By Dylan Munashe Dzenga
Cabinet addressed on Tuesday the events and agreements that were made this at the 27th Session of the Conference of Parties (COP27) on Climate Change, which was held in Sharm El-Sheikh Egypt, from the 6th to the 18 of November 2022.
The report was presented by the Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Honourable N.M Ndhlovu
The COP27 was preceded by aSummit of Heads of State and Government which was attended by His Excellency the President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa.
A breakthrough agreement was reached on a new “loss and damage” Fund for vulnerable countries which sets the pace for the way forward on funding loss and damage and addresses the impact of climate change on communities.
The global goal on adaptation was also adopted by COP27 to inform the first global stocktake with the aim of improving resilience amongst the most vulnerable.
New pledges of more than US$230 million were made to the Adaptation Fund to assist some vulnerable communities to adapt to climate change.
The COP27 gave prominence to people as well who made their voices be heard through the first-of-its kind pavilion for children and youths, as well as through the first-ever youth-led Climate Forum.
The five-year work programme to promote climate technology solutions in developing countries was also launched.
Leaders at the Conference noted the progress made by developed countries in the market-based carbon trade system.
The Minister of Information and Publicity Monica Mutsvangwa said that Cabinet wishes to highlight that, for the first time, Zimbabwe mounted a pavilion where various Zimbabwean stakeholders conducted different events.
These included the launch of the Zimbabwe Climate Change Gender Action Plan, bilateral meetings, meetings with with potential investors and international participants.
Zimbabwe Youths also conducted five events on various topics which attracted large crowds.
While the session was dubbed then “Implementation COP”, it was apparent that developed countries want to abdicate their responsibility of financing efforts to address climate change.
However, the establishment of the Loss and Damage Fund will go a long way in providing relief funding to Governments which are spending a lot of money responding to disaster caused by climate change.