Unlocking High-Integrity Climate Finance for Clean Cooking

What Article 6 Means for Zambia.

Across Africa, the transition to clean cooking is one of the most urgent yet overlooked climate and development priorities. Nearly 900 million people still rely on charcoal, firewood, and other polluting biomass fuel, that is driving deforestation, intensifying climate vulnerability, and causing millions of premature deaths from household air pollution.

United Nations Paris Agreement Article 6

In Zambia, where over 70% of households still cook with biomass, the social and environmental impacts are particularly severe. Forest loss, rising charcoal prices, rural poverty and pressure on women and youth are all linked to outdated cooking fuels.

However, a major opportunity is emerging: Article 6 of the Paris Agreement—the new global framework for countries to cooperate on emissions reductions—creates a pathway for Zambia to unlock large-scale, high-integrity carbon finance to support a national clean-cooking transition.

This is especially relevant for the Ministry of Green Economy and Environment, which is now at the centre of designing Zambia’s Article 6 strategy and ensuring climate markets directly support national development priorities.

What Is Article 6—and Why Does It Matter for Clean Cooking?

Article 6 allows countries to trade emissions reductions with one another, using strict rules to ensure environmental integrity and avoid double counting. It has two key parts relevant to Zambia:

Article 6.2: Bilateral Agreements (ITMOs)

Countries can sign direct carbon market agreements. Projects such as clean-cooking programmes can generate internationally transferred mitigation outcomes (ITMOs), once approved by the host government.

Article 6.4: UN-Run Credit Mechanism

A centralised carbon market where projects can register and issue UN-certified credits. For clean cooking, Article 6 offers three powerful advantages:

1. High-value, government-authorised carbon revenues

   Article 6 credits command stronger prices from international buyers because they are aligned with the Paris Agreement and approved by the host country.

2. National-scale clean-cooking programmes

   Instead of fragmented voluntary carbon projects, Article 6 enables coordinated, nationwide rollouts of improved stoves, ethanol, pellets, electric cooking, and other clean fuels.

3. Alignment with Zambia’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC)

   The government can direct carbon finance toward priority sectors such as forestry, renewable fuels, and household energy access.

Why Clean Cooking Is Perfectly Suited for Article 6

Clean-cooking interventions reduce emissions by replacing wood and charcoal with cleaner fuels like ethanol, pellets, electric cooking, or modern LPG. They also generate powerful co-benefits:

• Reduced deforestation and land degradation

• Lower household air pollution

• Improved health outcomes

• Women’s empowerment and time savings

• Rural employment in feedstock and stove production

Because these benefits are measurable, verifiable, and nationally relevant, they align perfectly with Article 6 methodologies and the integrity requirements of international buyers.

What Article 6 Could Unlock for Zambia

Zambia has a unique opportunity to become a regional leader in Paris-aligned carbon markets, especially in the clean-cooking sector.

Large-Scale Climate Finance

Article 6 revenue can play a catalytic role in:

• Expanding ethanol and pellet production

• Scaling manufacturing and distribution of clean stoves

• Strengthening rural agricultural value chains (cassava, biomass, residues)

• Financing consumer access through pay-as-you-go or microcredit

With the right framework in place, Zambia could mobilise tens of millions of dollars per year to accelerate the clean-cooking transition.

A National Clean-Cooking Programme

Rather than isolated pilot projects, Article 6 enables Zambia to develop a coordinated national programme, led by the Ministry of Green Economy and Environment in close partnership with the Ministries of Energy, Agriculture, Health, and Local Government.

Stronger Control and Oversight

Under Article 6, the Zambian government retains control over:

• which projects are authorised

• how credits are issued

• how revenues support national priorities

• the application of corresponding adjustments

This ensures carbon finance is aligned with Zambia’s NDC and national development agenda.

Investment Confidence

International investors increasingly favour Article 6–aligned credits because they are:

• regulated,

• transparent,

• linked to national accounting,

• and recognised under Paris Agreement frameworks.

This strengthens Zambia’s position as an attractive destination for climate investment across forestry, energy, agriculture, and clean cooking.

The Role of the Ministry of Green Economy and Environment

The Ministry of Green Economy and Environment (MoGEE) is central to shaping Zambia’s Article 6 pathway. Its responsibilities include:

Establishing Zambia’s Article 6 governance framework

Defining how projects are evaluated, authorised, monitored, and transferred.

Ensuring integrity and transparency

Protecting Zambia’s NDC while ensuring high-quality crediting.

Negotiating bilateral Article 6.2 agreements

Such as with Switzerland, Singapore, Sweden, or Japan—countries actively buying ITMOs.

Coordinating cross-ministerial implementation

Linking clean cooking, forestry, agriculture, and energy policies with carbon-market finance.

Mobilising international climate finance

Article 6 can become one of Zambia’s most powerful tools for attracting low-cost capital.

Zambia’s creation of the Ministry of Green Economy was a visionary step—Article 6 now gives that ministry a strategic lever to drive national transformation.

Why Clean Cooking Should Be a Flagship Article 6 Sector for Zambia

Zambia can use Article 6 to:

• Transition millions of households away from charcoal

• Reduce pressure on forests and biodiversity

• Create thousands of rural jobs in energy and agriculture

• Improve public health

• Reduce household costs over time

• Strengthen energy security through domestic ethanol and biomass supply chains

• Generate an export-quality carbon asset class backed by Paris Agreement rules

Few sectors offer such a powerful combination of climate, social, and economic impacts.

Conclusion: A New Era for Clean Cooking and Climate Finance in Zambia

Article 6 is more than a carbon market – it is a national development tool.

For Zambia, it offers a pathway to transform the clean-cooking sector, strengthen the green economy, and become a regional leader in high-integrity climate finance.

With the Ministry of Green Economy and Environment driving the process, Zambia can build one of Africa’s most credible and investable Article 6 frameworks that will mobilise international capital while improving the lives of millions of Zambians.