AN OVERALL ANALYSIS OF THE CLIMATE CHANGE MANAGEMENT BILL [HB5/25]
The promulgation of the Climate Change Management Bill, 2025 [HB 5/25] is a welcome step in the global fight against climate change. It is Zimbabwe's first step to enact a law that focuses solely on fighting climate change and global warming. It is a progressive step as Zimbabwe formally domesticates and ratifies international treaties which Zimbabwe is a signatory to.
The main objective of the Bill is to ensure that Zimbabwe plays its part in reducing greenhouse emissions into the atmosphere. Reducing greenhouse emissions will ensure there is less depletion of the ozone layer. This will mean there will be less global warming and less climate change induced disaster in the world and in Zimbabwe.
In essence the Bill aims to ratify the treaties that Zimbabwe is a signatory to.
"The Bill is the first step in the domestication process, turning Zimbabwe's international climate commitments into domestic law."
International Treaties
- Paris Agreement.
- Kyoto Protocol.
- Rio Earth Summit.
Even though Zimbabwe had signed these treaties, Zimbabwe has not yet ratified or domesticated these treaties to be domestic law. The Bill is the first step in the domestication process. Domestication or ratification involves enacting the articles and provisions of the treaties which Zimbabwe signed into Zimbabwe law.
The objectives of the Bill are set out in Clause 3 of the Bill. Some of the flagship objectives of the Bill, which will be an Act if enacted, are to provide an institutional framework to co-ordinate, regulate and supervise actions related to climate change at all levels of government, private sector and in various communities. This is a welcome development as currently there is no Act of Parliament that specifically regulates and co-ordinates the fight against climate change in Zimbabwe.
This Bill once passed into an Act, will regulate the amount of greenhouse emissions by factories, mining companies and many of the greenhouse emitting entities. Greenhouse gases can be described as atmospheric gases that include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and many others which trap heat from the earth's surface, preventing heat from escaping into space. These gases that trap heat are the ones that cause the earth's atmosphere to gradually increase in temperature. This causes climate change.
Existing Legal Context
The Environmental Management Act, even though it is a very progressive piece of legislation, its focus is on levels of air pollution which harm the health of individuals. It is more concerned about members of the public having clean and safe air to breathe. Its focus is not on the emission of greenhouse gases which cause climate change. The Climate Change Management Bill is the piece of legislation which if enacted would be the first Act of Parliament which deals specifically with climate change.
Zimbabwe has suffered its fair share of climate change induced disasters. In the past ten years, six years have been drought years. This has severely hampered the growth and development of agriculture. In the years where there is rainfall, flash floods and thunder-storms have been the norm. This affects the agricultural sector. Cyclone Idai is one such example of the effects of flash floods. With these climate-change induced disasters in mind, it was only fitting for Zimbabwe to join the front-line against climate change, by starting the process to enact an Act of Parliament that regulates comprehensively the emission of greenhouse gases.
The recently gazetted Carbon Trading (General) Regulations 2025, S.I. 48 of 2025 is a welcome step in the regulation of carbon credits. However, the focus of these regulations is not on climate change, rather on the trade of carbon credits.
Clause 4 and Its Effect
Clause 4 of the Bill is a game changing provision in the fight against climate change. It states that the Act shall be construed as being in addition to and not in substitution of any other law which is not in conflict or inconsistent with this Act. Clause 4 also goes on to state that in the event of a conflict between another law or provision of another Act and the then enacted Climate Change Act regarding an issue concerning climate change, then the Climate Change Act will prevail.
This provision elevates and shows the seriousness that the Government of Zimbabwe is taking in the fight against climate change. This clause means that if there is a conflict of laws regarding climate change between the then enacted Climate Change Management Act and other laws like the Mines and Minerals Act [Chapter 21:05], the Regional Town and Country Planning Act [Chapter 29:12] or the Urban Councils Act [Chapter 29:15], the provision of the Climate Change Management Act will always prevail.
This means that any economic development that happens in Zimbabwe after the law has been enacted, must be conscious and aware of what amount of damage that project or entity can do to the ozone layer.
Implementation Challenges
In as much as the gazetting of the Bill is a welcome development, implementing it is an exercise that will likely take a number of years to do. The Bill comes with a number of institutions that it proposes to set up. Some of these are the Climate Transparency and Compliance Unit, the Climate Change Management Department, the Loss and Damage Unit and many others. All of these entities will need to be staffed with capable and well-trained people.
Another challenge to the full implementation of the then enacted Climate Change Management Act will likely be the attitude of the other stakeholders. Mining companies, local authorities, factory owners and the general citizenry. There is need to educate the affected stakeholders on the purpose of this Bill. To many the Bill is piece of legislation that has nothing to do with them. Some citizens view climate change as a hoax or a Western or European issue.
Another challenge the Bill will likely face is its effect on the coal industry. Currently Zimbabwe generates the bulk of its electricity from the Hwange Power Stations which depend on coal. Clauses 4 and 5 of the Bill talks about annual quotas for greenhouse emissions. These quotas are based on Zimbabwe's ozone depleting substances phase out schedules and greenhouse gases phase down schedules. These phase out schedules and quotas will likely be in conflict with the interests of coal mining companies, workers and communities.
A phase out schedule of greenhouse gases is a country's long-term plan to phase out emissions of greenhouse gases. This phasing out can be a target in terms of percentage reduction of greenhouse gas emissions or to reach a point where that country is a net zero emitter of greenhouse gases.
Coal mining provides the bulk of Zimbabwe's electricity, provides employment, is profitable for companies and is a tax base for Government. Introducing quotas and phasing out greenhouse emissions will likely face serious opposition from a lot of stakeholders in the coal-mining industry.
It is important that when the Bill is debated in Parliament the interests of these parties must be taken into account.