HARARE, May 29 (NewsDay Live) — Environment, Climate and Wildlife Minister Evelyn Ndlovu has urged government ministries, departments and agencies to pursue carbon trading opportunities to help fund climate resilience and environmental sustainability programmes under the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2).
Addressing a climate and carbon trading engagement workshop, Ndlovu said several environmental projects under NDS2 remain unfunded, making carbon markets a critical source of investment.
“NDS2 includes environmental stewardship initiatives for which we are yet to secure funding. Carbon trading offers a potential solution. However, we need to actively seek and attract the much-needed investments,” she said.
Ndlovu called on technical officials to develop bankable project proposals and urged management to allocate resources for project preparation.
She also stressed the need for government entities to better understand carbon markets and Zimbabwe’s regulatory framework governing carbon trading.
“There is a need to ensure that all members here present have a basic understanding of the carbon market and the provisions of the regulatory framework,” she said.
The minister warned that climate change was increasingly disrupting government operations and economic growth through recurring droughts, floods and extreme weather events.
“It is now abundantly clear that climate change impacts such as droughts and extreme heavy rains are increasingly impacting our operations as government entities and ultimately our GDP,” Ndlovu said.
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She noted that global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions were reshaping international trade, with some countries imposing carbon-related taxes on high-emission products.
Ndlovu said her ministry was strengthening policies to support climate resilience and low-carbon development, adding that State enterprises and parastatals were well placed to generate carbon credits and attract investment.
“State enterprises and parastatals have vast potential to supply the global carbon market with carbon credits and benefit through low-carbon development, infrastructure improvement and enhanced finances,” she said.
