Zimbabwe one up on battle against climate change

Stephen Mpofu

ZIMBABWE is undoubtedly one up on other African states in the battle against climate change brought about by global warming following a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreement between the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) and a delegation from the Czech Republic under its company Blue Marble Services.

The MoU is to develop and implement a ground-breaking fuel additive in Bulawayo, which is generally regarded as Zimbabwe’s industrial hub as also confirmed by the city’s venue for the annual Zimbabwe International Trade Fair.

The new environmental transformation initiative between Nust and the Czech’s Blue Marble Services Company should put to an end the pejorative description of Bulawayo by many Zimbabweans, especially by rural folk as KoNtuthu Ziyathunqa (the place of bellowing smoke).

This is a reference to smoke emitted into the atmosphere by the unmodified factory and other chimneys, thereby contributing to environmental pollution, but worse than that to thinning ozone, the layer that protects Earth from the dangerous rays of the sun which causes global warming and recurrent droughts with crop failures and hunger in many countries, including our own as a boomerang effect.

No immediate comment could be obtained yesterday from the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) but common sense suggests that EMA gurus are not damp squibs to not crack ear-to-ear smiles at a development such as the agreement with the Czech organisation and one which places a stone farther in their promotion of environmental efficacy in Zimbabwe, the SADC region as well as in other countries on the African continent.

At present, cotton wool stuffed in the ears of ordinary people as well as those in authority causes rampant acts of deforestation, veld fires and other environmentally destructive acts, such as uncontrolled emissions of carbons in smoke from coal plants.

This results in the erosion of the ozone layer with droughts as well as cyclones, such as Idai which took place in eastern Zimbabwe destroying homes, roads and other properties in its wake.

The environmental agreement signed in Bulawayo should empower Zimbabweans with the knowledge to protect our environment with positive repercussions in the global village where many other dwellers are driven by ignorance to engage in destructive acts environmentally.

The agreement in point in this discourse should further empower graduates of the new heritage education curriculum to drive further the campaign for environmental protection which has positive boomerang effects on humanity across the global village.

When all is said and done, a healthy environment becomes a synonym for the survival of both the human race and God’s other creations on planet Earth.