Online Reporter
Pascal Manyakaidze, [email protected]
THE global push towards a low carbon future has intensified competition for mineral exploitation, as countries race to secure resources that underpin the energy transition. In Zimbabwe, this momentum aligns with the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2), which positions mining, mineral value addition and beneficiation as key drivers of economic growth and industrial transformation.
Recent adjustments to the export of raw ore minerals have drawn mixed reactions from stakeholders, reflecting the tension between short term economic interests and long term sustainability goals. NDS2 also places emphasis on formalising small scale mining and attracting investment to support mining led growth, signalling Government’s intention to bring structure and accountability to a sector long characterised by informality.
While these developments support Zimbabwe’s vision of moving “Towards a Prosperous and Empowered Upper-Middle Income Society by 2030”, mineral extraction continues to deepen climate change impacts across the globe.
The environmental cost of mining remains a pressing concern, particularly as demand accelerates without corresponding shifts in production practices.
Despite existing safeguards, including the regulatory framework under Zimbabwe’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) system, host communities and local authorities have repeatedly raised alarms over mining induced land degradation, water pollution and ecosystem loss. These concerns highlight gaps between policy intention and practical enforcement on the ground.
In Zimbabwe, as elsewhere, mining has proved to be a double edged sword for local communities. While some experience economic opportunities, others bear the environmental and social burden of extractive activities, leading to mixed perceptions shaped by lived experience rather than policy promise.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Zimbabwe recorded a historic economic growth of approximately 7,5 percent in 2025. Mining continues to anchor this growth and offers further promise. However, sustaining this momentum requires urgent intervention to transition illegal artisanal mining activities, which often operate beyond regulatory oversight, making environmental compliance difficult to enforce.
The persistence of unregulated mining frequently creates a multi hazard environment, ranging from widespread land degradation to water pollution, deforestation and social disruption. In some instances, extractive operations have been accused of leaving host communities poorer than they were before mining began, eroding trust and fuelling resentment.
While certain host communities that have benefitted from mining assert historical and moral entitlements to the resources extracted from their ancestral land, these claims have often strained relationships between communities and mining companies. The result has been a confrontational triangle involving operations, communities and authorities, disrupting business continuity and undermining social cohesion.
Climate smart mining offers a pragmatic and sustainable pathway to address the social and environmental challenges affecting both host communities and investors. It reframes mining not as an extractive act alone, but as part of a broader development ecosystem.
Through climate smart mining, a deliberate shift from pure extractivism towards a holistic, sustainable approach can guarantee the well-being of host communities, protect investor interests and ensure compliance with environmental and climate policies. This model recognises that profitability and sustainability are not opposing goals.
Climate smart mining also presents a unique opportunity to formalise artisanal mining operations, thereby enhancing accountability and broadening the scope for effective enforcement of environmental regulations.
Formalisation brings visibility, structure and responsibility to a sector that has long operated in the shadows.
Accelerating climate smart mining across the mineral value chain ensures that resources are directed towards building climate resilience and diversifying local economies. In doing so, it offers a chance to transform a legacy of environmental degradation into a future of shared mineral prosperity.
Although the Southern African Development Community’s Protocol on Mining and its Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2020–2030 call for harmonisation of climate change and environmental standards across economic sectors, implementation across member states remains uneven and challenging.
In Zimbabwe, mining and environmental management policies provide for environmental impact assessments and rehabilitation obligations. However, climate specific provisions such as methane capture from coal seams and comprehensive carbon accounting within the mineral value chain are still largely absent.
Aligning mining policy with climate action would strengthen environmental safeguards, reinforce EIAs and promote responsible mining practices with zero tolerance for the degradation of land, water and air quality. Such alignment is increasingly becoming a global expectation rather than a voluntary commitment.
A climate smart mining strategy should therefore transition traditional operations towards cleaner production methods, incorporating renewable energy, circular economy principles, water recycling and waste reduction. This approach reduces environmental footprints while improving operational efficiency.
By 2030, major export markets are moving towards enforcing carbon border adjustment mechanisms, which are designed to penalise products linked to high emission and irresponsible production processes. For mineral dependent economies, failure to adapt risks exclusion from global markets.
Climate smart mining cannot be reduced to a cosmetic environmental initiative. The proposals and discussions now firmly position it as a business survival strategy for Zimbabwe’s mineral based economy in a rapidly decarbonising world.
Within this context, NDS2 should accelerate the transition towards energy intensive beneficiation facilities powered by renewable energy sources. This would reduce the national carbon footprint and align mining growth with Zimbabwe’s Nationally Determined Contributions under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Climate smart mining ultimately supports the long term sustainability of both host communities and investors. It reduces pollution, creates local green jobs, guarantees access to clean water and enhances mining profitability through responsible operations.
However, achieving this transition requires a deliberate and unified national effort, anchored in strong environmental responsibility and sustained through multi stakeholder collaboration involving Government, industry, communities and civil society.
The proposed new mining bill should act as a catalyst for this transition. Environmental safeguards and community benefit sharing mechanisms must become non negotiable conditions of every mining licence issued.
The success of climate smart mining initiatives ultimately hinges on political will and a genuine commitment to partnership building. Such resolve is essential to create a mining sector that is profitable, equitable, and environmentally responsible and climate conscious, ensuring economic and social prosperity for all Zimbabweans.
Delaying the adoption of climate smart mining risks locking Zimbabwe out of the emerging global green economy and could reverse hard won economic gains from mining. Implemented decisively, climate smart mining offers the country a chance to leverage its mineral endowment as a competitive advantage rather than a liability.
l Pascal Manyakaidze (PhD) is an expert in climate change and sustainable land and water resources management.
