By Zachary Gava
Harare, September 7, 2026 (New Ziana) – Zimbabwe is stepping up its climate ambitions with the development of a third Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC 3.0), which seeks to strengthen the response to climate change while supporting a greener, more resilient and sustainable development pathway, an official has said.
Chief director in the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife, Washington Zhakata, said this on Monday at the National Multi-Stakeholder Review and Validation Workshop for the Draft NDC 3.0 (2030–2035).
He said the proposed NDC 3.0 is being subjected to national stakeholder scrutiny and validation, with the government emphasizing that the process should result in a climate commitment that is ambitious, inclusive and aligned with the broader development priorities of the country.
Zhakata said the broad participation of the government, the private sector, academia, civil society, development partners, youths and the media was critical for ensuring national ownership of the new climate framework.
“This depth and breadth of participation is not incidental. It is, in fact, the very point of the process,” he said, adding Zimbabwe has made significant progress in strengthening its climate commitments since submitting its first NDC in 2015.
As a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement, which Zimbabwe ratified in 2017, the country submitted its initial NDC in 2015, targeting a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector by 2030.
In 2021, Zimbabwe revised its NDC, broadening mitigation measures to include forestry, waste and industrial sectors and increasing its overall emissions-reduction ambition.
Zhakata said the development of the NDC 3.0 was therefore a logical next step in translating the existing climate commitments into practical action while raising ambition for the next phase.
He said the process had been guided by evidence and extensive technical consultations, including assessments of the implementation of the previous NDC, stakeholder consultations on mitigation and adaptation, and modelling of future emissions scenarios using the Low Emissions Analysis Platform (LEAP).
The technical process covered key areas including energy, industrial processes, waste, water and pollution, while Government officials from nine key ministries, departments and agencies subjected the draft to a rigorous pre-validation assessment.
“The the draft has subsequently received technical sign-off, paving the way for this broader national validation process,” said Zhakata.
He, however, stressed that technical approval by the government alone was not sufficient to establish national ownership.
“A government-validated instrument, however sound, cannot yet claim to be a nationally owned instrument,” he said.
The current stakeholder review is therefore expected to provide a platform for different constituencies to interrogate the proposed targets and ensure that the final document reflects Zimbabwe’s national circumstances and development aspirations.
Zhakata identified raised ambition, inclusivity, economy-wide coverage, and national alignment as key benchmarks for NDC 3.0.
The new commitment is expected to cover relevant sectors including energy, industry, agriculture, forestry, waste and adaptation, while ensuring that climate actions are technically feasible, budget-aligned and consistent with sectoral master plans, the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2) and Vision 2030.
Zhakata also called for gender considerations to be properly integrated across the sectoral chapters of the document.
“Your voice today is what will transform this document from a technically sound document into a nationally owned instrument,” he said.
He added that the final NDC would not only communicate Zimbabwe’s climate commitments to the international community, but would also provide a framework for guiding the country towards a more sustainable future.
The stakeholder validation is expected to mark a major milestone towards finalizing the third-generation climate commitment for the 2030–2035 period.
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