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Post by mangena on Mar 8, 2009 4:16:03 GMT -5
Climate change is real and unless Government do not put in place measures to mitigate its effects, the results will be devastating.
When one looks at Zimbabwe or any other souther african country for that matter, one realises that not much attention has been paid to raising public awareness on climate chnge issues.
What measures, through this forum, can we put in place to ensure that vital information on climate change issues is repackaged and the public made aware of this phenomenon?
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Post by dominic on Mar 13, 2009 5:30:04 GMT -5
You are right. Even when the whole world is trying to raise awareness on this subject, Zimbabwe has been embroiled in its politics and economics hence the issue of climate change is put in the periphery.
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Post by Tabetha Mabi on Mar 13, 2009 8:43:44 GMT -5
I agree with you Mangena. The major weakness of many Climate Change interventions at the moment is the awareness component for the general public and smallholder farmers in particular. They need to be made aware of what climate change is and it's causes. Yes, they are aware that weather patterns have changed drastically, but they cannot link it with the climate change phenomenon. How then, can we, as an e-forum constructively engage the media to raise awareness of these issues?
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Post by Caleb Ncube on Mar 16, 2009 3:50:37 GMT -5
We also need journalists and media houses not only from Zimbabwe, but from the region to be part of such Forums as these. They are the mouthpieces we can use to spread climate change messages to the grassroots. Take a quick survey on the streets of Bulawayo today and you will find out how ignorant people are about waht climate change is, its causes etc.
This is a challenge to all policy makers, civil society and technocrats working with the media to lead a campaign for increased awareness on climate change and engage communities in strategies designed to respond to adaptation and mitigation measures.
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Post by clarac on Mar 16, 2009 4:37:24 GMT -5
As development agencies we can also explore ways of incorporating Climate Change into our interventions as a way of increasing awareness.
Climate change is real and it will affect our interventions one way or the other.
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pedro
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Post by pedro on Apr 1, 2009 15:02:32 GMT -5
true as it may be that zimbabwe has been embroiled in its politics and economics and has some what ignored climate change, it is also important to point out that the levels of pollution in zimbabwe, relative to say the G20 is insignificant in causing massive shifts in the climate in the southern part of Africa. Even Gauteng province in south africa which is (according to CNBC Africa) the forth biggest economy on the continent in terms of GDP has very low pollution levels that do not really warrant alarm. i am however not disregarding the need to make the public aware of the impact of economic growth on the environment especially as the zimbabwean economy starts on its growth path. we must take responsible action if we want future generations to enjoy the environment the same way that we do.
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nigel
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Post by nigel on Apr 5, 2009 9:18:56 GMT -5
i appreciate the point you make pedro, but i have a problem when people use the "we're not as bad as the other guys, so let's not worry" argument. "Gauteng province has very low pollution levels that do not really warrant alarm" wow, that's a bold statement! have you been to joburg recently? it's difficult to find stats on the impact that each country makes in terms of climate change but this site seems pretty good epi.yale.edu/Home although it's tricky making sense of the figures and i'm not sure how they collated the data for zim! we rank 95th out of 149 countries, but as you can see from comments on the page, it all depends what factors and indicators were taken into account. anyway, it's great to see a zimbabwean forum on climate change and i hope this generates some meaningful discussion. well done.
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Post by abbiemufaro on Apr 6, 2009 3:37:06 GMT -5
i hope to be corrected if i am wrong but i think there is a lot going on, on climate change issues in Zim at the moment although its ad-hoc and un-coordinated and i think such a forum like this one is a good place to get to know who is where and doing what in terms of climate change at the moment.
The awareness part i agree that we are lacking behind, but unless we are able to have a coordinated way forward then such gaps will become more open to all and filling them will be a shared response in-terms of research data present, financial resources available, media buy-in and e.tc e.t.c......
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Post by Charles Dhewa on Apr 7, 2009 6:47:28 GMT -5
I totally agree that Climate Change Awareness is lacking. One reason could be absence of knowledge sharing forums where people can share information. We also need to document effects of climate change and share these with other people. We need to make it more newsworthy for people most of whom will pay attention to dangers and new discoveries.
Forums such as this one, are a good starting point for talking about these important issues. We need to engage communities and try to understand their interpretation of Climate Change.
Charles
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Post by busani on Apr 8, 2009 0:15:56 GMT -5
While scientific research has produced the evidence of climate change, for many people in Africa the signs are too obvious to miss, variation in rainfall, poor crop yields, water scarcity, rising temperatures and an incidence of disease outbreaks in areas that we never imagined and of course dwindling food supplies. We are waiting for a greater disaster to happen unless countries in Africa collectively act to halt global warming, mind you we still have a window of opportunities to adopt to the changes. We can revert to sustainable agriculture that our grandparent practised before which today using indigenous knowledge systems and furthermore, we can promote reforestation starting in our communities. I am convinced that the policies are there but no one is acting , may be our policy makers thinking that scientists are bluffing. Should we wait until the collission. We need to act on climate change today and now!
Busani Bafana
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Post by mangena on Apr 9, 2009 7:22:07 GMT -5
You are right Busani. I must admit that I have read a number of articles you have written on climate change issues affecting Zimbabwe. As a seasoned journalist, how can you engage your fellow journalists to collectively and continously write on climate change issues? Why I am saying this is bacause, if you scan the press currently in circulation in Zimbabwe, very few climate chnage news is covered on a weekly basis. We need more feature articles highlighting the plight faced by communal farmers and communities at large.
As we speak, there's COP 15 coming up in December this year. As Zimbabwe, we need to raise awareness of the event with relevant Government departments and Ministries and also discussions on issues that need to be covered. Otherwise, we stand to lose out on international debates.
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nigel
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Post by nigel on Apr 19, 2009 8:40:02 GMT -5
It's true - we all need to act NOW. We cannot attempt to deal with financial, political and other problems without addressing climate change. There is nothing more important in the world today.
Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Head of the IPCC, said "If there's no action before 2012, that's too late. What we do in the next two to three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment."
Lester Brown states bluntly that we are facing the demise of human civilization itself if we do not take action now.
We need to lobby politicians and policy makers and to educate them and the public about the need to make changes. NOW. Before its too late.
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Post by abbiemufaro on Apr 20, 2009 3:04:55 GMT -5
Those are bold statements Nigel, i wish the decision makers in various sectors could also talk about climate change with such authority and boldness......
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Post by cmarunda on May 23, 2009 7:27:19 GMT -5
Hi colleagues. My name is Crispen Marunda. I have interest in the on-going debate on climate change. I am happy to see that you have made a start on debate on climate change awareness. I totally agree with the writer who pointed out that anecdotal evidence of climate change is there: delayed start of rain seasons, droughts, floods etc. I think we should have a three pronged approach. Firstly, there is need to raise awareness, not only among the public but more importantly the policy makers. Secondly we need to come up with a strategy to tap into global financial resources ( e,g, REDD) that will help us in mitigating climate change effects at the same time improving livelihoods, particularly of the poor and vulnerable. At the core of this is our forests and water bodies that are natural "lungs". How do we construct ideas around NRM as a way of mitigating climate change effects? A key aspect is to prove that our natural resource management strategies are carbon neutral and have the capacity to absorb more carbon (if we put the right policies and strategies on the ground). Thirdly, in the longer term, we need to explore ways on monitoring and evaluating carbon sequestratiion interventions to check whether we are making any impact.
From a Zimbabwean perspective and indeed most of the developing countries, the challenge is how to link climate change impacts to agriculture and water (rainfall) availability. By understanding this link, we can come up with technologies that help in mitigating impacts (e.g. breeding drought tolerant crop varieties), water harvesting technologies etc.
I hope this helps. I have considerable literature on this subject and will be happy to share with you guys. best wishes
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Post by patsonmusiiwa on May 26, 2009 2:04:58 GMT -5
Thank you Crispen for sharing such important information on climate change. And for your offer to share more infor on this topical issue. I was wondering however how we can access the matereial that you have? Perhaps you could email it to us @ patsonm@practicalactionzw.org.
Thank you once again
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