HARARE, (The Southern African Times) – Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Tuesday said he will use the forthcoming Climate Change (COP26) summit in Glasgow, Scotland, to lobby for multilateral support to fight against the effects of climate change.
He will also take the opportunity to extend the hand of re-engagement to fellow global leaders as he undertakes his first visit to the United Kingdom in early November.
In a message posted on his Facebook page, Mnangagwa said he was eagerly looking forward to attending the 26th Conference of Parties under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26).
He reiterated that Zimbabwe had committed to reducing emissions by 40 percent, urging other nations to put words into action.
“While we will offer to hasten our economic transformation, we do need to remain alive to the shocks of drought and the impact of climate change through necessary social safety nets.
“I will be appealing for multilateral support to supplement our efforts. Zimbabwe has come a long way over the past three years. I hope our presence at COP26 and our commitment to the global fight against climate change will be recognized as part of our ongoing re-engagement campaign,” he said.
Mnangagwa said COP26 was coming at an extraordinary time in world history when many countries were still battling the COVID-19 pandemic while having to undertake immense changes to their economies to meet climate goals.
The discussions at COP26 were going to be an important step in agreeing to a collective way forward, he added.
“For Zimbabwe, we feel the impact of climate change more than others. Our temperatures have risen by approximately 2 degrees Celsius over the past century – which has seen a significant increase in extreme weather.
“In the past two decades alone, we have had to deal with 10 droughts. If the world doesn’t step up, we will see jobs lost, livelihoods destroyed, and people will lose their lives.
“That is something we must avoid and why Zimbabwe is coming to the table with ambitious plans to tackle climate change,” he said.
The Zimbabwean leader in September also warned that thousands of Zimbabweans would lose their jobs, and even their lives, if climate change was allowed to continue at the current pace.
He said then that COP26 should be about action and the fulfillment of decisions of the past, while concrete financial support was essential to combat climate change beyond mere rhetoric.
