Celebrating Impact and Sustaining Climate Justice and Action in Zambia Beyond 2025

Published October 2025

Held under the theme “Celebrating Impact and Sustaining Climate Justice and Action Beyond 2025,” the event served as a critical space to consolidate lessons, strengthen networks, and envision sustainable pathways for locally led climate action.

The convening brought together regional representatives from WWF, Akina Mama wa Afrika, Slum Dwellers International, SouthSouthNorth and Hivos, alongside local partner organisations and members of the National Advisory Committee (NAC). Since the programme’s inception, these actors have driven the VCA’s agenda of amplifying local voices, influencing policy, and building inclusive climate movements in Zambia.

CELEBRATING VCA’S IMPACT IN ZAMBIA

Partners highlighted VCA’s contributions to strengthening climate justice and governance frameworks, shaping policy and legal reforms, and amplifying locally led solutions to climate challenges. The programme has played a pivotal role in supporting grassroots communities to meaningfully engage in decision-making processes, while also strengthening civil society’s capability to push for accountability, transparency, and equity in climate responses.

Through movement building, VCA has nurtured a vibrant and inclusive climate justice network that connects rural communities, women, youth, and other marginalised groups to national and global dialogues. This has not only enhanced Zambia’s voice in international climate spaces but also ensured that community realities inform solutions.

GENERATING EVIDENCE AND LEARNING 

The event provided a platform to showcase lessons, success stories, and challenges, contributing to both national and global learning. Documentation and storytelling sessions emphasised the lived experiences of communities that have benefited from VCA support, offering powerful evidence of how climate action is most effective when rooted in local leadership.

MOBILISING FOR THE FUTURE

A key focus of the meeting was to mobilise collective commitment towards sustaining the climate justice movement beyond the lifespan of the VCA programme. Stakeholders issued a call to action for continued collaboration, resource mobilisation, and advocacy to ensure that the progress made under VCA is not lost but strengthened and scaled up.

BUILDING A LEGACY BEYOND 2025

To ensure sustainability, participants engaged in strategy sessions to develop concrete pathways for legacy and continuity. These included strengthening partnerships among civil society, government, and private-sector actors; fostering new funding mechanisms; and embedding VCA’s approaches within ongoing national and regional climate frameworks.

LOOKING AHEAD

The VCA close-out meeting underscored that while the programme’s official cycle is ending, its vision remains alive. The voices amplified, the spaces opened, and the movements built will continue to drive Zambia’s and the region’s climate justice agenda.

As the gathering concluded, one message stood out: climate justice is a journey, not a project. With the foundation laid by VCA, Zambia is well-positioned to sustain inclusive, just, and impactful climate action well into the future.