Stakeholders to brainstorm ahead of Egypt COP-27

KEY stakeholders involved in issues around environment and climate change will tomorrow meet in Harare to deliberate on the concept papers to be delivered during the COP-27 in Egypt in November.

President Mnangagwa is expected to lead a Zimbabwean delegation that will attend the Conference of the Parties on Climate Change from 7 to 18 November in El-Sheikh in Egypt.

Prior to that, stakeholders in Zimbabwe will meet in the capital to deliberate on what they want addressed during COP-27.

Director of Climate Change in the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Mr Washington Zhakata said the meeting will produce consolidated statements which will be taken to COP-27 to strengthen the country’s position on climate change.

“The pre-COP meeting is for various stakeholders from Government departments, parastatals, youth and church organisations among other civic groups to brainstorm on the draft position paper crafted by Zimbabwe towards COP-27. The paper carries with it the aspirations and expectations that Zimbabwe has from the deliberations at the conference,” he said.

Issues to be discussed include the financing of the developing world and the general adaptation by communities as a result of damage taking place due to climate change.

“The issue of financing due to the impact of climate change and extreme events which has been outstanding is expected to come out very clearly in the deliberations. A fund was created under the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Paris Agreement that caters for losses and damages due to climate change, but they are not reaching intended destinations and that should be looked at,” said Mr Zhakata.

He said some funds have been availed to the developing world to help adaptation to take place, but there are no clear financial mechanisms to operationalise the plans, leaving countries like Zimbabwe in a quandary.

“As a country on climate change mitigation we made commitments to reduce greenhouse emissions by 40 percent per capita by 2030 and in this vein, we also need to make an assessment on how far we have gone towards attaining our goal,” he said.

The meeting will also discuss issues revolving around capacity building, reduction of emissions, carbon trading, share of proceeds of carbon credits and how it should be distributed among other issues.

During the COP-26, the Western world identified coal as one of the major causes of climate change and pledged US$100 billion every year to help Africa migrate from the use of coal to “smarter” sources of energy.

However, the First World countries, have failed to honour their commitment with African leaders led by President Mnangagwa have slammed the West for “double standards.”

The President recently voiced his concern during an Africa Green Revolution Forum 2022 presidential summit panel discussion which included President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, President Mohamed Bazoum of Niger and Tanzania’s VicePresident Dr Phillip Isdor Mpango.

European countries are reverting to using coal for power generation after a fallout with Russia over its conflict with Ukraine.

This conflict has hit energy supplies in the European Union which relies heavily on Russian gas.

These double standards undermine the West’s target to become climate neutral by 2050.

Industrialised countries are the world’s biggest polluters and yet it is the African countries which are bearing the brunt of climate change.

Zimbabwe, South Africa and Botswana have large coal reserves and powerful countries often discourage developing nations from harnessing fossil energy.