Access to Climate Finance Conference To Be Hosted For Zimbabwe’s Business Sector
| By Wallace Mawire
According to Tawanda Muzamwese, Executive Director of the BCSDZ, the conference will be held as a mechanism of upscaling and strengthening the ability of Zimbabwe to access climate finance from both international and local sources. The BCSDZ is a private sector led organisation that was formed 24 years ago whose mandate is to promote the implementation of sustainable development at company level. It is an affiliate of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). |
According to the BCSDZ, climate change is one of the most significant developmental challenges affecting
society today. Zimbabwe is one of the countries affected by the effects of climate
change. The Paris Agreement has provided a platform for reducing further
progression of anthropogenic causes of climate change.
Zimbabwe has therefore developed a Climate Change Response Strategy and also its Nationally
Determined Contributions (NDCs) as well as a Climate Policy.
“Financing is therefore needed to facilitate implementation of these frameworks and also to
finance local projects at company, community and national level,” according to Muzamwese.
He adds that in order to mitigate and adapt to climate change there is need for
climate finance.
It is reported that climate finance can be drawn from many sources including
international development partners, government, Development Finance
Institutions (DFIs), private sector amongst other sources.
According to the BCSDZ, the major question that many stakeholders have had to deal with, pertains to
what the sources of climate finance are , why there are few projects funded, how
to maximize on existing sources and focusing on new existing opportunities.
It is also added that although climate change is a challenge, it is also an opportunity for facilitating
investments through many sources such as renewable energy technologies,
clean technologies and the creation of lending facilities, grants, equity amongst
others.
The forthcoming conference is expected to explore the existing sources of climate finance and
strengthen the ability of Zimbabwean stakeholders to access innovative finance
sources.
Companies in the process of developing green projects are also reported to be
interested in identifying sources of financing and expected to attend the conference with the prospect of meeting financial institutions, national
authorities, consultants, project developers, private sector and civil society, just to mention a few.
