Zambia

Established in 2015 and anchored within the Ministry of Green Economy and Environment under the Department of Green Economy and Climate Change, BIOFIN Zambia works to mobilise, align, and scale financing for biodiversity conservation and sustainable natural resource management, while delivering co-benefits for climate resilience and inclusive development.

Zambia is richly endowed with forests, wetlands, agro-ecosystems, and a remarkable diversity of flora and fauna that underpin the national economy and sustain rural livelihoods. More than 31 percent of the country’s land area is under statutory protection, comprising 20 national parks, 36 game management areas, approximately 490 forest reserves, and internationally significant wetlands such as the Kafue Flats, Bangweulu Swamps, and the Barotse Floodplain. These ecosystems support over 224 mammal species, including 43 large mammal species, as well as numerous endemic and endangered species, reinforcing biodiversity conservation as both an ecological necessity and an economic priority.

During its initial phase, BIOFIN Zambia delivered core analytical foundations through the Policy and Institutional Review (PIR), Finance Needs Assessment (FNA), and Biodiversity Expenditure Review (BER). These assessments informed the development and national validation of Zambia’s Biodiversity Finance Plan (BFP), which provides a structured framework for mobilising public, private, and financial-sector resources to address biodiversity financing gaps at scale.

Building on this foundation, in its second phase (implementation of priority finance solutions), BIOFIN Zambia has played a catalytic role in advancing market-based and systemic financing solutions. Notably, the initiative supported the development of the Securities (Green Bonds) Guidelines (2019), the Lusaka Securities Exchange Green Bond Listing Rules, and complementary fiscal and regulatory incentives. These reforms contributed to enabling Zambia’s inaugural green bond issuance programme, including the landmark USD 200 million issuance by the Copperbelt Energy Corporation. BIOFIN Zambia has since continued to strengthen market readiness relating to green bonds through targeted capacity building for potential issuers, verifiers, transaction advisors, and policymakers, helping to lay the groundwork for a robust pipeline of future green and sustainability-linked instruments.

In parallel, BIOFIN Zambia has remained instrumental in shaping a policy and regulatory environment that supports biodiversity-positive finance. This includes technical support provided towards the development and launch of Zambia’s Green Finance Taxonomy, a foundational framework that establishes a common national reference for defining green and nature-positive economic activities. The taxonomy supports the development and use of green finance instruments, enhances transparency and credibility in the market, and enables improved monitoring, reporting, and management of nature-related risks by financial institutions and corporates. The taxonomy was officially launched on 2 December 2025, marking a significant milestone in Zambia’s sustainable finance architecture.

Through its analytical leadership, policy engagement, and market-building interventions, BIOFIN Zambia continues to serve as a strategic partner to government, the private sector, and development partners in closing the biodiversity finance gap. A core focus of this work is the mobilisation and scaling of green and nature-positive finance, leveraging public resources, catalysing private investment, and strengthening financial markets to channel capital toward biodiversity conservation and sustainable natural resource management. The initiative remains focused on translating policy ambition into implementable, financeable solutions that safeguard Zambia’s natural capital while supporting long-term economic resilience and sustainable growth.