By Tavita Natasha Mpala
Masvingo Correspondent
The Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association held an Environmental and climate change reporting training of media practitioners in Mutare on climate change reporting and the impacts of mining on human rights.
Speaking at the training of journalists in Mutare Mrs Michelle Chitando who is a legal Officer at the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association said mining comes at a large social and environmental cost which requires regulation from the Government to ensure that adverse impacts of such a loss of biodiversity and increased greenhouse emissions are handled appropriately.
“So with climate change we know that it is caused by greenhouse gases that include carbon dioxide and mining involves deforestation to clear off the land.
You will find that artisanal miners, not to say they are the only ones contributing to climate change, it is difficult to trace and look for them when they cause environmental degradation largely because any laws that are supposed to regulate them are not very clear.
The current Mines and Minerals Act does not make any recognition of the artisanal and small scale miners and as such it becomes very difficult to pinpoint the location of the miners especially when we have illegal miners coming in to fit in the space of artisanal and small scale miners.
She added on to say that the country’s economic potential is hinged on mineral resource wealth, however mining is currently responsible for 4 to 7 percent of greenhouse gas emissions globally. The absence of clear laws that compel mining companies to actively contribute towards a low carbon economy coupled with weak regulation poses a great challenge for Zimbabwe.
“We encourage community members to attend the environmental impact assessment process and to ask key questions regarding the project, this will help to understand what the company is planning to do.
This will empower the community to hold the company accountable if they fall short on their promises and fail to rehabilitate the environment. We also encourage different stakeholders that are working with communities to disseminate information regarding how the EIA process takes place and the Environmental Management Act so that people can begin to equip themselves with the various provisions and sections that relate to environment protection.
This comes at a time when under the National Development Strategy which is an economic blueprint that is aimed at transforming the country into an upper middle-class economy by 2030, Zimbabwe has put in place measures that provide for environmental protection, climate resilience and natural resources management which are key enablers for attainment of vision 2030.