Online Reporter
Sam Matema in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
The role of the media is generally defined by three core responsibilities: to inform, educate and entertain. Among these, information remains the most critical, as the success or failure of any programme, policy or project depends largely on whether relevant stakeholders and citizens have access to accurate and timely information.
An African proverb aptly captures the power of storytelling: until the lion learns to write, the story glorifies the hunter. This wisdom is particularly relevant to environmental conservation issues, which have often received limited and fragmented media coverage despite the growing threat posed by climate change and the far-reaching impact of environmental degradation on society, the economy and human wellbeing.
There can be little argument that Zimbabwe faces serious environmental challenges that carry significant implications for future generations. Consequently, greater efforts are required to inform and educate the public through a wide range of media platforms, including print, broadcast, digital, social and outdoor media.
Following the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, three landmark international environmental agreements, commonly referred to as the Rio3 Conventions, were established. These are the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
These conventions are closely interconnected, and it is imperative that citizens understand the relationship between them. Equally important is an appreciation of the progress made through previous conventions and how those outcomes continue to shape current discussions, negotiations and policy interventions.
As delegates gather in Mongolia for the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, which began on Monday and runs until August 28, important lessons can be drawn from the host country. Mongolia faces severe environmental challenges, with 77 percent of its land affected by degradation, placing it in a more precarious position than Zimbabwe in this regard.
The media should therefore, inform and educate citizens about Mongolia’s One Billion Trees campaign, launched in 2021 by President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh. The initiative seeks to combat desertification and climate change by planting one billion trees nationwide by 2030.
Backed by a commitment of one percent of annual gross domestic product funding and supported through public-private partnerships and major mining companies, the programme demonstrates a clear, deliberate and well-funded national response to environmental challenges.
From the foregoing, it is evident that media coverage of environmental issues has often been fragmented and reactive rather than strategic and sustained. Such an approach fails to reflect the urgency of the Rio3 agenda and the existential threat posed by environmental degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change. Notably, there remains limited deployment of journalists and media practitioners to major global environmental gatherings.
Here in Ulaanbaatar, where the writer is attending COP17, the absence of Zimbabwean media is striking. This raises an important question: who will tell and amplify the voices of the Zimbabwean delegation and communicate the country’s position to its citizens?
Who will explain to Zimbabweans that land degradation, a key issue under discussion at COP17, is not only an environmental concern but also a human rights, economic and security issue situated within the sustainability triangle?
Who will share the experiences, innovations and lessons emerging from different regions of the world?
These are gaps that require urgent attention, with the media occupying a central role in addressing them.
Telling the Rio3 story
At the Rio Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992, the international community resolved to establish three distinct conventions: the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The biodiversity and desertification conventions convene every two years, while the climate change convention meets annually under the banner of the Conference of the Parties (COP).
At the heart of the Convention on Biological Diversity is the 30×30 initiative, which seeks to preserve, protect and restore the planet’s rich diversity of flora and fauna, much of which is under threat from habitat loss, fragmentation, climate change and other human activities.
This objective can be achieved through the creation of ecological corridors and protected-area networks that improve habitat connectivity, with the goal of conserving 30 percent of global biodiversity by 2030.
A critical question remains: how can these global commitments be aligned with Zimbabwe’s Vision 2030 while ensuring that no person and no place is left behind?
The Zimbabwean media has an important responsibility to tell that story and explain the convergence between international environmental goals and national development aspirations.
The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, established in 1994, seeks to protect and restore land resources in pursuit of a safer, more equitable and sustainable future. The convention meets biennially, with Saudi Arabia hosting COP16 in Riyadh from December 2 to 13, 2024.
Unlike climate change, whose impacts transcend national boundaries, desertification is often perceived as largely affecting Africa and other developing regions. This perception has resulted in comparatively lower levels of global mobilisation and resource allocation.
Many countries in the Global North continue to view desertification as principally an African concern, creating a situation where the burden of addressing the challenge falls disproportionately on affected nations.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change focuses on climate change and its transboundary impacts, promoting mitigation, adaptation and resilience-building measures.
The convention recognises the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and addresses matters such as climate finance, loss and damage funding, and the New Collective Quantified Goal.
Given their historical contribution to global emissions, countries in the Global North are expected to shoulder a larger share of climate-related financing responsibilities.
Each year, parties to the convention meet to evaluate progress, identify shortcomings and make fresh commitments aimed at achieving a just and equitable green transition.
Opportunities
There is a need for legislative reforms and policy alignment to reflect obligations arising from signed protocols and emerging environmental realities.
Another important opportunity lies in mainstreaming the Rio3 agenda and promoting greater public understanding of mitigation, adaptation and resilience-building strategies that support sustainable development.
Zimbabwe has already introduced important frameworks, including the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan and the National Adaptation Plan, both aimed at addressing environmental challenges. These initiatives should be communicated more effectively so that ordinary Zimbabweans understand their significance and relevance.
There is reason for optimism, grounded in deliberate efforts to restore degraded land through local initiatives and international support mechanisms such as the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
More attention should also be given to highlighting Zimbabwe’s environmental legislation, governance systems, politics and everyday practices at community level.
By declaring the country’s rivers a state of disaster through Statutory Instrument 91 of 2026, President Mnangagwa injected renewed hope into environmental rehabilitation efforts by providing a framework for river restoration.
The President also emphasised the importance of river rehabilitation during Heroes Day commemorations at the National Heroes Acre in Harare on August 10.
Such issues deserve greater prominence and sustained coverage in the media.
As efforts intensify to mainstream the Rio3 conventions and their associated responses, environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues should be systematically reported across all sectors.
This approach should be supported by legislation to ensure that planning, implementation and reporting processes are environmentally sensitive and aligned with Rio3 and ESG principles. Failure to do so risks allowing Zimbabwe’s environmental narrative to be shaped by external actors rather than informed domestic voices.
Blind spots
One of the most persistent challenges is the failure by some countries in the Global North to fully honour environmental funding commitments.
The disproportionate environmental damage caused by human activities continues to place undue pressure on vulnerable communities and ecosystems.
There remains limited political will to provide adequate grant funding to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN), with many developed countries favouring debt financing for developing nations instead.
Questions also surround the global carbon credits market, where financial benefits have often accrued outside host countries despite projects being located within developing nations.
The Kariba REDD+ project is a notable example that highlights the need for greater public awareness and scrutiny. The media should play a leading role in informing citizens about the lessons, challenges and controversies associated with such initiatives, particularly in the absence of a comprehensive legal framework.
This knowledge is critical in preventing similar shortcomings in future projects.
It is also the responsibility of the media to explain why President Mnangagwa called for the suspension and subsequent relaunch of Zimbabwe’s carbon market under the Zimbabwe Credit Market Authority framework.
Sustainable future
A sustainable future can only be achieved when humanity lives in harmony with nature and embraces responsible environmental stewardship. This requires recognising that natural resources are held in trust for future generations and that society has an obligation to leave the environment in a better condition than it inherited.
Zimbabwe must increasingly look inward for funding solutions while domesticating interventions that leverage its rich natural resource base.
This is particularly important given the growing pressures arising from unsustainable human interaction with the environment, which have contributed to land degradation affecting approximately 36 percent of the country’s total land area.
Ultimately, this is a call for the media to help Zimbabweans understand where the country stands and where it is headed on one of the most important and defining issues of our time.
Sam Matema is the National Assembly Member for Buhera Central constituency, Zanu-PF Manicaland Province Secretary for Administration, Climate Parliament Zimbabwe Chapter chairman and chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Environment, Climate and Wildlife. He writes here in his personal capacity.
