March 22, 2025

Stakeholders share proposals for City of Harare Environment and Climate Policy

Byron Adonis Mutingwende010 mins
Participants at the Harare Environmental and Climate Policy Multi-stakeholder Consultative Workshop
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A multi-stakeholder collaborative dialogue is contributing to the development of the City of Harare Environment and Climate Policy that addresses the confluence of climate change and environmental sustainability and hence contributes towards the city’s sunshine status.

 

In his welcome remarks at the workshop in Harare today, Eng Phakamile Mabhena Moyo, the City of Harare’s Acting Town Clerk said the forum was designed to provide a collaborative platform for representatives from Government, Local Authorities within the Harare metropolitan area, the Private Sector, and Civil Society to present their policy proposals for the development of the City of Harare Environment and Climate Policy.

 

“This environment and climate policy development process is particularly timely, coinciding with Zimbabwe’s hosting of the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, scheduled for 23rd to 31st July 2025 in Victoria Falls. This underscores the critical importance of wetland protection and conservation within our policy framework. I am pleased to report that the development of the City’s Environment and Climate Policy, utilizing a city-wide, bottom-up approach, has progressed successfully.

 

“This endeavor has been facilitated by the generous financial support of the City of Harare, the Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA), the Canadian Embassy, Dialogue on Shelter Trust, and the Community Water Alliance (CWA). This collaborative effort exemplifies the potential for synergistic partnerships between civic society, industry, and local government in achieving sustainable development objectives,” Eng Moyo said.

 

Harare faces persistent environmental and climate change challenges. These challenges include but are not limited to wetland encroachment and degradation, urban and peri-urban agricultural practices, water and air pollution, urban sprawl, inadequate enforcement mechanisms, and climate change-induced extreme weather events, particularly flooding.

 

In his contribution, Pastor Tawanda Utete, the Chairperson of the Glenview 8 Furniture Complex’s Management Committee, proposed the creation of a small-medium, enterprise, or micro businesses committee that will preside over clean energy enterprises.

“At Glenview Area 8, there are some things that we have learned from the introduction of the solar system led by the SMEs. We can go without electricity. We can use the solar systems to do our business. On abolition facilities, we can go the natural way of creating our toilets with bio-digesters.  The gas we get from the biodigesters can be used for lighting and cooking.
“The shavings from the planks can be recycled to make stationery like books. Companies or investors can come and get an opportunity in that business. We no longer need to throw away the shavings,” Pastor Utete said.
Ruvimbo Chidakwa, the programme Officer of the Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation (VISET) emphasised the importance of upgrading existing neighborhood markets into smart neighborhood markets with all ancillary utilities, that is toilets, water, electricity, bins, and storage facilities.
“The use of low-cost materials and green energy is recommended where necessary. More so, the markets must be accessible to all people, including those with disability.
“We encourage the development of incidental spaces with the potential to attract customers. These are idle spaces identified through community-led design, which can then be developed and managed by the informal traders. This requires greater collaboration between the Local Authority, vendors’ associations, residents, civil society as well as the private sector,” Chidakwa said.
VISET called for an urgent review of municipal policies and bi-laws such that they incorporate the ever-growing urban informal economy into the current city’s local plans. This implies a more generous provision of smart vending stalls in natural markets, that is, places with particular potential for street vending because of their pedestrian flow.

They added that informal traders at local markets often sell fresh produce directly from farmers, reducing the need for packaging and long supply chains e.g Lusaka women using baskets when getting their stock.

 

Informal traders also promote organic and traditional farming methods, which are often more sustainable and environmentally friendly than industrial agriculture.

 

Engineer Elvis Simbarashe Karuzo, the Senior Technical Officer of the Standards Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ) said addressing these issues requires a comprehensive and integrated environmental and climate policy framework.

 

He outlined key areas for policy development and implementation to enhance Harare’s environmental resilience and contribute to global climate action.

 

“As SAZ, our mission is to develop national standards and promote their use. In this regard, we recommend the adoption of ISO 14001 a standard for environmental management systems.

 

“Implementing this comprehensive environmental and climate policy framework will enable the City of Harare to build a sustainable and resilient future. By prioritizing water resource management, waste reduction, air quality improvement, urban greening, and climate action, Harare can enhance the well-being of its residents and contribute to global efforts to address the climate crisis. As SAZ we recommend the adoption of ISO 14001 a standard for environmental management systems,” Eng Karuzo said.

 

Dr. Ivan Munyonga, the Executive Director of Enviro Roundtable,  alluded to the Zimbabwe Low Emission Coalition project committed to cleaning up gas emissions by 2030 in line with the requirements of the Paris Agreement.

“We engage the government on policy issues which affect the private sector on their day-to-day business engagement. For example, we have the upcoming climate change bill, where it is now mandatory for the private sector to report on greenhouse gas emissions. So, our role as a coalition is to build the capacity of members to report on greenhouse gas emissions.
“There are some sections which the individual members might not understand. So, our role as a coalition is to unpack the bill and integrate it with the coalition members so that they can effectively implement it according to these requirements in terms of environmental and social governance,
and the global reporting index, which are requirements of the government in the current political approach.”

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