Norway and Zambia have signed a Mitigation Outcome Purchase Agreement (MOPA) under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement facilitated by the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI)’s Carbon Transaction Facility (CTF), launching the Carbon Feed-In Premium (CFIP) Program to accelerate new renewable energy generation in Zambia. The Program will provide performance-based payments for verified emissions reductions linked to renewable electricity delivered to Zambia’s national grid.
The CFIP Program is designed to help unlock clean energy investment by reducing risk for developers and supporting Zambia’s national energy and climate priorities. By paying for verified results, the approach helps address key barriers that can hold back new projects, including investment uncertainty and limited access to affordable finance. This cooperation is supported through the Norwegian Global Emission Reduction (NOGER) Initiative and its Norwegian Article 6 Climate Action (NACA) Fund, which is hosted under the CTF. The CTF provides an end-to-end pathway that helps countries move from Article 6 readiness to real-world delivery.
Zambia’s participation builds on a multi-year readiness journey to implement Article 6 which it has undertaken with the help of the Supporting Preparedness for Article 6 Cooperation (SPAR6C) project. Through SPAR6C, Zambia developed its Carbon Market Framework, and in 2025, conducted a comprehensive analysis to define the specific emission factor for Zambia’s power sector among others. These critical technical inputs will help Zambia ensure credible accounting and robust results-based payments. In 2024, Norway and Zambia formalized their intent to cooperate under Article 6 via a bilateral agreement signed on the sidelines of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Zambia has long relied on hydropower, accounting for about 82% of installed generation capacity in 2024; however, prolonged droughts have reduced its reliability, increasing the need for coal and diesel generation. At the same time, years of low electricity tariffs have limited investments, leaving the power sector in need of upgrades to meet rising demand.
Against this backdrop, the new program, made possible by this carbon purchase agreement, will provide payments for verified greenhouse-gas emission reductions associated with renewable electricity delivered to the national grid. By linking revenues to independently verified results, this approach helps address investment uncertainty for ambitious renewable projects, accelerates deployment of cleaner energy generation, and supports Zambia’s strategic goals, national policies, and NDC-aligned transition, while reducing reliance on coal and diesel during periods of hydrological stress.
“This agreement supports Zambia’s efforts to attract investment in clean and reliable power. By linking finance to verified results, we can accelerate renewable energy delivery that strengthens our energy security and advances our climate goals,” said Hon. Mike Mposha, Minister of Green Economy and Environment.
On Norway’s side, the cooperation supports NOGER’s objective of increasing countries’ climate ambition while mobilizing large-scale private green investment. This framework is structured under Article 6, which sets rules to help ensure transparency and avoid double-counting.
“Norway is pleased to deepen cooperation with Zambia to support measurable emission reductions and enable more clean energy investment. Partnerships like this can help accelerate the green transition while maintaining high standards of transparency and integrity,” added Andreas Bjelland Eriksen, Minister of Climate and Environment.
Following the signing, Zambia, Norway, and GGGI will finalize implementation arrangements and begin operationalizing the program. The objective is to enable early delivery of high-integrity emission reductions while channeling results-based finance to priority renewable investments, generating measurable benefits for Zambia’s grid, communities, and climate action.