“Zambia Advances Climate-Resilient Development With Green Finance Taxonomy”

 

By Daily News Reporter

As climate change continues to surge across the globe, threatening ecosystems, economies, and communities, Zambia has stepped forward with a bold homegrown solution: the launch of its first-ever Green Finance Taxonomy (ZGFT).

The initiative, unveiled by Minister of Green Economy and Environment Mike Mposha, positions Zambia among Africa’s frontrunners in sustainable finance. Developed in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme’s Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) and other partners, the taxonomy provides a science-based framework for identifying environmentally sustainable economic activities.

Africa remains one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change. Despite contributing the least to global emissions, countries like Zambia face recurring droughts, floods, and rising temperatures. Financing adaptation and resilience has been a persistent challenge. In 2023, Africa received $15 billion in adaptation finance, far short of the $70 billion needed annually. Between 2021 and 2022, total climate finance to the continent was $44 billion, only a fraction of the $200 billion required annually for clean energy transition.               Contributions from developed nations often arrive as loans, leaving low-income countries struggling to raise resources for survival.

It also defines six environmental objectives, ranging from climate change mitigation to biodiversity protection, ensuring investments align with both national priorities and global sustainability standards.

By establishing a credible rulebook for green investments, the taxonomy enhances transparency, limits risks of green washing, and equips regulators, banks, pension funds, insurers, corporates, and investors with a common reference point to identify and report green economic activities.

Zambia now joins South Africa, Rwanda, Kenya, and Ghana as one of the few African nations with a green finance taxonomy. Senegal is developing its own, which will be the first in French-speaking Africa.

Importantly, Zambia’s taxonomy is interoperable with EU, South African, and Kenyan frameworks, positioning the country competitively in regional and global markets seeking credible sustainability standards.

The government, alongside financial regulators and partners, will begin a national roll-out of the taxonomy.

The aim is to mobilize domestic and international green capital, support the issuance of green bonds and sustainability-linked loans, and accelerate private sector participation in Zambia’s green economy.

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