By Tendai Chisiri
The inaugural Africa Climate Summit is being co-hosted by the Africa Union (AU and Kenya in Nairobi and the three-day event is significant as it signals Africa’s determination to generate consensus on climate change matter.
Speaking on behalf of the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Dr. Anxious Masuka said global taxes will mortgage Zimbabwe further increasing its debt burden to unsustainable levels
“The biggest challenge to accelerate Zimbabwe’s adaptation plan is financing. Adequate, predictable, reliable and consistent climate finance for the achievement of Zimbabwe’s national development plans is required. Suggestions for global taxes to finance our climate actions will mortgage Zimbabwe further increasing our debt burden to unsustainable levels. Equally, while the discussion on carbon credit is welcome, this must not replace or reduce the historically agreed global commitments. Zimbabwe has just passed legislation to guide the carbon credits market”, Masuka said.
“This Summit is significant as it signals Africa’s determination to generate consensus on climate change matters. The imperative to act collectively as Africa, to address the many seemingly insurmountable challenges, requires heightened cooperation to this globally significant challenge. Zimbabwe therefore expresses its gratitude to both the African Union and Kenya for co-hosting this milestone event”, he stated.
Climate change is retarding economic development on many fronts. The Southern African region, for example, has increased frequency of droughts, heat waves, destructive tropical cyclones, floods, and other severe weather events. These climate catastrophes have claimed many lives, damaged infrastructure, displaced people and retarded development. Zimbabwe dedicates a substantial amount of its limited resources to provide appropriate response measures to these calamities, including building early warning systems and investing in climate-proofing and disaster risk reduction.
“We are here to galvanise support for Africa’s call for a durable financing mechanism for loss and damage as agreed at COP 27 and to catalyse climate actions as countries cannot adapt or mitigate these impacts alone. Zimbabwe has committed resources in various sectors, for example:
In the built environment and transport sectors, Zimbabwe is making strides to embed the green cities concept and we have just commissioned our first smart city”.
“Through our own limited resources, Zimbabwe is prioritising national actions that build adaptive capacity; reduce greenhouse gas emissions; strengthen climate change education and public awareness; and contribute to sustainable development”.
“Our agriculture sector remains most vulnerable to climate change, with millions affected, due to increasing frequency of droughts. This year the whole of Southern Africa is predicted to suffer the severe El Nino effects. In response, Zimbabwe has adopted climate-proofed agriculture based on sustainable intensive conservation agriculture, rapid dam construction and irrigation development. As a result, Zimbabwe has been food self-sufficient for the past three seasons, and since last year, has a wheat surplus. Efforts to consolidate this success require further massive investment in dams and irrigation development. To build resilience of communities in rural areas, comprising 62% of the population, the Zimbabwe government is providing water to each of the 35 000 villages and 9 600 schools in the country”.
“Zimbabwe’s Revised Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and First National Adaptation Plan (NAP) set an ambitious economy-wide goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% per capita, below the projected business-as-usual scenario by 2030.
Zimbabwe has 54 % electricity access and plans to achieve universal access to electricity services by 2030″.
“Zimbabwe is accelerating investment in renewable energy such as geothermal, wind, hydro and solar which now contribute about 40% of Zimbabwe’s energy mix and we plan to increase to 60% by 2025. While Zimbabwe continues to use coal, we have now incorporated technologies that increase coal use efficiency, while containing the use of diesel in the stabilisation of the old coal fired units and replacing these with plasma technology. Huge capital investment is required to fuel transition to hydro-power”.
“As will be known by many, Zimbabwe hosts substantial deposits of nickel, lithium, graphite and other rare earth minerals and can, therefore, contribute to the transition to the green economy. Additionally, Zimbabwe has mooted the establishment of an integrated mining to energy park for value addition and beneficiation to the stage of manufacturing lithium batteries to leverage our e-vehicle policy”, Masuka explained.
“As we prepare for COP 28, let us advocate for the expeditious operationalisation of the loss and damage mechanism, to reverse a disturbing and growing tendency where commitments remain unimplemented many years after we agree on them. It is important to reiterate the call for the developed nations to fulfil their commitments if the Paris Agreement is to be taken seriously”, he added.
“In conclusion, Zimbabwe is determined to play its part, contributions alongside other countries in Africa, to ensure that our own commitments are met and that we inject urgency in all our actions as we journey towards COP 28 this year.
We invite global partners to invest in Zimbabwe’s adaptation and mitigation efforts. After all our mantra is “Zimbabwe is Open for Business”, Masuka concluded.
News Sport Online 