Washington Zhakata, acting Permanent Secretary for Environment, Climate, and Wildlife, has been appointed vice board chair of the Adaptation Fund under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), reported The Herald.
The Adaptation Fund finances concrete adaptation projects and programmes in developing countries that are parties to the Kyoto Protocol and particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
Since its inception in 2010, the Adaptation Fund has committed over US$1.2 billion to climate change adaptation and resilience projects, benefiting more than 45 million people through over 176 localized projects in vulnerable communities.
The fund pioneered the Direct Access model, allowing countries to directly access funding and develop projects through accredited national implementing entities.
The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) of Zimbabwe has been accredited as a National Implementing Entity to manage climate funds from the Adaptation Fund.
Approved projects include a US$5 million project aimed at “enhancing resilience of communities and ecosystems in the face of a changing climate in arid and semi-arid areas of Zimbabwe” and is being implemented through EMA.
Another US$5 million project focused on “increasing local communities’ adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change through increased groundwater exploitation in Zimbabwe” has also been approved and is being implemented through UNESCO.
Another US$10 million window is still available for Zimbabwe.
Zhakata is the Director of the Climate Change Management Department and vice chair of the Radiation Protection Authority of Zimbabwe, which handles nuclear security.
He holds a Master of Science degree in Atmospheric Physics, along with other postgraduate qualifications.
Zhakata has extensive experience, having previously worked for the Meteorological Services Department and served as a lecturer in the Geography and Environmental Science Department at the University of Zimbabwe for nearly 15 years.
He also worked as the National Programme Coordinator for Climate Change with UNDP.