It was water that stripped nearly everything from Tambudzai Chikweya’s life on the night of March 15, 2019.
As Cyclone Idai tore through Chimanimani, her hometown in Zimbabwe’s eastern highlands, it unleashed floods that swept away her house and claimed the life of her eldest daughter. Chikweya was rescued only after spending the night pinned between a wardrobe and a bed, unable to free herself from the mud.
More than five years later, water again stands in the way of Chikweya’s attempts to build a new life for herself and her family. But this time, the problem is that there isn’t enough of it.
The mother-of-three has been resettled in Runyararo, a vast expanse of sun-baked semi-arid land where the Zimbabwe government has been building brick homes for hundreds of people displaced by the cyclone, on the site of a former colonial farm more than 60 kilometres away from Chimanimani.
High temperatures of up to 34 degrees Celsius and erratic rainfall make access to water in Runyararo “inadequate”, according to government documents. The situation has been made worse this year by a severe drought – dubbed “historic” by the UN – which has affected much of Southern Africa and was sparked by the El Niño weather pattern.
“Not having enough water and drought-induced hunger are challenges here,” Chikweya said, speaking through a translator when Climate Home visited her home in Runyararo last September on a trip organised by Danish humanitarian NGO DanChurchAid.
“It was a very difficult decision for us [to move here],” she added, “It weighed on us for a long time.”

Tambudzai Chikweya walks past some of the land she was allocated by the government as part of the resettlement project. Photo: Matteo Civillini
The reality has also proved tough. Standing in front of a small vegetable patch where she grows tomatoes and kale, Chikweya described the struggle she faces in getting enough food to feed herself and her children at least once a day.
She tried to grow potatoes on a large plot of land donated by the government – but the crops failed in the bone-dry soil as a result of the stifling heat and a shortage of water.
Climate Home asked Zimbabwe’s government why storm-hit communities were resettled in a known drought-prone area, but had not received a response by the time of the publication.
Multiple climate threats
Chikweya’s situation underscores the wide range of climate-related threats affecting vulnerable communities in a country like Zimbabwe where the frequency and intensity of both storms and droughts are projected to increase as the planet heats up.
The situation in Runyararo also highlights the complexities of the critical decisions facing cash-strapped governments that need to ensure their efforts to help people recover from one disaster also make them better able to withstand future hazards.
Mattias Söderberg, global climate lead at DanChurchAid, said adapting to multiple climate stresses “is not just a tick-box exercise”, but must be grounded in a “thorough assessment of the expected climate effects”.
Development organisations and government authorities leading adaptation projects need enough expertise to take into account expected climate impacts in the future as well as what is happening now. “Otherwise adaptation investment may be lost, and people will live in a false sense of safety,” Söderberg said.
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Doing that in practice, however, can add to the upfront costs of adaptation measures. To tackle the lack of water in Runyararo, for example, the national government has sketched out plans to build a dam on a nearby river and bring a stable water supply into the area. But a lack of funding has put the dam project beyond reach for now.
It is a familiar dilemma for developing nations struggling to bridge the widening gulf between the impacts of climate change and the shortfall of money available to address them.
International public funding to protect communities in poorer, vulnerable countries from worsening extreme weather and rising seas is only a fraction – between 7% and 13% – of what is needed, according to the latest Adaptation Gap Report published on Thursday by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
UNEP said governments have an important opportunity to “alter this trajectory” at the upcoming COP29 summit, starting next week in Baku, Azerbaijan. The talks are expected to agree on a new post-2025 global climate finance goal to help developing countries tackle climate change – but deep divisions remain on what it should consist of, how large it should be, and who should contribute to it.
For Zimbabwe, the money could make all the difference when dealing with another climate disaster.
‘Surrounded by floodwater’
Back in 2019, Joseph Maphosa was fast asleep when the water brought by Cyclone Idai burst through the front door of his home late at night with such force that it lifted up his bed.
Idai was then passing through Kopa, a settlement lying on a plain at the confluence of three rivers. Conditions making it particularly prone to flooding and landslides would turn Kopa into the epicentre of the disaster.
After fleeing his house by hanging onto the roof trusses, Maphosa eventually climbed up into a tree with three of his neighbours. They spent the next 48 hours there alone.
“The rain was coming down all around us, there was nothing we could do,” he recounted more than five years later. “No one could help us because we were just surrounded by floodwater.”
By the time rescuers arrived and took the four people to safety, the water had started receding and the devastation caused by the cyclone was laid bare.
It was Zimbabwe’s most devastating natural disaster on record.

Travail Ngorima looks at the remnants of his family home in Kopa that was destroyed by Cyclone Idai. (Photo: Matteo Civillini)
More than 70 households were swept away in Kopa alone. Across the country, 344 people died, with over 250 reported missing and 60,000 displaced by the disaster. The cost of damage to property and infrastructure ranged between $542 million and $616 million according to a rapid impact assessment by the World Bank which funded a wide-ranging recovery programme.
As the government and development agencies set about rebuilding homes, roads and bridges and restoring local people’s livelihoods, they promised that similar cyclones would never have the same calamitous consequences.
‘Building back better’
“We said, ‘we don’t need to build back better anymore – we want to build back better first time’,” John Misi, acting director for local government services in Manicaland Province, told reporters visiting the area in September.
“We challenged our local authorities that no one was going to build a structure, a home, a shelter, without getting technical support from the council so that we build more resilient infrastructure,” he added.
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On a three-day trip across the province, Climate Home saw a mixed picture of how the recovery efforts have unfolded five years on from the dramatic events caused by Idai.
Key infrastructure – including many roads and bridges – was repaired, restoring access to remote communities.
Still, a large swathe of the floodplain in Kopa remains littered with giant boulders that came rolling down from the mountains as a result of the cyclone, destroying everything in their way.
Even so, a dozen metres away, the local business centre is a hive of activity. New buildings are being erected, helping locals to earn a living but also fuelling concerns over what would happen if a fresh climate disaster struck.
“There is no order – these businesses are just coming up,” said Maphosa, who now works in Chimanimani’s civil registry office. “It is a great risk to build there. [With Cyclone Idai] water got into the shops there but people are still building them there anyways.”
While commercial buildings are being constructed in Kopa, an official told Climate Home that the local council denied permission to rebuild residential houses there.
Most people made homeless by the disaster found shelter with families or host communities, but hundreds of households ended up in temporary camps waiting to be given a new permanent home elsewhere.
Settling in the ‘land of peace’
The centrepiece of the Zimbabwe government’s resettlement plans lies in Runyararo, which means “land of peace” in the local Shona language. The settlement lies at the end of a long dirt road nearly two-hours’ drive away from Chimanimani.
Here, on a largely empty piece of barren land traditionally used for cattle-grazing, the government built 159 new homes for displaced people – with close to a hundred more in the pipeline – as well as a primary school and a small hospital.
In addition to a four-room house, new residents are allocated 2.5 hectares of land that they can use to grow crops or keep animals.

Hundreds of households displaced by Cyclone Idai have been resettled in Runyararo, more than 60 km away from their previous hometown. (Photo: Matteo Civillini)
Chikweya moved to Runyararo in 2022 after spending three years in a tent camp. She said she was grateful to the government for her new house, but she has been struggling to adjust to a life full of fresh challenges.
“It is more isolated here,” she said. “In Chimanimani, I used to sell things and there was always someone who would buy from you, which helped me get by.”
Chikweya now keeps goats and chickens and tends her vegetable patch – but her ambition to put the rest of her land to productive use to grow food has failed because she cannot irrigate it regularly.
The shortage of water afflicts everyone in the area – and it’s becoming more acute as the government has resettled cyclone survivors there.
“It’s always been like this here,” lamented another resident during a community meeting. “But because there are a lot of people now, the little water that was here is now being used by too many people. It’s getting to a point where the water just dries up.”
Struggle to boost water access
Boreholes to tap underground water were drilled in the area, but a lack of rain during the ongoing drought means the water table has been getting lower and some of the boreholes have dried up, a local official said.
German charity Welthungerhilfe (WHH) stepped in to help, with funding from the US government’s development agency USAID. It drilled two more boreholes and installed solar panels to pump water into a large storage tank and from there to a network of taps situated closer to the homes.
Yet, while the scheme has offered a welcome reprieve for the community, water stress persists – and the struggle for a sufficient supply could get worse as the number of residents grows.
Matthias Späth, WHH’s country director in Zimbabwe, told Climate Home it was “saddening to see how quickly the water level is shrinking” when he visited Runyararo recently.
“We did the best we could with the available resources,” he said. “We ensured that no IDP [internally displaced person’s] household was more than 100 metres from a water point.”
Späth added that, given water shortages across the wider area, the system designed for the new residents “has likely been overloaded” because people living there before the resettlement project have also been using it. “A larger budget would have enabled us to extend the water system to the host community,” he said.
A lack of funding is also putting the brakes on a project the government believes could offer a long-term solution. Under the plans, a dam would be built on a river up in the nearby hills and a 30-km pipeline would channel the water from there to the community in Runyararo.
But, for now, there is no money to put the costly project into practice, local officials told Climate Home.
Späth said he was concerned that current global geopolitics and national economic hardship would make it hard to mobilise the funds needed to build a dam. He also said water quality in the river would need to be assessed to ensure it is suitable for filling the dam, partly because livestock also use it for their needs.
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Misi of Manicaland province said the administration has been doing its best in Runyararo but acknowledged that “it is a work-in-progress” and challenges remain.
“We want to make that settlement as good as the area that they [the displaced people] stayed in before the cyclone,” he said.
For Chikweya, that day cannot come soon enough as she reflects on her life before Cyclone Idai.
“Chimanimani was basically an oasis. We’d never run out of water – we could always access fresh food,” she said. “Here it’s more difficult.”
(Reporting by Matteo Civillini; editing by Megan Rowling)
Danish NGO DanChurchAid organised and sponsored Climate Home’s trip to Zimbabwe.
The post From cyclone to drought, Zimbabwe’s climate victims struggle to adapt appeared first on Climate Home News.
From cyclone to drought, Zimbabwe’s climate victims struggle to adapt
Climate Change
Germany election 2025: What the manifestos say on energy and climate change
A federal election is taking place in Germany on 23 February, following the collapse of the coalition government at the end of last year.
Germans will vote to elect 630 members of the nation’s parliament.
Polling suggests there will be a political shift to the right, with the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the lead and far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) set to make significant gains.
A “traffic light” coalition of parties has ruled since 2021, led by the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), alongside the Green Party and the Free Democratic Party (FDP).
However, successive crises led to its breakup at the end of 2024, when the liberal, free market-oriented FDP split from the rest.
This prompted a vote of no confidence by the German parliament, which, in turn, triggered a snap election several months earlier than previously scheduled.
The coalition government has been plagued by ideological differences, particularly between the FDP and its two centre-left partners.
Climate policies were at the heart of many of the disputes.
The centre-left SPD and Greens have broadly favoured more public spending on climate issues, while the FDP is opposed to state intervention of any sort.
In the interactive grid below, Carbon Brief tracks the commitments made by each of the main parties in their election manifestos, across a range of issues related to climate and energy.
The parties covered are:
- Christian Democratic Union (CDU)/Christian Social Union (CSU): The centre-right CDU and its regional Bavarian “sister party”, CSU, has been the dominant political force in modern Germany and is currently polling highest ahead of the election.
- Social Democratic Party (SPD): The centre-left SPD has led the ruling coalition in Germany since the last election in 2021 and has traditionally been the other dominant party in the nation’s politics.
- Green Party: The centre-left and environmentalist Greens have been part of the coalition government since 2021.
- Free Democratic Party (FDP): The FDP is an economically liberal party that prioritises free markets and privatisation. It was part of the coalition government, but its departure at the end of 2024 ultimately triggered the federal election.
- Left Party: In recent years, this left-wing, democratic-socialist party has lost much of its support base in the east of the country.
- Alternative for Germany (AfD): The far-right party has become a major force in the country’s politics over the past decade, particularly in eastern Germany.
- Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW): The party was only founded last year, as an offshoot of the Left Party, but it has rapidly risen in popularity with a left-wing economic message and a conservative approach to some social and cultural issues.
Each entry in the grid represents a direct quote from a manifesto document.
Net-zero and climate framing
Climate action has become a divisive topic in German politics.
This is evident in the major parties’ manifestos, which range from supporting more ambitious net-zero goals to outright climate scepticism.
Germany is currently aiming to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, with interim targets including a 65% cut by 2030.
Government climate advisors on the Council of Experts on Climate Change have stated that the nation is on track to miss the 2030 target.
Despite starting out with ambitious aims, the coalition’s climate progress has faltered, with the FDP successfully pushing for weaker climate policies. Moreover, a major court ruling curtailed the government’s climate spending by enforcing Germany’s limit on debt.
Amid these wider tensions, Germany’s two traditionally dominant parties still want to retain the nation’s headline climate target. The CDU, which is leading the polls in the run-up to election day, commits to meeting the Paris Agreement goals in its manifesto, saying its sights are “firmly set” on net-zero by 2045.
The SPD, which is currently third in the polls and likely to end up in coalition with the CDU, also supports the 2045 net-zero target, as well as the interim goals.
However, the two parties differ substantially in their approach to meeting the 2045 target. The CDU prioritises carbon pricing and rejects the tougher policies to decarbonise heating and transport favoured by the SPD. (See: Heating dispute and Combustion engine phaseout.)
Meanwhile, the AfD manifesto repeatedly questions the “supposed scientific consensus” on “man-made climate change”. The party, which is currently second in the polls, “therefore rejects every policy and every tax that is related to alleged climate protection”.
Mainstream German parties across the spectrum have long agreed to a “firewall” against far-right groups, meaning they will not form coalitions with the AfD. However, the CDU recently sparked controversy when it backed an anti-immigration policy with the AfD.
The Green Party also supports the 2045 net-zero target in its manifesto, emphasising Germany’s status as the EU member state with the highest emissions. The Left Party goes further, calling for a 2040 net-zero goal.
As for the FDP, its manifesto argues for the 2045 net-zero goal to be pushed back to 2050, stating that this would align Germany with the EU target. Prior to exiting the coalition government last year, the party had demanded this policy change, claiming that it would be a way to boost the German economy.
(Germany already revised its net-zero target, bringing it forward by five years, following a supreme court ruling in 2021 that its 2050 goal was insufficient. Moreover, even with a later goal, Germany would still need to align with wider EU targets, meaning its climate policies may not change much due to its “effort sharing” obligations.)
Finally, the BSW is not specific about when the net-zero goal should be achieved, but pushes for a “departure from the wishful thinking of quickly achieving complete climate neutrality”.
It does not reject climate policies outright, stating that climate change should be “taken seriously”. However, it frames many climate policies as being “extremely expensive and often unrealistic”.
Heating dispute
Home heating has become a major political issue in Germany. Along with transport, buildings make up one of the key German sectors that have repeatedly missed their decarbonisation goals, prompting the coalition government to take action.
Towards the end of 2023, the German parliament passed an amendment to the Building Energy Act, meaning that newly installed heating systems had to be powered by at least 65% renewable energy.
This covered heat pumps, “hydrogen-ready” gas boilers and other low-carbon systems. There are caveats to ensure the law is phased in gradually in different areas and types of homes, starting with new builds.
The amendment had been watered down compared to the coalition’s initial proposal, with allowances for people to keep gas boilers for longer. This followed relentless campaigning by the AfD and the right-leaning tabloid newspaper Bild, which dubbed the policy the “heizhammer” – or “heating hammer”.
There were also attacks from within the coalition, with the FDP criticising the law proposed by its partners in the Greens and SDP. Opponents framed the policy as an excessive burden on consumers.
These disputes are reflected in the election manifestos, with many parties outright rejecting the amended law. The CDU, FDP and AfD all say they would abolish it, as does the populist left BSW.
Meanwhile, the Green Party pledges to provide more government support for the installation of new heating systems by covering up to 70% of the price. The Left Party commits to covering 100% of the cost for low-income households.
(The current law covers 30% of the cost as a starting subsidy, with more available for low-income households and people who replace their boilers before 2028.)
Combustion engine phaseout
Several German political parties are pushing back against the EU-wide ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars, which is set to come into effect in 2035.
The CDU says the “ban on combustion engines must be reversed”, while the AfD says the “one-sided preference for electromobility must be stopped immediately”.
(EVs are “likely crucial” for tackling transport emissions, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC].)
The FDP and the BSW also argue that the 2035 phaseout date should be dropped, with less focus on the transition to electric cars. (This is in spite of Germany being the second-biggest manufacturer of electric cars in the world.)
These parties also favour getting rid of supposed “anti-car” policies. For example, they oppose speed limits on the German “autobahns” and support funding for alternative fuels, such as synthetic fuels.
The issue with ending the 2035 ban on new combustion-engine cars is that this policy is set at the EU level. Far-right and centre-right coalitions within the EU, including German parties, have been pushing hard to weaken the ban across the bloc.
However, the centre-left parties that may end up forming a coalition with the CDU, notably the SPD, stand by the 2035 phaseout date.
There is growing pressure on Germany’s car industry, linked to global competition and slow economic growth. Some German industry figures have stressed the need for consistent policy signals from the government, regarding the transition to electric vehicles.
Clean energy and fossil fuels
Broadly speaking, German parties on the left tend to be more supportive of renewables, while strongly opposing nuclear power. Those on the right are generally more open to nuclear and in some cases coal power.
Germany, which uses more coal than any other EU member state, has a coal power phaseout date of 2038. This is supported by the CDU and the FDP, but the Greens and the Left Party want a quicker phaseout by 2030.
(When the coalition government formed in 2021, the parties agreed to “ideally” move the coal phaseout date to 2030, but this has not happened formally. The SPD manifesto does not include any mention of coal power,)
Only the AfD advocates for the construction of new coal power plants, framing them as filling a gap until new nuclear plants are built.
Last year, Germany closed down its final nuclear reactors, bringing an end to a long-term plan to phase out the power source. However, nuclear power continues to be a politicised topic, with some arguing that its continued use is necessary to ensure the nation’s energy security.
Notably, the CDU suggests in its manifesto that it is open to reviving nuclear power in the future. It proposes an “expert review” around restarting closed plants and advocates for research on advanced nuclear technologies, such as small modular reactors.
Despite this wording, CDU leader Friedrich Merz has conceded that it is unlikely any old reactors will be restarted. This echoes views expressed by German utility companies and energy experts.
Both the CDU and the SPD support the expansion of renewables in their manifestos. The Greens include a specific target to achieve a net-zero electricity grid by 2035. By contrast, the AfD calls for an end to wind power expansion, in favour of other technologies.
Finally, both the far-right AfD and the BSW say the German government should repair the damaged Nord Stream pipelines in order to import what the BSW refers to as “cheap” gas from Russia. (The Baltic Sea pipelines were blown up in 2022 under mysterious circumstances.)
Germany has tried to wean itself off Russian gas since the country’s invasion of Ukraine, with considerable success. However, both the AfD and the BSW are more open to cooperating with Russia, and less supportive of Ukraine, than mainstream German parties.
The post Germany election 2025: What the manifestos say on energy and climate change appeared first on Carbon Brief.
Germany election 2025: What the manifestos say on energy and climate change
Climate Change
Guest post: How atmospheric rivers are bringing rain to West Antarctica
“Atmospheric rivers” are bringing rain to the frozen slopes of the West Antarctic ice sheet, hitting the ice shelves that play a major role in holding back rapidly retreating glaciers.
In a new study, my colleagues and I show how rain is occurring in sub-zero temperatures due to these “rivers in the sky” – long, narrow plumes of air which transport heat and moisture from the tropics to the mid-latitudes and poles.
Rain in Antarctica is significant, not only because it is a stark indicator of climate change, but because it remains an under-studied phenomenon which could impact ice shelves.
Ice shelves in Antarctica are important gatekeepers of sea level rise.
They act as a buffer for glaciers that flow off the vast ice sheet, slowing the rate at which ice is released into the ocean.
In the study, we explore the causes of rain falling on ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea embayment region, which stand in front of the critically important Thwaites and Pine Island glaciers.
Researchers have warned the collapse of ice shelves in this region could trigger the loss of the entire West Antarctic ice sheet over several centuries.
Rivers in the sky
Atmospheric rivers are typically associated with bringing extreme rainfall to the mid-latitudes, but, in the frigid Antarctic, they can deliver metres of snow in just a few days.
In West Antarctica, atmospheric rivers deliver a disproportionate quantity of the year’s snowfall. Research shows they account for around 13% of annual snowfall totals, despite occurring on just a few days per year.
But what makes atmospheric rivers in Antarctica so interesting is that snow is only part of the story. In extreme cases, they can also bring rain.
To explore how extreme precipitation affects the Amundsen Sea embayment region, we focused on two events associated with atmospheric rivers in 2020. The summer case took place over a week in February and the winter case over six days in June.
We used three regional climate models to simulate the two extreme weather events around the Thwaites and Pine Island ice shelves, then compared the results with snowfall observations.
During both the winter and summer cases, we find that atmospheric rivers dumped tens of metres of snow over the course of a week or so.
Meanwhile, the quantities of rain driven by these events were not insignificant. We observed up to 30mm of rain on parts of the Thwaites ice shelf in summer and up to 9mm in winter.

A mountain to climb
Antarctica’s cold climate and steep, icy topography make it unique. It also makes the region prone to rain in sub-zero temperatures.
The first reason for this is the foehn effect, which is when air forced over a mountain range warms as it descends on the downward slope.
Commonly observed across Antarctica, it is an important cause of melting over ice shelves on the Antarctic peninsula, the northernmost point of the continent.
When air passes over the mountainous terrain of the West Antarctic ice sheet during atmospheric river events, temperatures near the surface of the ice shelves can climb above the melting point of 0C.
This can accentuate the formation of rain and drizzle that stays liquid below 0C – also known as “supercooled drizzle”.
Another factor which leads to liquid drizzle, rather than snow, in sub-zero conditions is a lack of dust and dirt – particles which are usually needed to trigger the formation of ice crystals in clouds.
In the pristine Antarctic, these particles – which act as “ice nuclei” – are few and far between. That means that pure liquid water can exist even when temperatures are below 0C.
The origins of rain over ice shelves
It is easy to assume that rain that reaches the surface in Antarctica is just snow that has melted after falling through a warm layer of air caused by the foehn effect. Indeed, this is what we initially supposed.
But our research shows that more rain reaches the surface of Antarctica when the air near the ground is within a few degrees of freezing.
At times when the foehn effect is strongest, there is often little or no rainfall, because it evaporates before it gets a chance to reach the surface.
However, we saw rain falling well above the warm layer of air near the surface, where temperatures were universally below 0C – and, in some cases, as low as -11C.
Rare rain
Rain in Antarctica is a rare occurrence. The region’s normally frigid temperatures mean that most precipitation over the continent falls as snow.
However, exactly how rare rain is in the region remains relatively unknown, because there are virtually zero measurements of rainfall in Antarctica.
There are a number of reasons for this – rain falls infrequently, and it is very difficult to measure in the hostile Antarctic environment.
Our results show that extreme events such as atmospheric rivers can bring rain. And it is likely that rain will become a more common occurrence in the future as temperatures rise and extreme weather events occur more frequently.
However, until rain starts being measured in Antarctica, scientists will have to rely entirely on models to predict rain, as we did in this research.
It is also not yet known exactly how rain could impact ice in Antarctica.
We do know that rain falling on snow darkens the surface, which can enhance melting, leading to greater ice losses. Meanwhile, rain that refreezes in the snowpack or trickles to the base of the ice can change the way that glaciers flow, impacting the resilience of ice shelves to fracture.
So, if we want to understand the future of the frozen continent, we need to start thinking about rain too. Because while rain may be rare now, it may not be for long.
The post Guest post: How atmospheric rivers are bringing rain to West Antarctica appeared first on Carbon Brief.
Guest post: How atmospheric rivers are bringing rain to West Antarctica
Climate Change
Colombia’s COP16 presidency in suspense as minister resigns
Susana Muhamad, Colombia’s minister of environment since 2022 and president of the COP16 UN biodiversity negotiations, has announced she will step down from government, but has asked President Gustavo Petro to let her stay in her post to conclude the UN nature talks later in February.
In her resignation letter, addressed to the president and dated February 8, Muhamad said she was quitting as a minister but urged him to consider “the need to conclude COP16” – the summit left unfinished in Colombia last year and now scheduled to resume from February 25 to 27 in Rome.
“I’ve led the complex negotiations in progress and I exercise the role of president (of the COP). Therefore, if you so decide, this resignation could be made effective from March 3,” the letter reads.
Buenos días, para clarificar cualquier malentendido, presento renuncia irrevocable al cargo de Ministra de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible. Por lo tanto, publico la carta que radiqué en el DAPRE el 8 de febrero, que es una carta motivada, no protocolaria. pic.twitter.com/71quT3CEdJ
— Susana Muhamad (@susanamuhamad) February 10, 2025
Muhamad has been one of the most vocal opponents of the recent appointment of former senator Armando Benedetti as Petro’s chief of staff. Benedetti has faced allegations of domestic abuse and corruption, and was previously fired as ambassador to Venezuela by Petro himself.
In a televised session of the council of ministers held last week, Muhamad heavily opposed Benedetti’s appointment and threatened to resign if he remained in the cabinet. “As a feminist and as a woman, I cannot sit at this table of our progressive project with Armando Benedetti,” she told Petro.
According to Oscar Soria, veteran biodiversity campaigner and CEO of think-tank The Common Initiative, the Colombian government is likely to keep Muhamad as COP president, but her resignation could have a negative impact on the talks.
“To have a good result in Rome, proactive and energetic diplomatic work by the presidency was needed in the last months. However, some key issues have not been discussed recently. The internal political crisis (in Colombia) has likely been a great distraction,” Soria told Climate Home.
Since Muhamad’s announcement, several other ministers have also resigned, leading Petro to place all of his cabinet on hold and asking for “protocolary resignations” from every member.
“It’s not clear how much support from the president and ministers (Muhamad) can count on when her counterparts from other countries need to be approached by the Colombian foreign service,” Soria added.
Upcoming nature talks
The COP16 biodiversity negotiations are set to resume later this month, with important decisions coming up on finance for nature and a monitoring framework to track progress on nature restoration. These decisions were left pending after negotiators ran out of time in Cali, Colombia, last year.
One of the most pressing issues is the future of the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF), which currently sits under the Global Environment Facility (GEF) until 2030. Some developing countries have called for the creation of a new fund, citing barriers at the GEF to access the funds.
Observers said COP16 could play an important role in the future of biodiversity finance, especially as the new US president, Donald Trump, cuts development funding for climate and nature projects.
“In Rome, countries must give a firm response to the measures and visions promoted by the Trump administration, reaffirming [their] commitment to protecting biodiversity,” said Karla Maas, campaigner at Climate Action Network (CAN) Latin America.
“This implies guaranteeing public resources for conservation instead of depending on the will of private actors or philanthropy,” Maas added.
(Reporting by Sebastian Rodriguez; editing by Megan Rowling)
The post Colombia’s COP16 presidency in suspense as minister resigns appeared first on Climate Home News.
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