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The upcoming Zimbabwe Economic Development Conference (ZEDCON) 2024, scheduled for September, will prominently feature discussions on climate-proofing the economy, enhancing resilience, and propelling economic transformation in the face of climate change, the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion has said.
The pivotal conference aims to foster innovative strategies and collaborative efforts to navigate the challenges posed by environmental shifts.
The annual conference organised by the Finance Ministry will be held in Victoria Falls from 14 to 18 September under the theme “Building Resilience and Driving Economic Transformation under Climate Change.”
It is expected to explore strategies for climate-proofing the economy, building resilience and driving economic transformation under the impact of climate change.
Earlier this month, President Mnangagwa declared a nationwide State of Disaster in response to the severe drought triggered by the El Niño weather phenomenon.
The proclamation underscores the critical urgency for implementing effective measures and interventions to mitigate the dire impact of climate change
The Meteorological Services Department (MSD) indicated that the 2023/24 cropping season would be characterised by erratic and low rainfall patterns due to the El Niño weather prompting all stakeholders to push for the adoption of measures that will lessen the impact of the impending climate challenge.
El Nino, which causes oceans to warm, usually triggers drier weather in southern Africa, reducing crop yields and pushing temperatures higher.
La Nina, which usually follows El Nino periods, results in the opposite.
The Ministry of Finance has initiated preparations for the upcoming conference, and they are actively soliciting abstract submissions from a diverse range of contributors.
Researchers, academia, economic think tanks, and development partners are invited to share their insights and expertise. The collaborative effort will enrich the discourse, fostering innovative solutions and informed strategies
The objective of ZEDCON 2024 is to bring together researchers, academics, development partners, corporates, economic think tanks and representative organizations to share knowledge, experiences and best practices on how to build resilience and drive economic transformation in the face of climate change.
The conference will focus on climate-proofing agricultural production and growth, climate-proofing and achieving energy self-sufficiency and public-private partnerships to finance climate resilience and transformative programmes.
Other key pillars are meteorological analysis of climate variability, rainfall patterns and El Nino effects 2025-2030 and beyond.
Last year’s conference was held under the theme: “Public and Private Resource Mobilisation for Sustainable Development.”
During the inaugural conference in 2022, topics tackled included the role of capital markets in the development of the country, retaining human capital retention for national development and fiscal incentives and economic sustainability of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Zimbabwe, among others.
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