BY LORETTA B MANELE
Trevor Mahaga, Minister for Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology (MECDM) highlighted the importance of “climate smart development”.
He spoke about this whilst contributing to the debate on the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Bill 2024 in parliament on Monday, May 19.
Mahaga said he supports the bill because it mandates the Environmental Impact Assessment which integrates waste and pollution controls and embed climate resilience into zone planning.
He stressed that these measures are core to long-term success and they can and should go further on this.
“Our agencies must be leading examples of climate smart development.”
Speaking on “climate smart development”, Mahaga outlined a number of initiatives under this channel.
One of them is “clean energy”, of which he said they should make as a standard and not an exception.
Mahaga voiced that clean energy is not only possible but cost-effective in the long run.
He said investors are now actively looking for clean energy zones and they should offer them one.
Other initiatives he mentioned under “climate smart development” are nature-based infrastructure, sustainable water systems, green construction materials and community driven design.
Mahaga emphasized that the SEZ Bill through its amended provisions rightly place environmental oversight within the core of existing governance.
He furthered that the involvement of his ministry will ensure that compliance is not an afterthought, but a precondition.
In this regard, he stated that they will ensure every development proposal is screened for climate risks.
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