Jeffrey Gogo Climate Story
ZIMBABWE has started building a national policy on climate, the last important step towards mainstreaming dangerous climate change into national developmental and budgetary processes. The National Climate Policy will operationalise the National Climate Change Response Strategy, which is now complete. The Strategy was validated by multiple-stakeholders including the UN’s Development Programme and Comesa at a meeting in Kariba on July 15.

Now, the Environment and Climate Ministry will convene the first stakeholders meeting in Harare on September 8 “to deliberate on the guiding principles and courses of action to be included in the National Climate Policy.”

The Ministry wants the process to be consultative, inclusive and as participatory as possible in view of the cross-cutting nature of climate change.
Climate change impacts can tear through the sectors of water, agriculture, energy, manufacturing, infrastructure, transport, tourism and food – anything, really – leaving behind a trail of destruction.

Environment, Water and Climate Minister Saviour Kasukuwere told The Herald Business that the policy will help Zimbabwe respond better to the impacts of climate change.
“The National Climate Policy will mainstream climate issues in all our Government departments; whatever they do,” Mr Kasukuwere said by telephone on Friday.

“It will create (in Government), firstly, a deeper understanding of climate change. Secondly, we can then get the departments of Government ministries that have a lot to do with climate change mitigation and adaptation to play their part in coming up with actions that will help Zimbabwe deal with the science.”

When finalised, the policy is expected to be discussed in Cabinet, the minister said, adding “once adopted, it will support the strategy.”
“However, the strategy will have to be expanded taking into account the peculiarities of each and every Government ministry that has a role to play in combating the impacts of climate change.

“We will then expect most of the departments to have sectoral interventions, sectoral mitigation as well as adaptation measures that are relevant to their sectors so that the Strategy fully supports the National Climate Policy.”

Until now, the country’s response to climate problems has remained largely fragmented and ineffective.
There is no specific budgeting towards climate change in the National Budget, even though funds may be allocated to other fields that indirectly address the climate challenge, such as irrigation.

This is at a time the country faces increasing risk from climate linked events such as floods, tropical storms or droughts.
A Government ministry dedicated to climate change only came into existence last year in September. This disregards the fact Zimbabwe was among the first countries in the world to enter the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change two decades back.

The Convention aims to control greenhouse gases emissions, the major cause of global warming and climate change.

From back to front
The National Climate Policy is expected to highlight priority areas and policies that set Zimbabwe on the path towards climate resilient socio-economic development.
Ordinarily, the Policy should have preceded the Climate Change Response Strategy. Well, Zimbabwe started from back to front, for reasons unknown.
Mr Kasukuwere, who became minister of Environment and Climate in September last year, when the Strategy making process was already well advanced, said he was now correcting the mix up.

“You can only have a Strategy after being clear about a Policy,” he said after being asked on why the ministry had not followed the expected procedure. You cannot have a Strategy without a Policy within which to follow. The way Government works is that you must first of all develop a white paper, which you present before Cabinet, and you discuss and there is a buy-in.

“Once Cabinet has adopted the Policy – it has to be adopted first – then you build Strategy on the Policy.
“Takasvika zvatofamba kare isu because pakanga pasina kunyatsofunga kwakati kwerekwete . . . haunga tange neStrategy isina Policy. (We got in when things were already moving but there was no proper thinking because you don’t start on a strategy without policy). It’s like having a police force without a Policy. Uno polisa ani? (who do you police) If you want to combat crime you want a Policy inoita kuti mapurisa avepo.”

Incumbent Indigenisation minister Francis Nhema led the Environment Ministry when making of the national climate change response strategy started in 2012.
Minister Kasukuwere is, however, not unimpressed by the Strategy document, whose creation was driven by the University of Zimbabwe’s Institute of Environmental Studies. He said so in a previous interview with this writer.

The first draft of the NCCRS released in May 2013 examines the challenges, risks and impacts of climate change on natural systems, different economic sectors as well as on physical and social infrastructure.

It explores opportunities for adaptation and mitigation, and delves into aspects of climate change governance, policy and legislation in Zimbabwe among other issues such as climate education, awareness and technology transfer.
A concrete action plan and implementation framework was expected to emerge from Kariba to lead the country’s climate response.

On how to finance the implementable strategies, the NCCRS has yet to address this critical area. The climate strategy lays a strong basis for further creative policy interventions but not financial.

The Climate Strategy’s design and formulation process started in 2012 with funding from the UNDP.
This was part of a four-nation pilot project to develop a document “with implementable adaptation and mitigation strategies” that address current climate impacts.
The Global Water Partnership focused on issues related to water and climate change within the framework of the Strategy while UNICEF concentrated on children, the youth and other vulnerable groups. Actions that minimise people’s and ecosystems’ vulnerability to climate change (adaptation) and those that limit carbon emissions growth (mitigation) are considered some of the most effective ways of tackling climate impacts.

God is faithful.
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