By Jeff Kapembwa
An estimated US$300 billion in climate financing will he ideal for developing countries to mitigate and adapt towards climate change effects in the next decade but affected countries should devise fool-proof plans to raise own resources to help cleanse the planet of the-highly inflamed burning of fossil fuels.
United Nations economic think tank-UNCTAD in its recent assessment calls for the urgent need o increase climate finance for developing countries-most hard hit and highlight the importance of trade and investment strategies to overcome climate induced challenges and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.
UNCTAD in its research findings, seeks a new collective quantified goal (NCQG) for climate finance. It proposes a floor of $300 billion in the next decade, while recognizing the evolving needs and priorities of developing nations. It encourages solutions that thrive through the advocacy for police frameworks supporting carbon credits as well as climate-smart trade facilitation to reduce emissions and enhance competitiveness.
In recognizing the carbon market pricing, UNCTAD notes its potential as a driver of climate action and economic growth, especially in vulnerable countries. They advocate for policy frameworks that support carbon pricing and the quality and credibility of carbon credits.
The think tank promotes usage of digital technologies to modernize and green trade operations, reducing emissions from trade processes and enhancing both sustainability and competitiveness as an effective drive for Climate-Smart Trade Facilitation.
It is however, cognissant of the resurgence of industrial policies in major economies has implications for developing nations. The agency stresses the need for cohesive trade and investment strategies that address climate challenges and ensure an equitable global transition towards decarbonization.
UNCTAD undertook a comprehensive impact assessments of climate change mitigation measures, considering the potential impacts on states and promoting international cooperation to mitigate negative cross-border spillovers.
Zambia, among other countries afflicted by climate change and seeking remedy and compensation for the lost economic gains attained prior to the effects had in 2022 embraced a comprehensive carbon credit guidelines and framework to regulate its carbon market.
It was aligned with the Paris Agreement’s Article 6 and national climate goals. Zambia, through its guidelines for possible local and foreign investors seeks to establish clear eligibility criteria.
Others are intended to align trading procedures, and monitoring systems for carbon projects to attract investment and ensure transparency and benefit local communities, noted then minister of Green Economy and environment, Collins Nzovu.
Guidelines issued for handling carbon markets and trading, focusing on agriculture and forestry sectors, form part of a broader Carbon Market Framework, aiming to provide a structured approach to carbon project development, trading, monitoring, and reporting.
The framework also seeks to ensure alignment with Zambia’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement, which includes a 25% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, according to the Ministry of Energy.
The enactment of the Climate Change Act of 2018 last year will help Zambia actualize and strengthen by a future Climate Change Act or review when in place as is the case now.
Under the 8th National Development Plan and the Strategic Plan of the MGEE, 2022-26, identifies carbon markets and trading as modalities that would help achieve Zambia’s carbon emissions reduction targets, leading to guidelines being devised.
Under the guidelines, it stipulates how the handling of Carbon Markets and trading should be undertaken and subsequently, leading to developing legislation to regulate the Carbon Market in Zambia, chiefly in agriculture and the forestry sectors. The Swedish Government forms part of Zambia’s cooperating partners to assist with carbon markets.
Key Objectives (Carbon Markets:
- Attracting Investment:
Zambia aims to attract foreign direct investment by providing a structured carbon market for companies to offset their emissions.
- Revenue Generation:
The carbon market is seen as an opportunity to generate revenue through the sale of carbon credits, which can be used to finance climate adaptation and mitigation projects.
- Job Creation:
The development and management of carbon markets are expected to create jobs in areas like carbon accounting, verification, and regulation.
- Community Benefit:
The guidelines emphasize the need for carbon mar
Some climate analysts argue that global climate finance needs a quantum leap in both quantity and quality to address developing economies’ needs for a just transition towards sustainability and resilience but climate financing takes center stage and would drive into reality all climate actions planned.
In their report, experts support the need for improving the quality of financing, making it more transparent and accessible, while upholding the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.
“Ultimately, the goal of the NCQG must be to transform the climate finance landscape and herald a new era of mutual trust, cooperation and climate action,” the report urges.
Based on modelled projections using the United Nations Global Policy Model, developing countries would need about $1.1 trillion in climate finance from 2025 and some $1.8 trillion by 2030.
In a best-case scenario – with global economic governance reforms and multilateral coordination efforts in place – developed countries would fund at least three quarters of the climate investments needed by their developing counterparts.
Accordingly, the new climate financing contribution target for developed economies would be $0.89 trillion from 2025 and $1.46 trillion by 2030. Scientific definitions describe carbon markets being carbon pricing mechanisms.
These enable governments and non-governments and non-state actors to trade GreenHouse Gas Emission credits to achieve climate targets and implement climate actions cost effectively.