By BUUMBA CHIMBULU
COMMERCIAL banks have opportunities to boost revenue from climate change activity by providing support towards green projects, says World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Zambia.
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WWF Zambia Country Director, Nachilala Nkombo said massive amounts of capital and new financial products would be required to fund the transition to a lower-carbon economy, creating fresh demand for bank services.
Ms Nkombo said new financing would be required annually to fund the transition, saying banks that identified these opportunities could help reduce their overall risks and, potentially, boost their returns.
She said this during the signing ceremony of the memorandum of understanding with First National Bank (FNB) Zambia in Lusaka recently.
“There is a massive green finance gap that must be filled. We would like to see financing channelled into green initiatives delivered, demonstrating that actual pledges are being met. We anticipate closing deals in order to begin implementation,” she said.
Ms Nkombo said onboarding projects that fulfilled WWF Zambia internally agreed green outcomes and were financially viable was critical to what they were are doing with its partners. She noted that identifying a significant investor who shared the goals of the fund and ensuring that the human touch was not lost in the chase of profit or financial returns would be a success for all.
She said the stakes of climate change were high for many industries, adding that physical risks were beginning to materialise, regulatory pressures increasing, new opportunities emerging – and investors were demanding more transparency.
“WWF has a number of initiatives under the green finance unit such as mobilising more for climate. MOMO4C derisks green business cases and primes them to receive the requisite capital that is needed,” Ms Nkombo said.
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