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NewsDay

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Zimbabwe needs a Silver Bullet

Opinion & Analysis
A national climate policy is our priceless branding tool; substituting that with new and reformed programmes amounts to sleight of hand.

A national climate policy is our priceless branding tool; substituting that with new and reformed programmes amounts to sleight of hand.

View Point with Wisdom Mdzungairi

So, if one could talk to President Robert Mugabe, among other world leaders about climate change, what would you tell him?  Indeed it has been quite a while since a climate scientist first raised the alarm about global warming.

And since then, there have been countless United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) reports issued  — but environmentalists and many climate gurus still believe not nearly enough has been done.

The President and his Environment, Water and Climate minister Saviour Kasukuwere, among other world leaders, will be discussing global warming at the Climate Summit at the United Nations headquarters in New York in September and the UNFCCC in Paris next year.

It may also be discussed at the G20 summit in Brisbane, Australia, in November, and I am not sure if Zimbabwe will be invited to this one given the frost relations between the two countries. But it’s climate, so I believe Zimbabwe will add value to the discussions.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) findings show that it is likely that human beings are the main reason why temperatures have risen.

The last 30 years have been warmer than any preceding decade since the mid-1800s as greenhouse gases have reached levels unseen in thousands of years. Besides, Zimbabwe is considered to be a vulnerable target of climate change effects.

Our economy is heavily dependent on climate-sensitive sectors such as rain-fed agriculture (we do not have mechanised agriculture), wildlife resources, and hydro-power generation.

We are already experiencing the consequences of climate change, and until we do well to adapt or mitigate the impact of climate change, Zimbabwe is likely to experience a more drastic consequence. Temperatures have increased and recently the country received large volumes of rains resulting in thousands of people requiring State assistance in Masvingo and most of the Zambezi Valley Escarpment in the north.

The floods destroyed a vast number of schools, health facilities and roads, and the flooding has demonstrated that climate change is already setting new conditions for the livelihoods of many Zimbabweans.

At least, Environment secretary Prince Mupazviriho last week intimated that his ministry was working at mitigating water challenges by ensuring construction of mega dams that have been on the drawing board for years now.

No doubt without water resources farming by the majority has particularly become more difficult. Smallholder farmers naturally seek ways of diversifying their sources of livelihood by branching into other sectors.

But, global warming has exacerbated existing challenges facing the country such as poverty and water access, and particularly threatens vulnerable communities.

Climate change is indeed best seen as a threat multiplier for it can yield a spiral of negative effects that hit not only farmers but the whole country.  One cannot imagine the growing number of climate refugees from all over Africa that is expected to increase exponentially in the future due to erratic weather conditions.

Climate refugees from the countryside are likely to grow given that some parts of Zimbabwe are dry and no meaningful farming can take place there.

“Climate refugee” is well entrenched in terminology of global institutions, and Zimbabwe is well likely to experience the augmented flow of cross-border migration, trailing in the effects of global warming.

And so, one would ask global leaders to show serious political commitment towards addressing climate change issues and find ways to mitigate its impacts on their people.

For over the next decade, it is predicted that billions of people, particularly those in developing countries in particularly Africa will face shortages of water and food and greater risk to health and life as a result of global warming.

Hence, unless something was done as a matter of urgency, the world would be overwhelmed by catastrophic effect of climate change.

Africa must also work to ensure the support and adaptation of its people, technological options, such as increased flood proof houses to behaviour change at the individual level, such as reducing water and electricity use in times of drought, and using insecticide-treated mosquito nets.

There is also need to mainstream climate change programmers such as mitigation and adaptation into central government budgets to complement political will and cut emissions.

Zimbabwe’s National Climate Change Policy once in fruition must also address climate resilient and climate compatible economy, while achieving sustainable development and equitable low carbon growth for the country.

This means that local institutions of higher learning should plan to take up research programmes and other engagements that would help in the design of policies and programmes to address social ills like malaria, food security, and global warming.

Any country worth its salt should also take it upon itself to defend its territorial integrity, and so should deal with the security dimension of the climate change issue.

This is bolstered by a call by the Food and Agriculture Organisation, which warned that climate change will continue to raise global food prices and possibly yield a global food crisis.

On the impact of the global warming on the poor a World Bank report observed that rising food prices have caused 51 riots in 37 countries since 2007.  It, therefore, warned food price shocks can both spark and exacerbate conflict and political instability.

Indeed, Zimbabwe will not bear fruit of the price surges, but rather be at the paying end. Worst case scenario, it could spark violent acts as it did in Mozambique 2010.

Are the numbers on our side in this regard? Perhaps not! Late last year, a World Food Programme report pointed out that over 1,1 million Zimbabweans already were severely to moderately food insecure this year.

Zimbabwe could benefit from the climate change talks but must internalise and articulate the concerns on the security implications of global warming.  Zimbabwe, like everybody else, could also be on the winning side in any such climate deal.

In fact, it should breed that opportunity by taking on a leadership role for there could be more deadly heat waves, floods, and droughts around the world.