PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa is elated by his pending trip to the United Kingdom to attend the 26th edition of the United Nations Climate Conference (COP 26) where he has not been able to set foot for a long time because of sanctions.
The conference will be taking place in Glasgow, Scotland.
It comes at a time political mayhem is building in the country.
It also comes amid an acute economic crisis underlined by an askew exchange rate which has pushed the cost of living higher.
Prior to revealing plans of his trip on his Twitter account Tuesday, several war veterans were dragged to the Harare Central Police station after they had staged a demonstration at Africa Unit Square over the Mnangagwa’s failure to adequately incentivise them.
In a series of posts on his official Twitter handle Mnangagwa expressed elation keenness over the upcoming trip to the UK.
“I am eagerly looking forward to my first visit to the United Kingdom. COPS26 meeting of nations comes at an extraordinary time in world history. Many countries are battling the pandemic whilst having to undertake immense changes to our economies to meet climate goals,” Mnangagwa said.
Zimbabwe, according to Mnangagwa, has also been impacted with climate change with temperatures having risen by approximately two degrees over the past century.
- The increase in extreme weather patterns exposed the government’s incompetence in the past two decades, as the administration failed to adequately deal with droughts and floods frequently experienced by the nation over the past few years.
“If the world does not step up, we will see jobs lost, livelihoods destroyed, and people will lose their lives. This is something we must avoid and why Zimbabwe is coming to the table with ambitious plans to tackle climate change,” he tweeted.
Zimbabwe has set its target to reduce emissions by 40 percent before 2030.
Mnangagwa alluded to the need to hasten economic transformation while remaining alive to the shocks of drought and the impact of climate change through necessary social safety nets.
He also added that he will extend the begging bowl at the COP 26 summit.
“I will be appealing for multilateral support to supplement our efforts. Zimbabwe has come a long way over the past three years, I hope our presence at COP 26 and our commitment to the global fight against climate change will be recognised as part of our ongoing re engagement campaign.” – Newzim
