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Zvamaida Murwira, Senior Reporter
Speaker of Parliament, Advocate Jacob Mudenda met his Azerbaijan counterpart Sahiba Gafarova where the two implored the Global North to provide funding to developing countries that are vulnerable to climate change under the loss and damage fund.
The fund was established by the Conference of the Parties (COP) serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement, where it was agreed that there be a new funding arrangement for developing countries that were vulnerable to adverse effects of climate change.
Adv Mudenda and Mrs Gafarova met during a working visit where he was attending IPU Parliamentary meetings of COP29.
“On the issue of Loss and Damage fund, the two Speakers concurred that only strategic dialogue will result in persuading the Global North countries to avail the funding as per COP agreements. Without this key facet, the Global South countries will continue to suffer from funding inadequacies in an attempt to mitigate climate change impacts,” reads a statement issued after their meeting.
“In that regard, the host speaker lamented the non-attendance of the meetings by some European countries in an apparent protest against Azerbaijan for liberating her territory from Armenia. She emphasised that climate change was an issue of global concern and should, therefore, not be politicised.”
Zimbabwe was commended for taking proactive measures to deal with the effects of climate change.
“In that vein, the Global South countries ought to also take decisive measures to cushion themselves against vicissitudes of climate change as exemplified by the Zimbabwean Government which has established a home-grown Climate Disaster Fund which minimises reliance on external funding. To that extent, Zimbabwe has targeted this kitty to be worth US$10 billion by the year 2030, all things being equal,” said the statement.
“The impact of such an intervention is immeasurable. It will be possible to develop smart civil and architectural engineering designs to combat the debilitating effects of climate shocks especially where infrastructural designs are less robust. Such a move of initial self-funding by Global South countries may persuade the Global North countries to partner the Global South countries in bolstering the Loss and Damage Fund,” said Adv Mudenda.
The two leaders agreed that there be cultural exchange visits between the two countries, as part of deepening bilateral relations.
“Furthermore, both Speakers agreed that cultural ensemble exchange tours by both countries could revamp the cordial relations between the two republics as witnessed by the highly impressive Azerbaijan traditional displays during the dinner hosted by Parliament of Azerbaijan on Saturday night, which typified the rich cultural heritage of Azerbaijan,” reads the statement.
“In this vein, Speaker Mudenda proposed synergies with the trailblazing gastronomy initiative by the First Lady of Zimbabwe, Her Excellency, Dr Amai Mnangagwa, who has taken the Africa cuisine to elevated international levels as demonstrated by the United Nations Gastronomy Fair held in the resort City of Victoria Falls, courtesy of her initiative. Speaker Mudenda suggested that, if invited, the First Lady could visit Azerbaijan to demonstrate her strong belief in cultural gastronomy. Speaker Gafarova accepted graciously the proposed people to people cultural exchanges.”
During the discussion, it was noted that the two shared similar ideologies as reflected in their affiliation to organisations such as Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
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