Coal for Now, Green for Later: Zimbabwe’s Climate Plan Submitted to the UN

Leonard Sengere

28 February 2025

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Being the good boys and girls that we are in Zimbabwe, we were the only African country to submit its 2035 climate plan (Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC)) on time to meet a UN deadline of February 10.

You can’t help but fear the worst when there is talk of climate plans because there is significant pressure to go green, even when it hurts an economy, at least in the short term.

However, I think I like the plan that our country submitted. It rightly played the lip service game and talked up plans to go green but also highlighted immediate concerns that will mean relying on coal and gas even more in the next few years.

Zimbabwe’s climate plan, as submitted to the United Nations, tries to balance energy security with emissions reduction. Key points related to electricity generation include:

Increased Coal Use in the Short Term: Due to severe droughts affecting hydropower output, Zimbabwe plans to refurbish the Hwange coal power station and construct a new 720 MW coal plant to address immediate power shortages.
Transition to Gas Power: The plan includes shifting towards natural gas as an alternative to coal in the medium term, aiming to reduce carbon intensity while maintaining energy reliability.
Renewable Energy Integration: Zimbabwe intends to expand solar and wind energy projects, though progress is limited by inadequate funding and infrastructure challenges. The Kariba hydro plant, which typically provides about 40% of Zimbabwe’s electricity, is currently operating at a reduced capacity of 185 MW due to insufficient water supply.
Emissions Reduction Target: The country aims for a 40% per capita emissions reduction by 2035 compared to a business-as-usual scenario, with energy sector emissions expected to peak in 2026 before declining.

So, yeah, the plan reflects Zimbabwe’s challenge of securing reliable electricity while gradually transitioning to cleaner energy sources, constrained by economic and funding limitations.

If the global prefects want us to go green quicker, they will have to fund those efforts. We are too broke to do it ourselves for now, and so ‘in coal we trust.’

I’m willing to fight any climate activist in a boxing ring who advocates shunning coal in Zim when these blackouts are killing us.

Comments

4 responses

February 28, 2025

cc263

There is no such thing as clean energy. When you mine lithium with toxic chemicals and use materials that are incredibly hard to recycle for wind turbines and solar panels, then what is the benefit of using this stuff which needs to be changed/replaced much quicker, doesn’t make sense.

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March 1, 2025

Real_wex

Africa contributes about 3–4% of global CO₂ emissions, despite being home to around 17% of the world’s population. This is significantly lower than emissions from regions like China, the U.S., and the EU. They should just let us be.. Zimbabwe is sitting on 200 years of coal supply based on current extraction rates.. we can’t afford solar let alone wind energy and whole lot of challenges that come with it

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March 1, 2025

MYST

Sounds good. Its pratical for us to use resources we have in situ. We have also seen countries that had decommisioned coal plants struggling/restarting them in light of challenges posed by a renewalbe energy only policy. Renewable energy should perhaps be complimentary rather than substitute coal and gas in our situation.

Nuclear energy has also been proven to be cleaner and cheaper in the long run and should be top of the list for climate goals. It also runs when the sun goes down without the need big battery backups or wind changes its prevailing direction or water levels drop significantly. SMRs can also be used to desalinate sea water into fresh water….

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March 2, 2025

MYST

A Herculean task.

I have often wondered how the Rhodesians funded and built Kariba dam in the late fifties. The largest man made resevoir in the world! It can be seen from space on the ISS together with the Great Dyke. .

The expectation from the public is that the power crisis can be solved the next day. Unfortunately these projects are super expensive and take years to be commissioned. We have to temper your expectations and deal with practical solutions that only have an effect in 5-7 years.

If we want ininterrupted power supply in 5 years time we start today. As Dr. Obert Mpofu opined, wise men plant trees whose shade they may never sit in. This is a continual process and neglect will have serious repurcussions for future generations. Do not look where you fell, look where you slipped. Then fix it…

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