Climate Change Management Bill on the cards: Zhakata

GOVERNMENT has started working on a legal instrument to enhance the implementation of climate change adaption and management strategies to reduce emissions by 33 percent per capita in line with Vision 2030, an official has said.

In an interview on the side lines of a Climate and Ozone sensitisation training programme for media practitioners held in Bulawayo recently, director of Climate Change Management Mr Washington Zhakata said they expected to have a Climate Change Management Bill by the end of this year.

“The country is moving towards strengthening implementation of the climate change agenda,” he said. “At local level we have issues to do with adaptation in our communities, bio-diversity and ecosystems are being impacted terribly by climate change weather patterns, we have infrastructure being destroyed by violent storms and flooding.

“We would want to come up with a very strong plan to drive climate change adaptation in the country. At the same time the country has obligations to reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses in the agriculture, energy, industry, waste and forestry sectors.

“We are supposed to reduce this by 33 percent per capita by 2030. In order for us to make head way, we require a Bill that will support and guide implementation of the climate change agenda in the country. The process is already underway and we expect to have the legal instrument by the end of the year.

“It is important that we have access to industries’ operations and information relating to their sustainability and what they are doing in terms of energy and water use efficiency to reducte these emissions. So, this must be supported by a bill.”

Mr Zhakata said climate change implementation was not guided by any legal instrument and that interventions were more reactive rather than being pro-active.

He said there was no direct finances they were getting from the fiscus to implement their various adaptation strategies.

Mr Zhakata said the state of affairs resulted in them lobbying for the creation of a Climate Change Fund to enhance their resources and efficiency.

“The Government has very little resources allocated for climate change management,” he said. “In that case, the Department of Climate Change Management is driving an agenda to establish a national Climate Change Fund.

“This (fund) will finance both adaptation and mitigation projects which are to do with irrigation systems, livelihood gardens and river banks protection, among other activities, at the same time facilitating the preparedness for industries to reduce emissions.”

Mr Zhakata said the National Climate Change Fund would be modelled under a similar initiative being implemented in Rwanda where more than $130 million has been raised in the last five years to finance adaption and mitigation programmes in that country.

He said they approached the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to allocate them some funds raised through Carbon Tax to fund their programmes.

Carbon tax is collected on all vehicles at the ports of entry during permanent or temporary importation.