By Environment Reporter
The Government of Zimbabwe through The Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry in partnership with the Embassy of Sweden and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched the National Consultations ahead of a Stockholm+50 Conference. The launch was held in Harare on the 14th of March 2022.
This was attended by high level stakeholders from various sectors in the Environment and Climate Change fraternity.
The preparatory consultation meetings are set to be rolled out nationwide during the period of March and April 2022 and are expected to spearhead recommendations ahead of the grant conference to be hosted by the Government of Sweden.
The Stockholm+50 anchors on accelerating the necessary changes to a sustainable society, promote system-wide green transitions for poverty reduction, wellbeing and sustainable development.
Speaking during the launch Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Mangaliso Ndlobvu, in a speach read on his behalf by Chief Director in the Ministry, Professor Prosper Matondi said the Stockholm+50 is set to foster collaborations for climate change and development. Added that the consultations will go a long way in complementing the government policies on climate change and environment.
“Stockholm+50 will also set the scene of an adjustment of direction, advancing actions across sectors and setting a new tone in global collaboration for climate, environment, and development.”
“The consultations will provide an opportunity to accelerate the implementation of Zimbabwe’s Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, Zimbabwe’s Revised Nationally Determined Contributions, the Low Emission Development Strategy, and the Sustainable Development Goals in the country.”
According to Swedish Ambassador to Zimbabwe Åsa Pehrson, the consultations are set to capture first hand information pertaining to the solutions and ideas on the way forward to a more sustainable future in Zimbabwe and elsewhere.
“Sweden is a strong global advocate for environment and climate issues, and we hope that the Stockholm+50 can help to advance the agenda, commitments and necessary changes in this field even further. We are proud to be able to support the very important national consultations that will take place in Zimbabwe in order to provide first-hand information and testimonies of the challenges of ordinary citizens, but also learns about solutions and ideas on the way forward to a more sustainable future here in Zimbabwe and elsewhere.” – Åsa Pehrson, Ambassador of Sweden to Zimbabwe
The efforts follows five decades after the 1972 UN Conference in Stockholm placed environmental concerns at the forefront of the international agenda, the UN General Assembly, through its resolution 75/280 of 24 May 2021, agreed to convene an international meeting entitled “Stockholm+50: a healthy planet for the prosperity of all – our responsibility, our opportunity”.
In this manner the Government of Sweden with the support of the Government of Kenya will host the meeting in Stockholm on the 2nd and 3rd of June 2022, during the week of World Environment Day.Ahead of the international meeting, national consultations will take place in different countries all over the world.Stockholm+50 aims to accelerate the necessary changes to a sustainable society, promote system-wide green transitions for poverty reduction, wellbeing and sustainable development. In the face of the upcoming Twenty Seventh Conference of Parties (COP27), the adoption of a new Global Biodiversity Framework and the UNSG Our Common Agenda – the timing is right!In order to facilitate a whole-of-society and whole-of-government dialogue, the Embassy of Sweden through UNDP will support preparatory consultations in Zimbabwe between March and April in different regions including a wide variety of participants.Targeted stakeholders that will be engaged through physical and virtual means include but are not limited to policymakers, youth, women, persons with disabilities, the private sector, academia, civil society and the media, ensuring that no one is left behind.These consultations provide an opportunity to accelerate the implementation of the Revised Nationally Determined Contributions, the Low Emission Development Strategy, Zimbabwe’s Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan and the Sustainable Development Goals in the country.“Stockholm+50 is an occasion to recognize the interconnectedness between Humans, Animals and Nature and accelerate our actions for climate, environment, and biodiversity. The national consultations ahead of Stockholm+50 in Zimbabwe provide a great opportunity to amplify the voices of women, youth, and civil society in Zimbabwe and ensure they are fed into our national sustainability agendas. ” – Mia Seppo, UNDP Resident Representative in Zimbabwe.
