How to green Zim
Climate change has been a topic of discussion lately in every country for many reasons.
The average temperature has risen in many places along the decade and the average rain has either become drastically more or less and the winters have become even colder as well.
This has brought to light many problems to every corner of the world. Thus, climate change presents the biggest threat facing mankind today, Zimbabweans included. Climate change is due to ever-increasing world population, shortage of resources or mismanagement of available resources. Whatever the effects may be, there is need for adaptation as experts predict that one quarter of the earth’s species will be extinct by 2050 if the warming trend continues.
We have all heard about Cyclone idai, tropical Storm Charlene and Cyclone eloise, unfortunately this hasn’t been from Sci-fi movies, but it has been happening in the real world and in Zimbabwe as well.
The most known one is the Cyclone idai which was experienced in 2019 in the South-eastern town of Chipinge. it partially damaged 20 000 houses while 600 were completely destroyed.
The increased occurrence and intensity of droughts are causing food shortages and worsening the vulnerability of communities and this has the potential to undermine many of the positive developments made by the government over the past years in trying to meet its development goals. This is negatively affecting our economy which is agro-based.
Over 70% of the population living in rural areas are dependent on agriculture. it is estimated that about 7,7 million people are food insecure in Zimbabwe according to the World Food Programme. all these climate-change-induced hazards also affect the people socially through displacements and also economically, thus there is more need for proofing the environment against climate change. according to September (2022) economic review by Zimcodd, the nation experienced severe load shedding averaging 12 hours a day which was last witnessed in 2019 and is due to a back-toback drought induced by climate change causing dam levels to plummet and affecting almost every sector of the economy. . Fortunately, there are plenty of solutions to limit the impacts of climate change and the main ones include the following.
The government of Zimbabwe in June 2020 introduced Pfumvudza farming to improve food security in the country. Farmers who followed the recommendations of the scheme achieved about 7,8 tonnes per hectare which is 700% more than yields from conventional farming (1 tonne per hectare) guaranteeing household cereal security for 33 weeks according to a report published by the Food and agriculture Organisation.
Forgo fossil fuels
eliminating the burning of coal, oil and eventually natural gas. This is perhaps the most daunting challenge as we eat, wear, work, play and even sleep from the products made from fossilised sunshine.
Coal supplies more electricity in many countries around the world and locally power utility Zesa and the government have made strides in improving electricity supply to the national grid which means more use of coal energy.
This is understandable considering the dense coal reserves in the nation, however, from a sustainability perspective there is more which needs to be done, for instance, increasing availability of cheaper and clean sources of energy like solar systems.
One way of promoting this could be, for instance, giving incentives to companies and individuals who use clean energy sources.
The Zimbabwe energy Regulatory authority is issuing solar licences, which is a great step towards encouraging companies to venture into green energy.
Restore nature to absorb more carbon and improve agricultural practices.
These are some of the simplest ways of reducing climate change and are also more effective. Balancing the amount of wood taken out with the planting of new trees grown is a more effective environmental conservation method.
Forests in Zimbabwe, especially those in the eastern Highlands, are not just the country’s lungs, they may also be the best short-term hope for limiting climate change. according to Unicef, almost half of the world relies on biomass for cooking, and in Zimbabwe it's 74%, therefore there is greater need to protect our forests and to some extent the Forestry Commission has done a great job with regards to this.
Reduce plastic
Plastic is made from oil, and the processes of extracting, refining and turning oil into plastic is surprisingly carbon intense. it takes about 4 000 years for a single plastic to degenerate and decompose and there is a need to reduce waste disposal everywhere and so a lot of it is burned, which contributes to emissions.
according to GreenPeace, demand for plastic is rising so quickly that creating and disposing of plastic will account for 17% of the global carbon budget by 2050.
it would be unfair to assess climate change in Zimbabwe without mentioning the vigorous efforts being made by the government to mitigate it. The government through its climate change roadmap, the Zimbabwe National Climate Change Response
Strategy has put measures in place for the country to manage the crisis.
This was also shown by the President’s speech at the COP26 Summit held in Glasgow, Scotland in 2021, where he mentioned that Zimbabwe’s revised contributions presents a conditional 40% economy per capita emissions reduction target by 2030. a strong statement like, “and that is something we must avoid and that is why Zimbabwe is coming to the table with ambitious plans to tackle climate change and save our planet . . . ” clearly shows the President’s view on the issue where he eloquently shows that there is greater need for action than words.
The government’s new target which was from its previous commitment for a 33% emissions target reduction set in 2017, will see greenhouse gas emissions curbed to 44,7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, equivalent (mt CO2e) by 2030, a reduction of about 30 million tonnes.
This will be done through significant expansion of renewable energy with the aim of having 26,5% of all energy from renewable sources by 2030, this includes investment in hydro, solar and biomass.
The Zimbabwean government has also reaffirmed its commitment to conserve the diverse wildlife within its 11 protected national parks.
in 2020, mining was banned in all national parks and a partnership was reached between the state and conservation nonprofit, african Parks, signing a 20-year agreement for the management of matusadonha National Park. in September this year, Zimbabwe moved more than 2 500 wild animals from the Save Valley
Conservancy to three conservancies in the north which include matusadonha, Chizarira and Sapi.
The animals include elephants, impalas, giraffes, buffaloes, wildebeest, zebras, elands, lions and wild dogs.
This time it’s lack of water that has made it necessary to move wildlife as their habitat has become parched by prolonged drought, said tinashe Farawo, spokesperson for the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife management authority (NPR news)
above all these, environmental sustainability is everyone’s responsibility and therefore it’s not only about the government, Forestry Commission or ema.
On a personal level, Zimbabweans can provide solutions to climate change through many ways like changing light bulbs as new leD bulbs can give the same light for 15% of the electricity.
One can also look for the best fuel economy car in its class or most preferably an electric car. People should also buy less stuff and they should re-use, reduce and recycle and this will lower emissions and help combat Global warming and by doing all these Zimbabwe can therefore become GReeN again.
matavire is a computational economics student at the University of Zimbabwe. These weekly New Perspectives articles published in the Zimbabwe Independent are coordinated by Lovemore Kadenge, an independent consultant, past president of the Zimbabwe economics Society and past president of the chartered Governance & Accountancy Institute in Zimbabwe (cGI Zimbabwe). — kadenge.zes@gmail. com or mobile: +263 772 382 852.