A deal to address impact of climate change in Zambia sealed

A partnership to address the climate change impact in Zambia has been formed between the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the First National Bank (FNB) Zambia.

The two parties who signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Wednesday in Lusaka are set to spearhead climate change bankable projects, among others.

Nachilala Nkombo , WWF Zambia Country Director, outlined the key focus areas of the agreement such as strengthening the capacity of the joint organisations in greening the financial ecosystems and estimating climate risks for better adaptation and mitigation measures.

The second area she mentioned during the signing ceremony of the agreement was to improve the investment climate; by creating green instruments.

Nkombo also said the agreement would focus on expanding finance and business opportunities for climate resilient business cases.

“Measuring the potential effects of climate change on financial institutions is a challenging task. Therefore, partnership will support the bank in developing tools, methodologies and processes to address the climate risk that banks face,” she said.

Bank Chief Executive Officer, Bydon Longwe, pointed out that the institution under the agreement would play a key role in connecting investors to borrowers that met specific screening criteria.

He said the bank would also work towards assisting clients/investors to realise the benefits that could accrue for their green or sustainability investments/commitment in the form of a pricing benefit (greenium) for use of proceeds instruments.

“We will help clients determine product suitability: i.e., green bonds, sustainability linked bonds etc. We are also open to the possibility of facilitating longer tenor funding: Sustainable investors tend to invest long term which works to ensure that the asset and funding maturity align.

“We will also ensure ease of execution of the transaction structuring with no prohibitive costs to implement,” Longwe said.

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