By Miriam Mangwaya, GLASGOW
Scotland
President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday addressed an almost empty auditorium at the Climate Change (COP26) summit in Glasgow, Scotland.
Mnangagwa made his
address before empty seats, as did all the leaders who delivered their
addresses during the 9am to 1pm slot.
Over 120 heads of State
and 25 000 delegates are attending the summit.
As Mnangagwa was
addressing, scores of United Kingdom-based Zimbabweans were picketing outside
the conference room, denouncing him over the country’s bad human rights record,
while others extolled him for his re-engagement efforts in the face of
adversity.
This is not the first
time Mnangagwa has addressed an empty auditorium.In September 2019, he
addressed a near empty 1 800-seater auditorium at the 74th United Nations (UN)
General Assembly in New York.
It is not customary
that State Presidents would address packed auditoriums as many leaders would be
following proceedings from other venues or attending other ongoing events
elsewhere.
In his address
yesterday, Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe was battling the effects of climate change
which had resulted in severe droughts and cyclone-induced floods.
“It is most unfortunate
that the impact of climate change is disproportionately borne by vulnerable
communities that have contributed the least to the current stock of atmospheric
carbon,” he said.
“Vulnerable countries
must, therefore, be capacitated to mitigate, adapt and build resilience to
climate change. The expectation is that the major emitters will scale up
mitigation action and show greater interest in adaptation.
“Decisions at this
COP26 should strengthen the implementation of current nationally determined
contributions.
“It is further
imperative that the set emission reduction targets are anchored on supporting,
financing and equipping countries to gradually and sustainably migrate from
fossil to renewable energy.”
He added:
“Notwithstanding that as a country we are ‘a net sink’, I am pleased to
highlight that Zimbabwe has revised its nationally determined contributions, a
committed conditional 40% per capita greenhouse gas emissions reduction target
by 2030.
“Comprehensive
strategies are being implemented towards mainstreaming climate change
adaptation and resilience across all sectors of our economy.”
Mnangagwa repeated the
call for the lifting of sanctions.
Social media users
reacted differently to Mnangagwa’s address, with some saying he did not deserve
an audience at the climate change summit since his government was contributing
to environmental hazards.
Mnangagwa’s government
has been widely criticised for approving the construction of houses on wetlands
and unsustainable mining activities, particularly by Chinese companies, with
detrimental effects to the environment.
Presidential
spokesperson George Charamba, posting on his @Jamwanda2 Twitter handle,
said there was nothing untoward about the empty auditorium during Mnangagwa’s
address.
“Absolute confusion in
terms (of) who the audience for UN summits are,” he said.
“The unschooled think
the audience is in the immediate auditorium of delivery. Quite sad,
embarrassing in fact!!!!”
Meanwhile, opposition
MDC alliance leader Nelson Chamisa said his party had a clear climate change
policy that spoke to the creation of new jobs in renewable energy industries.
“To reduce the
frequency of extreme weather shocks like cyclones, bold acceleration towards
more sustainable methods of generating energy, manufacturing goods,
transportation, urban development, and farming need to be taken by all
countries. Net zero emissions by 2050 is the target,” Chamisa said in a
statement.
“As the next
government, our climate change policy is clear. While the journey to net zero
by 2050 appears daunting, it represents a unique opportunity for Zimbabwe to
create new jobs in new industries like renewable energy, electric vehicles,
smart farming and green manufacturing.” - NewsDay
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