Climate variability and change has become a major threat to sustainable development in Zambia. The country is already experiencing climate induced hazards which include drought and dry spells, seasonal and flash floods and extreme temperatures. Some of these hazards, especially the droughts and floods have increased in frequency and intensity over the past few decades and have adversely impacted food and water security, water quality, energy and livelihoods of the people, especially in rural communities. An assessment of potential climate impacts shows that they will seriously undermine the efforts to improve the livelihoods of Zambians if left unaddressed by impacting key economic sectors including water, agriculture, forestry, wildlife, tourism, mining, energy, infrastructure and health. As a minimal contributor to global GHG emissions, Zambia places significant importance and priority on adaptation to the effects of climate change in order to enhance the resilience of its population, ecosystems, infrastructure, productive and health systems.

Overview of Updated NDC (2020):
In 2020, Zambia enhanced its NDC by broadening the scope of sectors under mitigation by adding transport, liquid waste and coal (production, transportation and consumption) and by elaborating the adaptation component of the NDC by developing indicators that will enable the country track progress on building resilience in both the human and physical systems and on adaptation actions.