Online Reporter
Online Reporter
IN a significant move to address the global climate crisis, Zimbabwe has submitted its latest climate action plan, the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) 3.0, meeting a critical United Nations (UN) deadline at a time when most nations are lagging behind.
The new plan outlines Zimbabwe’s climate mitigation and adaptation strategies for the period 2025 to 2035, building upon its previous commitments, which have evolved in both scope and ambition.
The country’s climate planning began in 2015 with its first NDC, which focused solely on the energy sector.
The plan aimed to reduce energy-related emissions by 33 percent per capita below the business-as-usual scenario by 2030 through projects like ethanol blending, solar water heaters and railway refurbishment.
In 2021, a revised NDC was submitted, marking a significant expansion to an economy-wide approach.
It set a more ambitious target of a 40 percent reduction in per capita greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and included 17 mitigation projects across various sectors: Energy (three projects); Industrial Processes and Product Use (IPPU) (four projects); Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land-
Use (AFOLU) (three projects); and Waste (two projects).
The estimated cost to implement these 17 mitigation measures is over US$5,5 billion, with the total funding required for the entire revised NDC — including adaptation and cross-cutting initiatives — estimated to be over US$15 billion.
The submission of NDC 3.0 is a positive sign of Zimbabwe’s continued commitment.
However, a recent report from the World Green Building Council highlights a broader global issue.
Many countries’ NDCs are not ambitious enough, especially concerning the building sector.
More than 110 countries lack building codes and only three have codes aligned with zero-emission building (ZEB) principles.
To address these gaps, the World Green Building Council has developed an NDC scorecard for sustainable buildings.
This tool helps policymakers evaluate how well building policy measures are integrated into their country’s climate plans, assessing policies across categories such as carbon and energy, adaptation and resilience, circularity, water and health.
According to Clara Mapokotera, head of the Green Building Council Zimbabwe (GBCZ) secretariat, buildings can be “our greatest allies in the journey to zero carbon”.
She explains that the built environment accounts for 40 percent of global emissions.
The GBCZ is using the scorecard to contribute to the NDC and advocates for the incorporation of buildings into Zimbabwe’s climate plans as both a challenge and a solution.
By using tools like the scorecard, Zimbabwe can further strengthen its NDC 3.0, ensuring its climate actions are comprehensive and effectively address all sectors, including the built environment, to create a more sustainable and resilient future.
“Buildings can tame floodwaters, heatwaves and droughts. They can clean the air we depend on, omprove the health of communities, reduce our energy bills and dependencies, cut our waste,” said Mapokotera.
“With everyone’s involvement, we can make the future better for everyone. There is a scorecard in place that needs to be followed. The GBCZ is contributing to the NDC.
“Similarly, buildings should be incorporated in the NDCs of Zimbabwe as a challenge and solution to greenhouse gas emissions, as the built environment continues to account for a significant 40 percent of the emissions.”
Despite mitigation efforts, Zimbabwe’s total GHG emissions are still projected to increase due to overall economic and population growth, even as per capita emissions are expected to decrease.
While Zimbabwe has a clear policy framework for its NDCs, climate experts note that the primary challenge is not planning but securing the substantial funding required for full-scale implementation.
The successful tracking and execution of these ambitious projects remains a key challenge.
