MINISTER NZOVU CALLS FOR STRENGTHENED GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP TO ACCELERATE CLIMATE FINANCING.
By Chibaula Silwamba
Minister of Green Economy and Environment, Hon. Collins Nzovu, has called for strengthened global partnerships and renewed commitment to accelerate climate finance access.
Mr. Nzovu made the clarion call when he delivered country perspective remarks during the Commonwealth-organised side-event, dubbed “Accelerating Climate Finance Access for Nature-based Solutions in Supporting Climate, Land and Biodiversity Targets” at the on-going COP26 Conference in Glasgow, Scotland.
“For us, accelerating financing efforts on climate, land and biodiversity is critical to ensure we achieve our aspirations of achieving a green economy,” Mr. Nzovu said. “It is our shared hope that through this exchange, we will strengthen our partnerships and realise a renewed commitment by the Commonwealth Secretariat, and the three Rio Conventions: United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to continue working collectively in supporting our countries in addressing land degradation issues.”
The Minister informed the delegates from across the world that Zambia has set ambitious targets on climate change.
He said the country recently revised and updated its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).
The NDC embody efforts by each country, which is a State Party to the Paris Agreement, to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
On biodiversity, Mr. Nzovu said Zambia subscribes to the Aichi Targets and is actively engaged in formulating a new post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.
“Similarly, we are working towards achieving a no net loss on land degradation by 2030,” Mr. Nzovu informed the delegates. “However, we are constrained to achieve most of these targets in time due to inadequate financial resources, making it difficult for us to make our fair contribution to global efforts in addressing these multiple challenges.”
Other participants at the side-event were the Minister of Environment Forestry and Tourism of Namibia; the Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Trade of Seychelles and the Minister for Climate Change and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Issued by
Ministry of Green Economy and Environment, LUSAKA
5th November, 2021
Editor’s Notes:
Zambia is a State Party to the Paris Agreement. According to UNFCCC, the Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels. The Paris Agreement is a landmark in the multilateral climate change process because, for the first time, a binding agreement brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP21 in Paris, France, on 12 December 2015 and entered into force on 4 November 2016.
The Aichi Targets was a Strategic Plan for Biodiversity that included 20 time-bound, measurable targets that were to be met by 2020. Zambia has domesticated 18 out of 20 targets that are relevant to the country’s context