In its updated NDC 2021, Zambia has outlined its ambitions for transitioning to a low carbon climate-resilient economy. This will require investments estimated at over US$50 billion from both the public and private sectors over a decade. All projections indicate that substantial contributions of this amount will come from the private sector.

Limited access to climate finance, the unavailability of innovative financing instruments, as well as limited knowledge and understanding of these instruments in the context of climate financing, have been identified among the barriers limiting investments by the private sector and its capacity to leverage public financing. By all accounts, engaging the private sector in climate-smart investments is a cornerstone to growing climate business opportunities in Zambia. However, private sector participation in climate action in Zambia is weak and needs to be strengthened to take advantage of the abundant opportunities for green investments in the country.

This Readiness proposal was initiated by the Zambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ZACCI)2, in close cooperation with the NDA, and the Green Economy and Climate Change Department (GECCD) under the Ministry of Green Economy and Environment (MGEE). It aims to support the enabling of private sector participation in the pursuit of Zambia’s implementation of its NDC and climate finance goals. The formulation of this proposal has been led at the highest political level. The scope of the proposal has also been fully discussed and devised by the Technical Committee on Climate Change3 comprising key Government departments, NGOs, and the private sector represented by ZACCI.

This readiness request seeks to enable the private sector in Zambia to put in the necessary structures. The readiness request will benefit a wide variety of stakeholders in the private sector particularly the MSMEs who contribute to at least 70% of the country’s overall GDP and 88% of employment4. It will develop and disseminate tools to integrate climate change into investment-based planning processes such as climate risk screening, climate-proofing, and manuals. Additionally, it will also develop measures to crowd in private and capital market financing for the implementation of the country’s NDC’s climate action programs and translate them into concrete investment plans in at least two of the priority sectors.