By Myles Matarise
ENVIRONMENT ministry permanent secretary Munesushe Munodawafa says policy makers and heads of ministries should join hands in the drive to educate people on climate change issues.
Speaking during a recently held two-day stakeholder engagement in Nyanga, Munodawafa said there was need to enhance pro-activeness and preparedness to climate change-related impacts.
“As a country we have standing commitments on greenhouse gasses emissions reduction to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which Zimbabwe has been part of since 1992.
“It calls for an urgent need to ensure our national and sectoral policies speak to clean development, green growth, and resilience,” Munodawafa said.
This comes as the government has been seeking to enhance the capacity of heads of ministries, with a bias towards some sectors of the economy such as Energy, Agriculture, Health, National Housing, Local Government, Transport, Mining, Women Affairs and Public Service, among others.
The world is embarking on a green revolution, aimed at reducing gas emissions into the air, with economies that pursue green growth pathways having a cutting-edge advantage.
The director in the climate change department, Washington Zhakata, who was also part of the discussion, said there was a need for stakeholders to adhere to a low emission development strategy.
“The implementation of identified measures calls upon every sector to play its part through facilitative policies, strategies and investments in respective sectors,” Zhakata said.
The impact of climate change has affected different life facets, causing extreme weather conditions, resulting in flooding and droughts in some countries.
Rainfall patterns are increasingly becoming uncertain, threatening livelihoods and economic performance, leading to environmentalists’ call for urgent measures to be taken.
This comes as President Emmerson Mnangagwa is set to attend this year’s 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26 slated for November this year, where some of the key climate issues are to be discussed.