World Bank approves $100m for Zambia’s climate finance
The World Bank has approved a 100 million U.S. dollars financing package to support Zambia’s climate and economic resilience to natural disasters.
The World Bank Board of Executive Directors has approved the first Climate and Economic Resilience Development Policy Financing (DPF) with a Catastrophe Drawdown Option (Cat-DDO) grant for Zambia.
The two-part financing package consists of 25 million dollars to be disbursed as a regular DPF and 75 million dollars as a Catastrophe Drawdown Option that is contingent funding in the case of a national disaster, totaling 100 million dollars.
The DPF will support Zambia in increasing climate and economic resilience to natural disasters and other future shocks, while the Cat-DDO will provide immediate liquidity in the aftermath of a natural disaster.
This new support is part of the World Bank’s continuous broad-based support to help Zambia emerge from the debt crisis and shift to a more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive economic growth path.
World Bank Country Manager Achim Fock says the DPF supports financing to address ongoing fiscal pressures caused by the current devastating drought and any future disaster.
World Bank Senior Country Economist Albert Pijuan says the funding will strengthen the country’s disaster risk management and social protection system, as well as promote climate adaptation actions, including in the water sector.
