NEW: ActionAid declares war on polluters

Online Reporter

GOVERNMENT has to put in place strict measures to ensure that companies produce in an environmentally sustainable manner, in line with the international Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG), ActionAid, a non-governmental organisation, has said.

Speaking on Friday during commemorations to mark ActionAid Zimbabwe’s 20^th anniversary and launch of the Climate Justice Campaign, the organisation’s global secretary-general, Mr Arthur Larok, said everyone needs to play a role in preventing climate change as its effects are dire.

“The goal of our Climate Justice Campaign is twofold. First, we want to prevent disproportionate harm caused by climate change on vulnerable groups; and, secondly, we must provide the necessary resources to adapt to its effects.

“We are making a call to divest resources from investments in projects that harm our climate and instead channel those resources into green and feminist alternatives.”

The campaign, he said, entails holding corporations, such as financial institutions that fund fossil fuel companies and industrial agriculture firms, responsible for their role in climate change and urging them to take action to reduce emissions.

“We found that the industrial agriculture approach to farming aggressively markets agrochemicals that lead to large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions and drive deforestation,” added Mr Larok.

“ActionAid is thus, under this Climate Justice Campaign, calling for a shift and more investment in agroecology, which can guarantee meeting local food security needs, reduce deforestation, limit land grabs and support the livelihoods and economies of many countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the whole world.”

Southern Africa, Zimbabwe included, is expected to be affected by the El-Niño weather phenomenon during the 2023-4 season.

For the past two decades, ActionAid has been working with Government in major projects like the Zimbabwe Resilience Building Fund and the Zimbabwe Agricultural Growth Programme (ZAGP) Value Chain alliance for livestock upgrading, as well as empowerment projects that saw at least 250 000 people benefiting since 2003.