The cyclone destroyed 600 houses and damaged 20,000 others in Chipinge, leaving over 17,000 households homeless and displacing thousands. Critical infrastructure was severely damaged, with over 90% of road networks and 584 kilometres of roads destroyed by landslides, cutting off communities and hampering rescue operations.

The Marowanyati Dam overflowed, exacerbating flooding and damaging irrigation schemes. Health and education services were disrupted, with five health facilities damaged and 139 schools affected, impacting over 9,000 learners.

Agricultural losses were extensive, with more than 50% of maize, banana and tuber crops wiped out, along with the loss of 362 cattle, 514 goats and 17,000 chickens. The total damages in Chipinge and Chimanimani accounted for over half of the estimated US$542–616 million in national losses.

Public Hearings on the Climate Change Management Bill 2025

On Thursday, Sithole was among scores of residents and representatives of interest groups who thronged Gaza Community Hall in Chipinge when the Parliament of Zimbabwe, through its Joint Portfolio Committee on Environment, Climate and Wildlife and the Thematic Committee on Climate Change convened a public hearing on the Climate Change Management Bill 2025.

Sweden, through the Sexual Reproductive Health Rights, HIV and AIDS Governance Project of the SADC Parliamentary Forum, is supporting the hearings which are being conducted in line with Section 141 of the Constitution, which enjoins Parliament to consult citizens during law-making processes.

At the start of the hearing in Chipinge, Honourable Samson Matema, who leads one of two teams that will cover five out of the 10 provinces of Zimbabwe during the public consultations, highlighted the recent Bandama Dam disaster in Ward 7, Chipinge, as a stark reminder of the devastating impacts of climate change.

The dam burst on 9th March 2025, causing severe flooding along the Dandoni River, which flows into the Mwara and Budzi rivers. The tragedy claimed five lives, including children and destroyed livestock, crops and local infrastructure. He noted that the incident, alongside warnings of other vulnerable dams such as Newcastle Dam, underscores the urgent need to strengthen climate resilience and dam safety in the face of extreme weather events.

Community Input and Key Submissions

Against this backdrop, Sithole and scores of residents that turned up for the public hearing showed keen interest in that evolving Bill and made substantive inputs.

Green Building Council of Zimbabwe (GBCZ) Recommendations

The Green Building Council of Zimbabwe (GBCZ) urged Parliament to strengthen the Climate Change Management Bill by explicitly incorporating the built environment. It warned that buildings account for a significant share of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.

GBCZ representative Mr. Phillip Mwatsika said the Bill, in its current form, overlooks a major contributor to climate change.

“The built environment is too important to be relegated under ‘any other sector’ as it contributes 39% of greenhouse gases,” he said and called for construction to be listed alongside other key sectors such as energy, waste and agriculture.

He argued that Zimbabwe cannot effectively mitigate climate change without reforming the way buildings are planned, constructed and managed.

“Voluntarism has never been known to give the desired results. Green building standards must be made mandatory through the Climate Change Management Bill,” Mr. Mwatsika said.

He proposed specific amendments to the Bill to mainstream green building practices, including adding key definitions in Clause 2 such as “built environment,” “green building,” “embodied emissions,” and “green building rating and certification” for clarity; including construction as a distinct sector under the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) categories; and introducing a new objective in Clause 3 to establish a regulatory framework for green building practices and certification systems.

Other recommendations relate to accrediting professional training institutions under Clause 6 to build national capacity among architects, engineers, builders and planners; strengthening incentives for green construction under Clause 6(2)(b), including tax rebates, expedited permits and subsidies to encourage industry uptake; updating outdated clauses to reflect the current government structure, particularly acknowledging the Climate Change Management Department; including certified green buildings in national registers under Clause 17; adding GBCZ to liaison committees under Clause 23 to provide expert technical support; developing a national Green Building Code and rating system under Clause 37; and introducing tax and fiscal incentives such as reduced stamp duty, capital gains tax and duty waivers for certified green buildings under Clause 38.

Mr. Mwatsika stressed that climate-resilient development must begin with the built environment. Buildings consume substantial amounts of energy and materials and remain in use for generations.

“All building materials come from the environment and impact the environment — bricks, cement, steel, glass, timber,” he said adding, “We must design for both mitigation and adaptation to climate risks.”

He also highlighted the economic benefits of green construction, noting that it:

“creates new jobs, attracts investment, and improves public health and productivity.”

The GBCZ urged Parliament to align Zimbabwe with regional and global trends, noting that countries such as South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria have already integrated green building standards into national legislation.

“By implementing this proposal, we can create a more sustainable and resilient built environment for future generations,” Mr. Mwatsika said.

Advocacy Core Team Submission

The Advocacy Core Team also made detailed submissions. It urged Parliament to strengthen the Bill by explicitly safeguarding public health, community rights and resilience.

The group, represented by Diana Mailosi, said the Bill must:

“safeguard lives as much as it protects the environment.”

It warned that climate change is already causing severe health threats including malaria, heat stress, diarrhoeal diseases, malnutrition and mental health challenges linked to climate shocks.

The Advocacy Core Team recommended that the Bill adopt clearer definitions that align with international climate law and human rights principles. These include revising definitions for adaptation, resilience, data sharing and mitigation, and adding a new definition of just transition to protect jobs and vulnerable groups during climate-related economic shifts.

They also called for the Bill to uphold Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) for communities affected by climate projects and to adopt rights-based language that:

“balances environmental protection with cultural and social development,”

in line with Zimbabwe’s Constitution.

A central pillar of the recommendations is the integration of health in every section of the Bill. The group proposed:

• establishment of an Adaptation and Resilience Unit within the Climate Change Management Department
• mandatory reporting on health-related climate impacts in annual departmental reports
• inclusion of a health cluster in stakeholder liaison committees to ensure medical experts, traditional healers and community health workers contribute to climate decisions
• ring-fencing climate finance for public health adaptation — including disease surveillance, hospital resilience, clean water access and emergency preparedness

The submission stressed that:

climate change is a health crisis before it is an environmental one

and without explicit funding for health adaptation, lives would continue to be lost to preventable climate-related illnesses.

To ensure enforcement, the Advocacy Core Team urged Parliament to make national adaptation plans compulsory for every ministry and local authority; require ministries such as Health, Agriculture, Local Government, Education and Energy to prepare sector-specific adaptation plans; strengthen penalty clauses for organisations or agencies that obstruct climate action; and establish monitoring and evaluation systems with resilience indicators to track real progress.

The group further proposed the creation of a National Climate and Health Research Framework to guide evidence-based decision making. This would fund universities and local researchers to study disease patterns linked to climate change and support early warning systems for outbreaks such as cholera and malaria.

The Advocacy Core Team urged lawmakers to:

“adopt a people-first Bill that responds to Zimbabwe’s real vulnerabilities.”

Dorcas Chitiyo flagged the Harare Declaration on Climate and Health, which was endorsed during the inaugural Climate and Health Africa Conference (CHAC) in October 2024, as a critical continental milestone. She urged Parliament to adopt the Declaration’s call for integrated and evidence-based approaches that align climate action with public health priorities. In her submission, she emphasized the need for institutionalizing climate–health linkages within national policy frameworks, enhancing research collaboration, and mobilizing domestic resources to safeguard communities from the escalating health impacts of climate change.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Hon. Samson Matema commended the spirited participation of the Chipinge community, noting that their valuable contributions had been duly captured for inclusion in the final report to Parliament. He encouraged stakeholders to submit any additional inputs within the fourteen-day window period through the Committee Clerk, Mr. John Mazani.

Hon. Matema underscored that climate change is a defining issue that speaks to both present realities and the security of future generations and expressed gratitude for the community’s robust and engaging participation in the public hearing, where residents, including school learners, made submissions. The public hearings on the Bill continue as Parliament gathers broader public input across the country.

Ends/.