Zimbabwe leads Africa in submitting updated climate plans to UNFCCC

ZIMBABWE is the only African country that has submitted updated national climate plans, or Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat, solidifying the country’s all-encompassing development agenda under the Second Republic.

Climate change has been widely recognised as a major global issue that threatens to alter the natural environment, disrupt societal well-being, and hinder socio-economic development. This makes climate change mitigation and adaptation interventions imperative to reduce further deterioration of the climate system.

In 2015, Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) came together and adopted the Paris Agreement, which aims to transform Parties’ developmental trajectories and set the world on a course towards sustainable development.

The Paris Agreement recognises that to significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change, all Parties need to reduce their greenhouse gas emission levels, with the aim of holding the global average temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, while pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

To achieve this, the Paris Agreement requires Parties to communicate their greenhouse gas emissions reduction commitments through the NDCs every five years, with each submission reflecting increased ambition from the previous one.

According to the Ministry of Environment, Climate, and Wildlife, Zimbabwe submitted its Intended NDC in 2015, which was effected in 2017 when the country ratified the Paris Agreement.

Parties to the Paris Climate Agreement are required to submit updated national climate plans, or Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), every five years to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat.

The second iteration of the NDCs was reviewed at the first Global Stocktake (GST1) at COP28, when Parties were mandated to develop updated and more ambitious NDCs (NDC3.0) and 10-year plans, and to submit them to the secretariat by 10 February 2025, including the targets for 2035.

However, by Monday, 10 February 2025, only 13 countries globally had met this deadline, according to the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) in a statement.

“From the African region, only Zimbabwe made its submission on time. The African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) congratulates Zimbabwe on this achievement and is honoured to have supported Zimbabwe in updating and communicating its NDC3.0,” the statement read.

Other countries that met the deadline include the Marshall Islands, Singapore, Saint Lucia, Andorra, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Uruguay, the United States of America, Ecuador, Brazil, and the United Arab Emirates.

The ACPC stated that it will continue supporting other African member states in the lead-up to COP30.

“Given the urgency of the climate emergency, it is disappointing that only 13 out of the 195 signatories to the Paris Agreement have communicated their national contributions to the climate response.

“We also note that it is not sufficient for Parties to communicate NDCs; adequate finance should be made available to enable their implementation if humanity is to have any realistic chance of preventing irreversible interference with the climate system.

“In this regard, we note that countries must submit their plans by September at the latest to ensure they are included in the NDC Synthesis Report to be released ahead of Brazil’s COP30. The ACPC will support African member states to update and communicate their NDC 3.0 and long-term low-emission development strategies within this timeline,” the statement read.

In addition to supporting countries to reformulate their NDCs, the ACPC will also participate in assessments to ensure the alignment of communicated NDCs with the recommendations of GST1 and with a 1.5°C trajectory.