Climate change experts have been urged to engage communities at the grassroots level and simplify technical climate terms to enable effective participation in climate change action.
This call was made by climate change advocate Anglistone Sibanda, Executive Director of the Africa Voluntary Carbon Markets Forum (AVCCMF), during his address at the recently held Climate Change Carbon Markets and Sustainability Indaba.
The two-day event, hosted by the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) at the Large City Hall, was themed “Unpacking and Unlocking Zimbabwe’s Potential in the Climate Economy: Driving the Global Sustainability Agenda to Build Climate Resilience.”
Sibanda emphasized that a significant reason for the lack of full participation in climate change activities is the public’s limited understanding of its concepts.
“If we are to win this fight against climate change, we must ensure that everyone is on board. For people to effectively participate in climate change activities, they need to fully understand the concepts involved. Often, technical terms are not simplified for the communities, leading to a lack of understanding,” Sibanda said.
He stressed the importance of involving all residents and community members in discussions about climate change, whether in urban or rural areas. “We need a people-centric approach, bringing ordinary citizens to the centre of our intended climate action,” he added.
Sibanda highlighted the need for clear communication about climate goals, such as achieving net-zero emissions, and ensuring that people understand these objectives. “We need to make sure that when we talk about the net-zero goal, people understand that we aim to return the atmosphere to its pre-industrial state. We need to balance emissions and the activities to reduce them,” he explained.
He also emphasized the need to discourage activities that contribute to carbon emissions. “We need to be conscious of our smoking habits, the litter we burn, the trees we cut down, and the plastics we dispose of haphazardly. These and other environmentally unfriendly practices cause temperatures to rise and disrupt rainfall patterns, leading to cyclones and heatwaves,” Sibanda said.
“Let us put more effort into practising people-centric climate change action. How can people change their behaviour for the better if we use terms they do not understand? We need to translate these messages into local languages so that climate action is driven by the people,” he concluded.
