By Reginald
Ngwenya –
The 28th Conference of Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCC) has been a significant global platform for climate
change conferences. In the context of Zimbabwe, the country can leverage the
Zimbabwe Council of Churches Dialogue Engagement Framework to align its
national dialogue processes with the global discussions on climate change.
Amongst the myriad of challenges faced by Zimbabweans
is climate change which has caused ripple effects of conflicts. The El Niño
effect being felt as a result of Climate change has caused water shortages,
recurring disasters, and imminent starvation being farced contributing to water
point conflicts and domestic and Gender-Based violence.
The COP28 limitation included a lack of adequate
voices from communities affected by climate change at such a high-level policy
dialogue. Consequently, climate change has adversely widened the inequalities
and the wedge between the elite and the poor.
In the national dialogue context, Zimbabwe could use
COP conferences as a platform to engage different stakeholders within the
country on the importance and urgency of addressing climate change. This would
involve integrating climate change concerns and commitments into the national
dialogue agenda.
Leveraging the ZCC engagement framework, Zimbabwe can
facilitate multi-level processes that involve holding public discussions, and
consultations, and engaging with various sectors such as government, civil
society, and the private sector to ensure that climate change is firmly
embedded in the national dialogue agenda.
The ZCC National Dialogue engagement framework
recognizes the provision of the platform at the community level for communities
affected by the effects of climate change to be important actors in the
documentation of climate change-induced conflicts.
Churches provide a safe space for conversation for all
demographic groups for inclusive-based dialogues on climate change. The church
has structures such as Youth Ecumenical Fellowships which provide platforms for
young people, as well as Women Ecumenical Fellowship which is a safe space for
women cantered dialogues as these demographic groups are affected comparatively
more by climate change.
Through Community Dialogues, affected communities are
also able to streamline climate change issues in key governance and development
processes such as the budgeting process, devolution, natural resource
governance, and disaster and risk management among many other processes.
Dialogue at this level also doubles up as a platform
for awareness raising on climate change.
More so, dialogues at this level foster agency for
local actors to have an understanding of their reality as well as proffer
locally tailored strategies that take into cognisance of local context.
At the organised society level, Civil Society
Organisations with technical expertise and financial resources can be used to
break down climate change technical jargon as well as to elevate community
issues. In line with the COP meetings, actors at this level can mobilise
resources for community members to attend these global dialogues on climate
change.
At this level, Church-CSO dialogues are essential for
generating consensus for climate agenda in communities and with policymakers.
At the policy-making level that’s when COP meetings
are pivotal in having international actors as well as national governments
provide policy frameworks and allocate resources towards climate change
prevention, adaptions, and mitigation.
Multi-stakeholder dialogues are needed even to redress
global inequalities between countries of the north and those from the south
towards finding sustainable and equitable solutions to climate change.
In this regard, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches in
partnership with the Methodist Development and Relief Agency with support from
Act Alliance will provide a platform for Inter-Faith Actors to contribute to
Dialogue on Climate Change action in Zimbabwe.
The dialogue to be facilitated on 27 March will
leverage Christian church structures and those from other faiths anchored in
communities to assess the current Climate Change Adaptation efforts based on
lived realities monitored by these interfaith structures.
In seeking local solutions to the global challenge of
climate change, the National Dialogue framework could provide a pathway towards
climate change justice.
