Zambia Targets To Reduce Green House Emissions By 47%

By Paul Shalala

The Barotse Flood Plains in western Zambia

Zambia intends to spend US$50 billion to reduce green house emissions by 47% in the next 15 years.

According to the country’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat, Zambia intends to raise US$35bn from external sources and the remainder from domestic sources.

An INDC is a primary means for governments to communicate internationally the steps they will take to address climate change in their respective countries under the forthcoming Paris Conference.

In the past four months, Zambia has been holding provincial meetings for technocrats to craft INDC proposals which culminated into the final document which has since been submitted to the UNFCCC.

Zambia is a party to the UNFCCC Convention and upon submission of its INDC, became the 105th country in the world to forward its document to the UNFCCC Secretariat. 

According to Ministry of Lands Public Relations Officer Diniwe Zulu, Zambia’s INDC presents mitigation and adaptation efforts based on the national circumstances and desire to become a high middle income and prosperous nation by 2030.

“The successful implementation of Zambia’s INDC will result in an estimated emission reduction of 47percent against the 2010 base line," said Zulu.

"In Mitigating the impact of climate change, Zambia intends to reduce its Carbon dioxide emissions by implementing three programs driven by the country’s climate response strategy and supported by national development policies including energy, forest ,agriculture, water, town and country planning, sanitation and transport.”

 

Zambia already suffers from the effects of climate change.

Currently, the country is suffering an unprecedented levels of loadshedding owing to reduced water levels in the Kariba Dam which has been blamed on reduce rain fall in the last rain season.

In various parts of the country, reduced rain, floods and soil erosion are common sites.