The COVID19 pandemic and climate change continue to shape global complexity as top two threats competing for resource wallet. However what remains critical is that key partnerships and deepened integrations remain the solution to these hurdles. In his debut speech to the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Zambia’s head of state Hakainde Hichilema echoed the red metal producers commitment towards climate change threats to the environment.
“Zamia is alive to the United Nations role in guiding the world on the Sustainable Development Goals – SDGs 2030. These set the tone and benchmark for countries to incorporate the SDGs in their development agenda,” Hichilema said.
“Our administration has established a ministry that the first of its kind in Zambia, the Ministry of Green Economy and Environment. To address issues around environmental sustainability, it became important for us to set up this ministry. This will be crucial for developing climate positive actions in our country,” he said.
The Southern African nation remains committed to achieving tangible growth and sustainable development while paying particular attention so that this is not achieved at the expense of future generations.
Zambia has made strides towards aligning to global de-carbonization efforts through regulatory steps in the capital markets to ready the economy for issuance of green bonds and finance options while organizations such as the World Wide Fund for nature – WWF have relentlessly called for interventions to save environmental capital.
With the lithium battery electric car era and renewable energy euphoria driving global base metal demand for which prices have soared on the London Metal Exchange – LME that Zambia remains advantaged through its copper, manganese and cobalt deposits, fiscal fortunes remain a silver lining for export earnings and sustainable value addition opportunity aligning to the growth agenda on the new dawns clock.
The green bond market is set to exceed $500 billion in 2021 and currently is pegged at $271 billion (1H21) versus $290 billion (FY20). Zambia could be looking to reorganize its dollar bond market with sustainable green finance and opportunity for refinancing its maturing debt.
The Kwacha Arbitrageur