Zimbabwean lawmakers and citizens pose for a photograph after the public hearing
By Moses Magadza in Chikombedzi, Zimbabwe
The Parliament of Zimbabwe this week began a series of nationwide public hearings on the Climate Change Management Bill 2025 as Zimbabwe seeks to legally anchor its climate response in line with global commitments.
The hearings, which run from 20 to 27 October 2025, will gather views from citizens, experts, civil society, traditional leaders, and industry representatives across all provinces.
The consultations are being led by the Portfolio Committee on Environment, Climate and Wildlife, collaborating with the Thematic Committee on Climate Change.
Sweden is financially supporting the public hearings through the SRHR HIV and AIDS Governance Project of the SADC Parliamentary Forum.
Two teams of lawmakers will cover the entire country with the consultations designed to ensure that the Bill, once enacted, reflects public priorities and strengthens national resilience to climate threats, according to Honourable Samson Matema, who leads the team that held a hearing at Chokombedzi on Tuesday.
Hon. Matema said Parliament was committed to inclusive law-making. He noted that climate change was affecting every Zimbabwean, and it is right that every voice is heard as the Bill takes shape.
He explained that the proposed law seeks to give Zimbabwe a clear and enforceable framework to manage the growing impacts of climate change while promoting sustainable development.
Hon. Matema requested Mr John Mazani, a Principal Committee Clerk at the Parliament of Zimbabwe, to present a clause-by-clause synopsis of the Bill.
He explained that the legislation will empower the Climate Change Management Department to coordinate and enforce climate action across government, industry and communities.
He said the Bill is designed to align Zimbabwe with international climate obligations while protecting people, infrastructure, and the environment from worsening climate shocks.
Mr Mazani outlined the Bill’s major components and stressed that it recognises citizens’ rights to participate in climate decision-making and promotes transparency, accountability, and access to climate information.
Mazani said the Bill’s objectives include reducing greenhouse gas emissions, promoting low-carbon development, building resilience to droughts, floods, heatwaves, and other climate threats, and ensuring a just transition that safeguards communities and vulnerable groups. The Bill also upholds polluter-pays, equity, and climate justice principles.
They explained that the proposed law would complement existing legislation rather than replace it, but it would take precedence in the event of conflicting climate change provisions.
Mr Mazani said the Bill proposes the creation of several institutions to drive climate governance. They include a Climate Change Management Department to coordinate climate programs nationwide, decentralised to provincial and district levels; a Climate Transparency and Compliance Unit to monitor greenhouse gas emissions and ensure accurate reporting; a National Ozone Unit to enforce regulations protecting the ozone layer; a Loss and Damage Unit that will collect and track climate-related disaster losses and mobilise recovery resources; a Carbon Trading Unit, operating as the Zimbabwe Carbon Markets Authority (ZiCMA), to regulate carbon credit trading and ensure benefits reach communities; and climate financing through a national fund.
Mr Mazani highlighted the Bill’s proposal for a National Climate Fund to support adaptation and mitigation projects nationwide. He said the fund would be financed from climate levies, carbon trading proceeds, carbon tax, tobacco levy allocations, parliamentary appropriations, donations and grants.
He said the fund would help climate-proof local economies, support disaster response, finance clean energy projects, and promote technologies that reduce emissions.
Mr Mazani stressed that the Bill makes climate action a legal obligation for all sectors. Ministries, government agencies, provincial councils, local authorities, and private entities will be required to integrate climate risk reduction into their plans and operations. Each public institution must appoint a climate change focal officer to oversee implementation.
Local authorities will be empowered to pass bylaws to tackle local climate risks such as land degradation and deforestation.
Mr Mazani informed residents that the Bill includes penalties for those who violate climate regulations, including fines and imprisonment for serious offences. Corporate directors and partners who knowingly ignore compliance obligations may also be held liable.
He emphasised that public participation is central to the Bill, making it mandatory for the government to consult citizens when developing climate policies and strategies.
He added that the Bill represents Zimbabwe’s commitment to confronting climate change through law-based action. He urged communities to engage fully in the legislative process so that their realities, such as drought, livestock losses, crop failure, and extreme weather, are reflected in the final law.
He said the Bill’s success will depend on cooperation between Parliament, government agencies, traditional leaders, farmers, youth, civil society, and the private sector.
Expectations are running high.
For Councillor Memory Maroka, the Vice Chairperson of the Chiredzi Rural District Council, who attended the hearing, the consultation was timely.
“I have lived in this area for 27 years,” she said in an interview.
She added, “Climate change is not a topic in a textbook here. It is our everyday life. Our fields are drying, rivers are disappearing, and our children are suffering. I came here today because I want to be part of the solution.”
Cllr Maroka shared how climate change has broken families in her community.
“Most of the parents here have left for South Africa because the land no longer provides. Now, most households are child-headed, and many of those homes are led by young girls. These girls are vulnerable to poverty, to exploitation and abuse. If this Bill is passed and implemented, it must protect them.”
She hoped that the hearings would ensure ordinary Zimbabweans shape a law that will influence how the country responds to worsening droughts, heatwaves, cyclones and food insecurity.
School head Mr Nyasha Manzunzu from Chambuta Primary School said climate change has disrupted children’s education.
He said, “When bridges are swept away by floods, learners stop coming to school. When droughts hit, they stay home to fetch water. Girls suffer the most because they must look for firewood and water. Some never return to school. This Bill must protect education. It must help us adapt so our children are not left behind.”
Local businessperson Mr Daniel Majoka agreed.
“Climate change affects everyone, but it affects people differently,” he said, adding, “In our homes, women and girls carry the burden. When firewood runs out because of deforestation, they walk long distances. When crops fail, they suffer first. Poverty exposes girls to child marriage and abuse. This law must bring real change; information, support, and resources for communities like ours.”
He also urged Parliament to translate the Bill into all 16 national languages so rural citizens could understand it.
“We are Shangani speakers here. If the law is written in English only, how do we participate fully? Climate change affects us too,” he stated.
Prince Thomas, Junior Member of Parliament for Chiredzi South, said young people are impatient for action.
“We want this Bill finalised. Climate change is stealing our future. The heat here is unbearable. Deforestation has destroyed our trees. Women walk kilometres for firewood. Anyone who destroys the environment must be punished,” he said.
A Junior Councillor from Chiredzi added, “Young girls are suffering. Some are pushed into prostitution because their families can no longer survive on farming. This Bill must bring real solutions, not words.”
Senator Chief Chauke Feleni Chitanga from Masvingo admitted that many people had come expecting answers, but instead discovered that Parliament had come to listen.
“People thought we had come to speak. No, we came to listen. We will take the people’s views forward. Climate change is affecting our people. We must work with village heads and chiefs to educate our communities,” he said.
“Our duty as Parliamentarians is to represent the people. Not everyone can go to Parliament, so Parliament must go to the people. Whatever law we pass must come from the people. Climate change threatens our crops, our livestock, our health, and even access to clean water. This Bill will help us adapt,” she stated
Senator Ottillia Muhlava from Masvingo concurred.
She said, “These hearings help us collect real stories from grassroots communities. Climate change has killed our animals, our wealth. Women who used to farm now rely on handouts. This Bill must empower communities with long-term solutions.”
As the meeting ended, Cllr Maroka was grateful.
“We are a hard-to-reach community, but today Parliament came to us. We now feel we are part of something. Climate change is real, but knowledge is power. With this Bill, we can plan. We can protect our children. We can survive,” she said.
The hearings continue across the country until 27 October, with Parliament collecting submissions that will shape amendments to the Bill before it returns to the National Assembly.
-Moses Magadza, PhD, is the Media and Communications Manager at the SADC Parliamentary Forum.
