Review of the National launch of Zimbabwe's Climate Change Management Bill

Zimbabwe through the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife Management launched the national consultations on the Climate Change Management Bill yesterday on the 27th of May.

Consultation at the Harare International conference Centre.

The Bill came through a process of drafting the principles of the Bill, which was done in November 2023.

The Climate Change Management Bill seeks to create legislation that enables Zimbabwe to effectively respond to the impacts of climate change, build climate resilience, promote low carbon development, establish a climate change fund and comply with international obligations on climate change management and ozone layer protection.

We, of course, as a country have laws that have been safeguarding our environment and people such as the Civil Protection Act, Environment Act, Forestry Act, Environmental Management Act, Water Management Act (if that's the correct title, Parks and Wildlife Management Act and many Statutory Instruments and Ammendmentment acts.

When the national consultations are done, there will be a revision of these principles, and then the Bill will be debated in Parliament and passed into law when signed by the President.

Personally, I am happy that our government is now taking climate change seriously. It is evident that our country is one that is being severely affected by climate change. We suffered a bad drought that has left more than half of Zimbabwe's population in need of food aid, and has prompted the President to declare a state of emergency and has asked the international community for assistance. I live in Harare, the capital, and the reality is that people are struggling, and my heart goes towards those who live in the rurals, who rely on small scale farming to survive. Back to our story, this law is very much neccesary.

However, its not all sunshine. The Bill is not comprehensive. There are many issues which need to be taken into account. During the consultation yesterday we were divided into breakaway groups to discuss the principles of the Bill. My group discussed Principles 1 which covers all the principles. The gaps we discovered are neccesary to be taken into consideration and are also what I feel should be addressed before taking any step forward. Below are some of these points.

Section 4:2 of the EMA Act, the Bill need to cross reference these legislations. It was noted that Principle of Common But differentiated Responsibility. Issues to do with Energy transition. Also look at the Parks and Wildlife Bill because of intersectionality with biodiversity and how its affected with climate change. Many laws are affected with this Bill that’s why cross referencing is vital

·        Principle 1: speaks on financing and access to data and technical capacity. Issue raised is that there is a strong conviction that data need to be mainstreamed to allow all actors to freely participate in data evaluation and capturing processes.

·        Indigenous knowledge systems need to be recognized for Zimbabwe to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

·        Government should fund research institutions working around climate change issues for our data to be backed by scientific evidence

·        Disaster aligning: in natural disaster reduction and also how we view/label natural disasters.

·        The Bill should strengthen public health infrastructures: Relook climate change and health and other health related impacts i.e. water quality in light of water borne diseases and impacts of mental health of people living in areas impacted by climate change issues. Align our national budget with the Abuja Declaration

·        Climate proof technologies in infrastructure building for example following how the Eastgate mall was built.

·        Civil Protection Act need to be amended to be in synch with the Bill.

·        In terms of tender bids application there should demonstrated approach of recycling as a requirement in bid winning processes. Institutions should support environment sustainability approaches i.e. RRR cautious institutions

·        Strengthen educational systems in terms of climate change education and introduction of Youth Climate Forum which will review of any climate related issues and policies. More comprehensive educational systems out of school to combat environmental degradation to prevent other public health concerns

·        Acknowledgement of people living with disabilities and compensation for loss and damage to people living in disaster affected areas.

·        Stricter enforcement of the Bill with need to look on penalties those going contrary to the Bill.

·        More localized devolution of carbon credits from district level.

·        Question on whether the Bill will be made available in all local languages

Concluding, the draft Bill is not comprehensive and complete – general consensus is that it has to be drafted again and identify areas relevant to the Bill because if we do not there will be a re visit of all other Bills related to climate change