Zambia has finalized the guidelines and listing rules for the issuance of green bonds to support climate-related projects, a government official said Thursday.
Secretary to the Treasury Felix Nkulukusa said the finalization of the guidelines creates a credible opportunity for raising financing through green bonds for climate change projects and green growth, according to a release from the Ministry of Finance and National Planning.
“To promote green bond trading, we have provided tax exemption on withholding tax on interest income earned on green bonds with a maturity of at least three years. We are also in the process of developing legislation to regulate the carbon market,” he said.
The official, who addressed the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) forum on financing for recovery and development in an era of interrelated global crises in Geneva, Switzerland, added that the agreement by the COP27 (the 27th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) for providing loss and damage funding for countries hard hit by climate change like Zambia will be an important source of financing for recovery and development.
Despite Zambia not being a major polluter, the country was facing the negative consequences of climate change hence the need for more financing and research in climate variability to inform appropriate policy interventions, he said. Enditem
