Judith Phiri, Business Reporter
CABINET on Tuesday approved principles to the Climate Change Management Bill that will provide for the national climate change response through integration of climate change mitigation and adaptation actions in development planning and budgeting processes.
In a post-Cabinet briefing, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Dr Jenfan Muswere said the proposed Bill will provide for the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, facilitate low carbon development technologies and carbon trading as well as putting in place measures to reduce the use of ozone-depleting substances.
He said: “Cabinet considered and approved the principles of the Climate Change Management Bill as presented by the Minister of Environment, Climate and Wildlife, Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndhlovu. The proposed Bill will create obligations for the public and private sector stakeholders to collect, archive and share activity data that is utilized in the compilation of national greenhouse gas inventories, climate risk and vulnerability impacts.”
He said the Bill will also provide for the establishment of the Designated National Authority (DNA) and the National Climate Fund to support the implementation of climate change adaptation and mitigation actions provided for in the National Climate Policy.
The Minister said the Fund will be financed by a percentage of the proceeds from carbon credits trading, the fiscus, and multilateral climate finance mechanisms, such as the Green Climate Fund and the Adaptation Fund among others.
Dr Muswere said Cabinet advises that the Bill seeks to align with Section 73 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, which provides for environmental rights, emphasises on the need to have the environment protected for present and future generations through legislative and other measures.
“Consistent with the Paris Agreement and Montreal Protocol obligations on emissions reporting, the Bill will establish and operationalise a domestic mechanism for Measurement, Reporting and Verification to enable the country to report to the Conference of Parties (COP) on the level of emissions by which compliance to those agreements will be measured,” he added.
“Furthermore, the Bill seeks to integrate gender perspectives in climate change planning and policy formulation, including the different experiences of men and women into the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes.”
The Minister said the Bill also sought 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.
