Summary:
Climate Action Professionals Zambia (CAPZ) is a non-governmental organisation consisting of young professionals and students advocating for climate change redress in Zambia. CAPZ filed a petition on 31 October 2025 against the Attorney General of Zambia challenging the state’s alleged failure to implement the key climate governance mechanisms envisaged by the Green Economy and Climate Change Act 18 of 2024 (GECCA). The GECCA mandates the state to establish key climate governance mechanisms to address climate change effects in the country. The GECCA was enacted on 20 December 2024, published on 26 December 2024, and came into force on 10 October 2025. The key climate governance mechanisms which the GECCA envisages include national adaptation and mitigation plans, a greenhouse gas inventory management system, and a green economy and climate change fund, amongst others.
In the petition, CAPZ argued that in spite of the GECCA’s entry into force, the state had failed to establish or implement several of the mechanisms envisaged by the GECCA, and thereby violated Article 257(g) of the Zambian Constitution which provides: ‘the State shall, in the utilisation of natural resources and management of the environment (…) establish and implement mechanisms that address climate change.’ CAPZ sought relief in the form of a declaratory order stating that the state had violated Article 257(g), as well as a mandatory order ordering the state to establish and implement the mechanisms within a given time period.
The Attorney General opposed the petition on the ground that neither the Constitution nor the GECCA imposed an immediate obligation to realise the mechanisms upon the GECCA’s entry into force. The Attorney General argued that Article 257(g) is directive in nature, requiring progressive implementation subject to capacity and resources, and the incomplete operationalisation of certain mechanisms does not amount to constitutional non-compliance. The Attorney General also raised a separation of powers concern, stating that the point of question in the matter concerned policy and administrative matters, and not constitutional interpretation.
The Constitutional Court decided the case on 25 March 2026 and dismissed the petition for lack of jurisdiction. The Court characterised the specific mechanisms at issue as being within the realm of statutory implementation, not constitutional obligations. Being a matter of statutory compliance, rather than constitutional compliance, it should have been brought before the ordinary courts rather than the Constitutional Court.
Case documents:
The judgment can be found here. The documents are also available for download below:
Date of Decision:
25 March 2026.
Suggested citation:
Constitutional Court of Zambia, Climate Action Professionals Zambia v. Attorney General of Zambia, (2025/CCZ/0025) [2026] ZMCC 7, 25 March 2026, Judge Chinsunka.
Status of the case:
Decided.
Last updated:
01 June 2026.
Credits:
This database entry was contributed by Michaela O’Donoghue, LLD Candidate in the Urban Law and Sustainability Governance Chair, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.