Zimbabwe salutes UNDP support

Zimbabwe has praised the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for supporting climate-related projects, but would welcome additional support for processing of data and training in negotiating skills to access new funds now being made available to fight climate change. Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu on Tuesday met the outgoing UNDP Zimbabwe resident representative Ms Mia Seppo in Harare, as she concluded her tour of duty in Zimbabwe. The Government, said Minister Ndlovu, welcomed and appreciated the UNDP Zimbabwe country office support “on national development issues, including environment and climate issues”. He said Zimbabwe had support towards the National Climate Change Conference and Local Conference of Youths in September 2022 in preparation for the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Ministry staff received capacity building while there was some support for stakeholder associations on the low emissions development strategy and nationally determined contributions towards facilitating wider efforts on climate change mitigation and adaptation. “We need this work to underpin more comprehensive work on emissions measurement and reference levels as part of the carbon trade. “We also need support for development of project proposals for the Green Climate Fund such as the solar for health proposals and the on-going resilience projects in southern Zimbabwe, the recently launched 12 million pound Climate Adaptation, Water and Energy Programme supported by the UK Government’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office and the UN Sustainable Development Goals Fund Programme jointly developed by the Government, UN agencies, Old Mutual and the Infrastructural Development Bank of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Resilience Building Fund programme,” said Minister Ndlovu. He said possible future collaborations with the UNDP would be on developing a programme for training negotiators and providing them with adequate tools for negotiations, building the scientific capacity, building capacity for networking. The Government would also welcome support on scientific research on climate prediction, jointly with Meteorological Services Department and universities. “We are seriously lacking on climate prediction with a lot of unprocessed data that goes back to seven years ago. “We will also welcome support in capacitating the Ministry in climate advocacy, networking, awareness and education because the messages are disjointed and we need to prepare our people through public information reach. “We would also require support in reviewing and preparations for Loss and Damage Fund as the main outcome of the COP27 and in view of floods we are experiencing, and other climatic factors likely to affect Zimbabwe,” said Minister Ndlovu. He added that as Zimbabwe finalises its National Adaptation Plan and rolls out implementation of the NDCs, there was scope for enhancing collaboration with UNDP towards climate change adaptation and mitigation goals, cognisant of the importance of children, youth, women and people with disabilities. On its own, Zimbabwe faces challenges in mobilising resources, and collaborations with the UNDP in project development and implementation provides an opportunity to deliver on climate action, said the minister. Mz. Wonder id card The meeting was also attended by the Permanent Secretary for Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Ambassador Raphael Faranisi, National Coordinator and Chief Director for Environment, Climate and Meteorological Services, Professor Prosper Matondi and other senior Government officials. – The Herald