Legal Responses to Climate Disasters in Southern Africa: Practical Legal Developments in Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Climate change-related hazards turn into frequent disasters in vulnerable communities, regions, and States. The hazards have grave impacts on the adequate protection of human and environmental rights. Zimbabwe and Mozambique are key examples of the African States that continue to grapple with humanitarian crises and infrastructure damage emanating from cyclones, tropical storms, drought, flooding, and heatwaves. The chapter makes a critical assessment of the legal responses to these rising disasters by the central and local governments of the two Southern African States. The chapter also assesses the adequacy of existing climate, environmental and humanitarian laws. The chapter utilises a critical legal theoretical framework and interdisciplinary approaches to assess and analyse the legal instruments, human and environmental rights implications, duties and global commitments and expectations on of the two States to, among others, the Loss and Damage Mechanisms, adaptation mechanisms, the UNFCCC and CoP debates, associated protocols, and climate justice debates. Zimbabwe and Mozambique must place more efforts on civil protection, international climate law, and policy reform, adequate disaster laws, and climate legislation.
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