in Niamey, Niger, and Advisor to the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa for the EU-funded project Climate Services for Disaster Risks Reduction within the Monitoring for Environment and Security in Africa (MESA) program.
It was a great pleasure to coach ACMAD and to support the AU at the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 21), Paris, France, which accomplished the Paris Agreement being adopted in a historical moment on 12th December 2015, as well as at COP 22, Marrakesh, Morocco.
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