TANZANIA’S THOROUGHFARE: FOSSIL TO GREEN ECONOMY.
A shift in the worldwide weather phenomena that the present age has coined as “Climate Change” is gaining popularity in many countries and is currently one of the most controversial debates in the public.
There has been frequent occurrence of extreme climate events like cyclones and drought in some parts of the world, with Expectations of the events increasing in the coming days especially in prone regions like the global south, including Tanzania scientists argue.
These series of devastating climate events are linked as outcomes by scientists to the concept of the earth warming caused by human activities and influences on the natural environment. Therefore governments are signing petitions, enacting policies and putting up systems that favor environment sustainability and reduce the ongoing climate change effects.
Climate change in Tanzania runs from affecting food security, disrupting economic activities to affecting the health sector and projecting poverty in the country.
The country gets these outcomes from experiencing irregular rainfall patterns, higher temperatures and fierce weather conditions like storms and floods. All these has led Tanzania into initiating ways to reduce its carbon footprint as carbon increase in the atmosphere is one of the major contributors to global warming.
After many years of putting discussions and not lawfully enforcing plastic ban finally Tanzania came to an official restriction of using plastic bags in the country with 1st June 2019 as the official deadline according to the prime minister who announced as he closed his office’s budget for 2018/19 financial year in Dodoma.
Businesses merchandising plastic bags were given a 2 month window to adopt to the new system regardless the threat considered by the government concerning job and tax loss. Minister for State in the Vice President’s Office (Union Affairs and Environment) Hon. January Makamba held various meetings with stakeholders prior to the decision to ban the use of plastic bags as they discussed present opportunities in alternative productions.
Currently the greatest hindrances pulling back Tanzania’s adaptation to Eco-friendly social systems is lack of funds, public awareness and technological innovations. The global south is still getting up from the scourge it gets from climate change but also trying to draw policy lines of change into green economy.
Most third world countries are constrained from adapting solely green economy due to fear that development will be at the expense of the environment.
Green economy is simply social systems functioning in an environment friendly way meaning dragging fossil fuels, plastic and toxics out of the economic system.
The question ringing in developing countries parliaments is “Can our countries survive?”
But then with sound strategic approaches and the right policies green economy can create countless investment and employment opportunities as well as have carbon stored safe in the ground. Tanzania’s walk to a greener economy will be a long one and it’s completed with the accumulation of small and simple decisions like control of people’s eating and consuming habits as well as major decisions like this of banning plastic bag usage. A long walk it will be but at the end of the day it will benefit humanity in the long run.
Nevertheless the efforts to bringing Tanzania to a greener destination need to be merged from different stakeholders, policy makers, scientists, common people, business investors and all of us should employ combined strength to get Tanzania there. The government should have the door for innovations wide open because they will ventilate survival for opportunities in the environment sector.
Banning plastic bags is a major milestone for a greener economy in Tanzania. An economy that breeds safety. A hard-won victory.
Mungu ibariki Tanzania!
