Call to find local solutions to climate change

Elita Chikwati Senior Reporter
Government has called for constant engagement and innovation by stakeholders to find local solutions to challenges associated with climate change. Deputy Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Mr Justin Mpamhanga made the call while officiating at a stakeholder meeting on building a climate resilient nation.

The meeting was a follow-up to the launch of the Zimbabwe Human Development Report 2017 in March this year.
Mr Mpamhanga said Zimbabwe was a high risk country in terms of climate change vulnerability and this negatively affected the nation’s achievements on the human development front.

He said resilience was thus a critical aspect of modern day development.
“Sustainable development could not be achieved by ignoring the implications of climate change on us and on the planet.
“Building a climate resilient nation would essentially require a set of policies that sets the foundation to address climate change, including through measures for adaptation and mitigation. We are perhaps ahead in terms of policy formulation since we have already adopted the National Climate Response Strategy to ensure sustainable development and a climate-proofed economy,” he said.

Government has also put in place a Climate Policy and is in the process of developing a National Adaptation Plan.
Zimbabwe has also submitted national determined contributions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with target reduction in its per capita energy emissions by 33 percent by 2030.

“The implementation of these policies and strategies is challenging due to inadequate financial resources and limited technical capacities.

“This is why we need to constantly engage on finding solutions to the problems we face; and by being innovative in adopting localised approaches to mitigation and adaptation to climate effects,” he said.

Mr Mpamhanga expressed gratitude to the United Nations for its efforts in building a climate resilient Zimbabwe.
UN representative Mr Bishow Parajuli said Zimbabwe like other countries was currently affected by climate change which had resulted in droughts and floods affecting agriculture and the people.