Constitution of Zambia

The Constitution of Zambia was promulgated in 1991. It is the third Constitution of the country, and it has since been amended in 1996, 2009 and 2016. This Constitution was passed in the light of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the cold war. Under the current constitutional text, environmental protection follows a set of principles, e.g. saving energy, and people have the obligation to co-operate to ensure a list of environmental protection actions (articles 255 and 256). The climate provision of this Constitution, specifically, is found in article 257, titled “Utilisation of natural resources and management of the environment”. On this regard, the Constitution sets an obligation for the State to establish mechanisms that address climate change in a very straightforward text: “The State shall, in the utilisation of natural resources and management of the environment […] g. establish and implement mechanisms that address climate change”.