By Michael Gwarisa
The Ministry of Environment, Climate, and Wildlife has hosted a one-day workshop aimed at enhancing the capacity of its staff to mainstream climate change into development plans and budgetary processes.
The training comes as Zimbabwe continues implementing its National Adaptation Planning (NAP) process, which commenced in 2019 with technical support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The workshop was financed by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Zimbabwe.
Officiating at the event, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Ambassador Tadeous Chifamba underscored the urgent need for climate adaptation, emphasizing that climate change poses one of the greatest threats to global development, particularly for developing countries like Zimbabwe, which have low adaptive capacity and rely heavily on climate-sensitive sectors such as rain-fed agriculture.
Over the years, Zimbabwe has been experiencing an increased frequency and magnitude of droughts, prolonged mid-season dry spells, heatwaves, violent storms, and tropical cyclone activity. These extreme weather events are negatively impacting critical sectors such as water, agriculture, health, forestry, biodiversity, infrastructure, human settlements, and tourism. These challenges are stalling national development, threatening food security, and may derail efforts towards achieving a climate-resilient, low-carbon economy as enshrined in Vision 2030,” said Ambassador Chifamba.
He noted that Zimbabwe, with an estimated population of 15.1 million people, most of whom live in rural areas—is ranked among the most vulnerable countries in Africa due to its limited capacity to respond to climate shocks. He further stressed the need for significant investment and innovation to build resilience.
“The high level of exposure to climate change impacts underlines the urgency of mainstreaming climate adaptation into national development policies, plans, and strategies. The devastation caused by Tropical Cyclone Idai in 2019, which left a trail of destruction, loss of lives, and shattered livelihoods, serves as a stark reminder of the reality of climate change. This underscores the need to shift from reactive responses to proactive climate planning.”
Ambassador Chifamba highlighted that, in response to recent climate trends, the government launched the NAP process to strengthen preparedness. He warned that climate projections indicate Zimbabwe will experience increasingly warm and dry conditions, particularly in the southwestern regions, along with more intense extreme weather events such as cyclones, prolonged dry spells, and flooding.
“As we move forward with NAP implementation, our focus is now on capacitating ministries, departments, and agencies to fully integrate climate considerations into programming. This aligns with emerging mandatory requirements from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, which now calls for budget submissions that demonstrate climate change mainstreaming.”
The workshop also provided a platform for discussions on key climate-related developments, including carbon trading regulations, the upcoming Climate Change Bill, and Zimbabwe’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) 3.0 statement.
Ambassador Chifamba urged participants to ensure that the knowledge gained from the workshop is cascaded across their respective departments and parastatals. He emphasized that strategic planning, monitoring, and evaluation teams must incorporate the workshop’s deliberations into future planning processes, particularly for the 2025 strategic quarterly reviews.
“As the responsible ministry, we must lead by example in climate change mainstreaming. This is critical for ensuring alignment with the Permanent Secretary’s contract objectives moving forward. I am confident that the insights gained today will translate into practical climate integration across thematic areas.”
The workshop marks a critical step in Zimbabwe’s efforts to institutionalize climate adaptation and ensure sustainable, climate-resilient development.
UNFPA Zimbabwe Country Representative Miranda Tabifore commended the Ministry of Environment for taking a bold step in building staff capacity to understand climate change and its impact. She emphasized the role of ministry staff in driving climate discussions and acting as change agents across sectors to facilitate climate mainstreaming.
“As Ministry of Environment staff, it is critical to understand the devastating impact of climate change in order to fully mitigate its effects. Climate change can lead to droughts, floods, and other extreme weather events that damage crops and livelihoods, pushing women and girls into poverty and food insecurity. This disproportionately impacts women and girls, exacerbating inequalities and vulnerabilities, and increasing risks of gender-based violence and health problems,” said Tabifore.
She added that climate change contributes to the spread of waterborne diseases, malnutrition, and heat stress, all of which disproportionately affect women and girls, particularly pregnant and breastfeeding women, as well as those in marginalized communities.
“Climate change also worsens existing health vulnerabilities by negatively affecting equitable access to healthcare. For example, it impacts access to safe water, improved sanitation, and contributes to food insecurity, particularly affecting marginalized populations.”
Meanwhile, recent studies on child-centered climate vulnerability and risk assessment for Zimbabwe, conducted in 2024 as part of the UNICEF-Government partnership, confirmed increasing climate vulnerabilities with grave consequences for children’s health, education, and overall well-being.
UNICEF Climate Specialist Egline Tauya highlighted that climate-induced disasters are disrupting education, affecting children’s health, and limiting their access to clean water, nutrition, and other essential social services.
“Climate-induced disasters are disrupting education, affecting children’s health, and limiting their access to clean water, nutrition, and other social services. Young children, particularly infants, are especially susceptible to dehydration, heat stress, and respiratory illnesses,” said Tauya.
She also pointed out the devastating effect of climate change on families living in climate-affected areas, as they face increasing food and nutrition insecurity. As natural resources become scarce, children’s ability to learn, play, and thrive is compromised.
“These impacts are not just statistics; they are the daily realities of children across our nation. Tackling climate change requires a multi-sectoral approach—one that integrates climate adaptation into education, health, water, sanitation, and social protection systems. The future of our children depends on our ability to build climate-resilient communities, strengthen our policies, and invest in sustainable solutions.”
