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Samuel Chindaro-Correspondent
Climate change is threatening to increase vulnerability, undermine economic gains, hinder social and economic development, and worsen access to basic services and the quality of life of citizens all over the world.
The rising temperatures associated with climate change have resulted in more frequent extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts, floods, wildfires, hurricanes, tropical cyclones and heavy rain.
Even though there are multiple factors causing climate change; emissions arising from the use of oil, gas and coal for homes, transport and industries are the main contributing factors.
Most Zimbabweans can relate to experiencing some of these extreme weather events over the past couple of decades; typified by regular droughts.
The most recent disaster was Cyclone Idai which struck Chimanimani in March 2019, affecting 270 000 people.
The cyclone storm and subsequent flooding and landslides left 340 people dead and many others missing. Infrastructure was destroyed; including homes and schools which resulted in many people being displaced.
Without action on climate change, rainfall will become more variable and there will be an increase in droughts, floods and storms.
This will affect Zimbabwe’s food security, health, energy supply and the economy. It is therefore crucial that Zimbabwe participate in the global effort to fight climate change; which it is doing, exemplified by the President’s attendance and participation at COP26.
This is underpinned by Zimbabwe’s Climate Policy (2016), the establishment of a Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry under the new dispensation and the establishment of a Climate Change Bill which is underway.
Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) such as computers, wireless communication and broadband have rapidly changed economies, societies and cultures all over the world.
In Zimbabwe, the digital divide is shrinking, as investment in ICT networks and services continues to grow. The nature of the pandemic has seen ICT usage grow rapidly over the last couple of years.
These increasing levels of connectivity and the increasing use of ICTs globally could offer some potential to help address some of the climate concerns.
ICTs offer solutions to monitor, mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. These range from monitoring the weather, optimising agricultural production, disaster management, to reducing emissions through intelligent traffic management among other applications.
Information pertaining to climate, weather, pollution and disasters is critically important in understanding climate change and its impact.
Monitoring activities are used to provide daily weather forecasts and long-range predictions. Typical ICT systems involved in environment and climate monitoring and data dissemination include weather satellites that track the progress of hurricanes, tornadoes and thunderstorms.
Digital technologies offer the opportunity to support the resilience of land management systems by predicting emerging weather patterns which helps farmers in planning their activities.
The combination of modelling and forecasting together with engaging user interfaces available on mobile phones could help every farmer around the country make both short-term decisions e.g. about harvest timings, and longer-term decisions about crop choice and land management.
This can enable much more resilient food production systems, increasing yields, reducing waste and improving adaptability to a changing climate. ICTs can play a role in disaster prevention, mitigation, response and recovery when faced with extreme weather conditions.
Timely, predictable and effective information can be powerful tools for the Zimbabwean Government and other stakeholders involved in rescue operations to make informed and timely decisions.
It is with this information that disaster response units can deliver early warnings and alerts to communities that are at risk. It is, therefore, imperative that Zimbabwe has an efficient early warning system to limit the impacts of extreme whether events.
Disasters such as cyclones and flooding have led to the displacement of a growing number of people in the country. ICTs can help these vulnerable groups to communicate with each other, stay informed on current affairs, keep in touch with family and friends and help give them access to basic services. ICTs can also help humanitarian organisations and the Government to gather critical information and better support those in need. Traffic is a major contributor to air pollution and energy consumption with a major impact on climate change. Therefore, reducing the number of cars on the road is one of the most important ways of reducing emissions in the urban areas.
Digital technologies can be used to support changes to how people access transport services, reducing the number of vehicles on the roads.
ICTs can be used to develop platforms which can enable users to access real-time transport information making it easier to access and pay for it remotely.
This will promote the use of public transport, making it easy for individuals to complete their journeys. Digital technology can also be used monitor vehicle movement around city centres to improve congestion and reduce emissions.
Other ICT approaches will help reduce travel and its emissions altogether. The Government can build on developments in video-conferencing and their rapid uptake during the Covid-19 pandemic to establish a long-lasting reduction in business travel.
At the same time; it should address the digital inequalities that became apparent during this period; resulting in unequal access, with some groups excluded from the benefits they offer.
At the centre of climate change mitigation is the reduction of carbon emissions from power generation. As the cost of renewable energy continues to decline, the use of renewables in Zimbabwe is expected to continue to increase.
Renewable energy can replace the use of coal which the country is heavily reliant on thereby reducing emissions and providing a significant element in climate change mitigation.
However, in order to maximise the benefits arising from the high renewable uptake, it is imperative to start adopting intelligent power grids (smart grids). Smart Grids can utilise data and information to maximise energy efficiency through collecting, distributing and storing renewables.
The current Zimbabwean grid uses a limited one-way interaction. That is, power flows from the power stations to the customers.
The Smart Grid, in contrast, introduces a two-way interchange where both electricity and information can be exchanged in both directions between the power utility and the customers. Solar-powered homes can provide excess power to the grid, for example. Smart Grids also allow for renewable technologies, such as wind and electric vehicles, to be integrated into the system.
The systems can strategically manage diverse and geographically scattered resources to ensure that their energy will be stored safely, in large-scale energy storage, and distributed where and when it’s needed.
Climate change is the single most defining challenge of this century. If not actively addressed now, its impacts will be irreversible.
ICTs such as satellites, mobile phones and the Internet already play a role in addressing some challenges related to climate change.
Education and raising awareness of the role and further potential of ICTs in monitoring climate change and mitigating and adapting to its effects is key to unlocking the solutions that can be deployed to ensure a sustainable future.
Understandably the country is facing many challenges which need to be addressed before implementing a number of these ICT-based solutions to fight climate change.
These range from availability of power itself, availability of ICT across the country to development of reliable transport infrastructure among others.
However, it is important that the country leverages best practice when developing its infrastructure taking advantage of existing global technology platforms and the latest ICT-based solutions, to enable speedy implementation, save cost, achieve efficiency and change lives.
Focusing on ICT now can help in resolving some of the basic challenges that the country is facing. Zimbabwe can also take advantage of fewer barriers to the deployment of new technology. For example, Zimbabwe could do drug delivery by drones, which could be beneficial in reaching remote locations, whereas it would be complicated in developed countries which are more crowded.
Tackling climate change and achieving the Zimbabwe’s commitment to net zero emissions requires transformative changes. Digital technology can be an enabler of this change. However, digital technologies are tools and the context in which they are developed and deployed will determine the extent to which they will help fix climate issues.
There should be focus on education and training in order ensure everyone can take part in fighting climate change.
There is a need to build knowledge and digital skills for all and it is important that focus is given to this now.
Dr Samuel Chindaro holds a PhD in Electronics (University of Kent), MSc in Electronics and Information Technology (University of Birmingham) and a B Eng Hons in Electronic Engineering (NUST). He is also a chartered engineer (Institution of Engineering and Technology). [email protected]
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