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Nesia Mhaka Herald Correspondent

THE Climate Change Management Department (CCMD) team has embarked on a mainstreaming sensitisation programme to create awareness of disaster management skills in all the country’s 10 provinces with the support of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The programme is aimed at highlighting to communities measures that can be taken in times of disaster.

This is meant to enhance preparedness and pro-activeness to weather and climate disasters within Provincial Development Committees (PDC).

Speaking at the Climate Change Mainstreaming Sensitisation Meeting for provincial stakeholders last week in Harare, Climate Change director Mr Washington Zhakata said Government had embarked on educative measures to reduce weather-related disasters.

“In response to the exacerbated climate change impacts being experienced throughout the country, the Government of Zimbabwe has seen fit to start strengthening our policies, to review our plans from district, provincial and national levels to ensure that we reduce and in some cases eradicate the potential impacts of the weather-related extremes,” he said.

“To drive this process, the Government established a Climate Change Management Department which is tasked to ensure climate resilience and drive the country towards low carbon economy.

“The department will drive this process from the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement, with oversight guidance from the Office of the President and Cabinet where a Deputy Chief Secretary has been assigned to this role.

“The Government, through a grant from the Green Climate Fund, has commenced the process of establishing and strengthening the enabling environment for climate change adaptation towards its eventual mainstreaming into development frameworks.”

Mr Zhakata said for climate change adaptation and mitigation to be sustainable and applicable on a wide scale, it should be mainstreamed into the policy apparatus of the Government.

“In the climate change context, mainstreaming refers to the incorporation of climate change considerations into established or ongoing development programmes, policies or management strategies, rather than developing adaptation and mitigation initiatives separately,” he said.

“We need to infuse climate change concerns into our day-to-day work. Mainstreaming is necessary because climate change is a development and a cross-cutting issue.

“There are direct linkages between both causes and consequences of climate change and development.

“Climate change further has impacts on achieving the SDGs as it presents opportunities for Sustainable Development through green jobs creation, disaster reduction, poverty reduction, eradication of hunger through climate proofing the agriculture sector and economic development.”