On the 18th of June 2023, the Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG) hosted a Capacity Building Workshop for Community-Based Organisations (CBOs) and communities in Hwange to capacitate them to advocate for clean and Renewable energy under the Tackling Climate Change and Energy Transitions in Zimbabwe Project (TaCCET-Zim) in Victoria Falls.
With financial support from the European Climate Foundation, CNRG is implementing the TaCCET-Zim project to mobilize and capacitate rural communities to demand justice given the worsening climate crisis. The movement aims to lobby for clean energy transition, loss and damage compensation transitional minerals beneficiation and reduction in reliance on fossil fuels. The movement also seeks to hold the government to its climate commitments, policies and laws.
Zimbabwe has an abundance of clean and renewable energy solutions such as hydro and solar that the government can invest in. These technologies on top of being clean, environmentally friendly, safe, and healthier are also getting much cheaper to install and operate as compared to coal.
Hwange houses Zimbabwe’s largest power plant that is the Hwange Power Station. The Hwange Power Station is the country’s largest coal-fired power station with 920MW installed capacity. It is the 14th largest thermal station in the Southern African region and uses coal as its primary fuel source and consumes approximately 5,000 tons of coal per day.
The power production at the station comes at a huge environmental and health cost to the Hwange community as it uses a large amount of coal to generate electricity. Coal extraction has had very dire impacts on the environment in Hwang causing deforestation, land degradation, pollution, and coal seam fires.
The production of energy from coal is resulting in a large amount of greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide realized from coal combustion which are contributing significantly to climate change and global warming.
Speaking during the workshop while presenting on Climate Change Adoption and Mitigation, CNRG Climate Justice Coordinator Tinashe Dhlakama urged the community to adopt clean energy and called upon the government to initiate a clean energy transition to reduce heavy reliance on coal which has over the years been contributing to greenhouse gas emissions pollution and land degradation in Hwange.
“Climate change mitigation through the adoption of cleaner energy sources such as solar as well as enhancing carbon sinks remains key to achieving Climate Justice. This heavy reliance on coal has proven disastrous first by igniting pollution and the emission of greenhouse gases that are contributing to global warming and largely climate change. The Government of Zimbabwe should there adhere to its commitment of reducing the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by pledging a 40% reduction in economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 in the revised Nationally Determined Contributions submitted to the UNFCCC in 2021” said Dhlakama.
Speaking at the same workshop CNRG Gender and Extractives Officer Tracy Mutowekuziva also called upon the mining communities to voice out their concerns as they are the ones paying the polluter price, yet they are contributing less to the pollution.
“Sadly, climate change disproportionately affects the vulnerable and marginalized communities who contribute little to it, it’s high time communities voice out their concerns and demand pragmatic climate action, especially from the local mining companies and the government at large” said Mutowekuziva.