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Zvamaida Murwira Senior Reporter
A Parliamentary delegation attending a climate change conference in Madrid, Spain, yesterday slammed developed nations particularly from the West for paying lip service to the effects of climate change.

The delegation told a Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP25) that Western nations such as Britain were not walking the talk in dealing with the phenomenon.

Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Climate, Water and Resettlement chaired by Gokwe Nembudziya legislator, Cde Justice Mayor Wadyajena is leading a delegation from Parliament attending the conference.

In an interview from Madrid, Cde Wadyajena slammed developed nations for failing to walk the talk on issues to do with climate change as no tangible outcomes have been implemented despite annual gatherings.

He said there were a lot of gaps in the quest to fight climate change as some developed nations are the culprits hence their commitment to the fight against climate change is questionable.

“We need to come to grips with climate change, most of the irresponsible nations are busy talking and talking without walking the talk, as you may be aware Britain led the industrial revolution and COP26 will be held in the United Kingdom, so it will give an opportunity for member states to interrogate whether developed nations are serious on eliminating causes of climate change. I hope next year is the time to implement some of the resolutions as we have been gathering annually without any tangible outcomes,” he said.

The conference of parties is held annually as member states try to find lasting solutions to the problems posed by climate change across the globe.

But concerns have been raised by activists who feel governments are letting the world down regarding carbon markets.

COP25 is also set to discuss the implementation of nationally determined contributions, access to climate finance, technology and capacity building to achieve the provision set out under the Paris Agreement whose implementation commences in 2020.

There are also other important events on the sidelines of the conference that include matters related to climate smart cities, electric mobility and related transport infrastructure, energy efficiency, climate resilient infrastructure and a just transition for the workforce.

In a related matter, the Zimbabwe Parliamentary delegation attended the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) meeting on the sidelines of the COP25 with a view to promoting exchanges for parliamentary action on climate change.

Cde Wadyajena described the IPU meeting that brings together legislators from across the globe as an eye-opener as various issues relating to specific countries were discussed with a number of strategies being implemented by member states.

“Legislators attended the IPU meeting which was organised for Members of Parliament, we gained a lot of knowledge on how some legislators are implementing climate change mitigatory measures as well as their targets. We will use that information wisely to come up with our own strategies back home for the benefit of communities,” said Wadyajena.