Loss and damage should be everyone’s responsibility, localized and contextualized – Newsday Zimbabwe

Losses and damages can be seen as negative effects of climate change, variability and climate change that people have not been able to cope with or adapt to.

LOSS and damage issues have become a hot topic in climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Nations deserving of loss and damage funds from the South should not wait for international conferences and Conferences of the Parties (COPs) to talk about loss and damage issues. Whatever the circumstances, loss and damage should be everyone’s business, locally, regionally and internationally.

Losses and damages can be seen as negative effects of climate change, variability and climate change that people have not been able to cope with or adapt to. There are also losses and damages that can be avoided, while some are unavoidable.

Loss and damage can also be classified as “residual impacts” or “residual costs” of climate change that cannot be avoided through mitigation and adaptation (IPCC, 2014). Losses and damages occur due to the slow onset of climate processes and extreme weather events (UNFCCC, 20180.

When considering issues of loss and damage, it is also important to note the nature of loss and damage covered by the UN International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction.

In this regard, only losses and damages resulting from extreme events such as floods, cyclones, droughts, loss of biodiversity, forest degradation, among others, are covered.

Regions like Southern Africa are becoming hotbeds of natural disasters and extreme weather events which have contributed to too much destruction of infrastructure, property and livelihoods, among others.

Southern Africa, which also constitutes Zimbabwe, is currently facing the bloody effects of repeated cyclones of various names, threatening large-scale damage to the already fragile situations and circumstances, inflicted over the past two years.

Southern African countries are still experiencing the effects of these cyclones, which has become a major concern for climate security, livelihood restoration and infrastructure rehabilitation.

For the Southern African region, this should be a wake-up call for affected countries to stop treating these extreme weather events with kid gloves and as a form of communications massage.

While it is the responsibility of developed countries to provide much-needed climate finance, affected countries also have a duty to ensure that losses and damages become everyone’s responsibility. Sadc countries must seriously invest in local initiatives that will be complemented by planned or promised remittances, some of which have never been realized by some countries in need.

This is due to several financial bottlenecks, obstacles, lack of transparency and the urgency to release these climate funds to finance large-scale losses and damage. There are many strict protocols and institutional channels to consider if deserving countries want to access climate finance. The institutions that provide climate finance are numerous and not short of funds, with others joining them, but climate finance nevertheless remains problematic and inaccessible.

The institutions responsible for providing climate finance are the Green Climate Fund, the Climate Technology Center, the Adaptation Fund and the Global Environment Facility, the World Bank Group, the African Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the European Investment Bank, among others.

Issues of pre-arranged disaster funding have also taken center stage, with countries going through a rigorous process to be approved, but disasters do not occur on predetermined terms for the Disaster Protection Center . Its motto is that the cost of disasters and crises must be paid in money, not in human lives and livelihoods. Once the funds are accessible, they can be used for anticipatory actions or in response to a crisis.

Keeping in mind the Sadc case, the Sadc Humanitarian Disaster Center is only intended for collective monitoring processes without any collective intervention. In the context of Sadc, there is the Humanitarian and Emergency Operations Center which has recommended Sadc Member States to closely monitor official weather updates from their national weather centers, intensify awareness campaigns of the public, with emphasis on high-risk areas, ensuring the prepositioning of emergency services. supplies.

Once these lofty recommendations fail to emphasize the need for action, however sound they may be, major interventions remain left to individual countries, leaving the most vulnerable Sadc countries highly exposed.

Therefore, each Sadc country must invest sufficient resources in disaster management. Issues of surveillance, GIS mapping and tracking, emergency assistance, relocation and medicines should be easily implemented in the countries concerned. These measures must be supported by comprehensive and up-to-date early warning systems on the ground. Ultimately, it is not about COP29, the International Disaster Management Centers or the Sadc Humanitarian Disaster Management Centre, but about individual countries. Although aid can come from other sources, the countries concerned must take the initiative and assume their responsibilities.

Sadc is already faced with the occurrence of disasters causing large-scale loss and damage to homes, crops, infrastructure and livelihoods. When their livelihoods are destroyed, vulnerabilities and lack of coping mechanisms increase. Even relocations cannot be taken for granted as resources are needed to move flood victims to safe places where tents and temporary shelters, food, clothing, medicine and counseling services are in place .

In this regard, Sadc countries must localize and contextualize their interventions rather than investing all their hopes in the inaccessible powers of the North. This is why these countries, which have now become regular hotspots for natural disasters and extreme weather events, should set aside local emergency funds to act when disasters strike rather than waiting days or months. weeks for interventions from elsewhere.

These countries need to invest in long-term flood resilience to manage the vicious cycle of disasters. Local communities must work with ministries and NGOs for collective efforts that move countries forward. Engaging local communities brings ownership, a sense of belonging, attachment and inclusion.

• Peter Makwanya is a climate change communicator. He writes in a personal capacity and can be contacted at: (email protected)

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