Botswana

Botswana’s overarching green-economy framework is guided by the Long-Term Vision for Low-Carbon and Climate-Resilient Development (2023), aligned with Article 4.19 of the Paris Agreement, which outlines pathways toward net-zero emissions by 2050 across key sectors: energy, transport, agriculture, water, and carbon sequestration. This long-term vision builds on the Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (2018) and the Climate Change Response Policy (2021), which define institutional, legal, and financing mechanisms for climate governance. The Second Updated Nationally Determined Contribution (2024) commits to a 15 % GHG-reduction target by 2030, conditional on international support. Broader policy integration occurs through Vision 2036 and National Development Plan 11 (2017–2023), both emphasising sustainable and inclusive growth. Botswana is developing a Sustainable Financing Strategy (2023–2030) to align public and private investment with climate goals. While multiple complementary frameworks exist, there is no single consolidated “green-economy act” with legally binding implementation timelines.

Botswana’s flagship planning processes, such as Vision 2036 and National Development Plan (NDP) exercises, have included wide stakeholder consultations across multiple localities, civil society, NGOs and trade unions. The Botswana Sustainable Financing Strategy (BSFS 2023-2030) explicitly calls for stakeholder dialogue and coordination across public/private sectors. The BSE (Botswana Stock Exchange) in August 2025 launched Sustainability Disclosure Guidance, encouraging listed firms to adopt ESG disclosures, though this is voluntary and not mandatory. focus.world-exchanges.org However, Botswana does not have a national law mandating employee representation on boards or gender balance quotas in corporate governance, and corporate guidelines with inclusion mandates are absent.

Botswana applies mixed participatory mechanisms. Formal consultation is required for environmental projects under the Environmental Assessment Act 2011 and supporting regulations. Civil-society organisations, including BOCONGO, participate in policy dialogues, and the National Policy on Gender and Development (2015) mandates gender mainstreaming across government. The Remote Area Development Programme (RADP) and the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2022–2026 promote inclusion of marginalised communities. However, policy-development processes at national level remain largely executive-driven; consultation on constitutional and legislative reforms has faced criticism for limited transparency. Impact-assessment procedures focusing on social or minority groups are not consistently mandated across all sectors, and implementation capacity within ministries varies.

Botswana has integrated sustainability and wellbeing principles into Vision 2036 and the Second Transitional National Development Plan (2023–2025), with the forthcoming NDP 12 (2025–2030) embedding SDG targets and inclusive-prosperity indicators. The country is a founding signatory to the Gaborone Declaration for Sustainability in Africa (2012) and a long-standing participant in the Wealth Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES) programme. Through the Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) initiative, Botswana has developed water, mineral, energy, land-ecosystem, and tourism accounts, and Statistics Botswana publishes adjusted net national income, adjusted savings, and natural-wealth indicators. These accounts inform policy but are not yet embedded as binding fiscal or budgeting frameworks.

Botswana has articulated a whole-of-government approach to sustainable finance via the Botswana Sustainable Financing Strategy (BSFS) 2023–2030, which sets actions to mobilise climate/green investment and coordinate public-private instruments. The Bank of Botswana conducts regular solvency/liquidity stress tests and, in May/Oct 2024 Financial Stability Reports, flags climate risks as a growing threat to financial stability and calls for banks to integrate climate-risk assessment in lending. However, there is no national regulation mandating environmental and social (E&S) stress-testing across all financial institutions, nor penalising high-polluting investment exposures.

"The Bank of Botswana has taken steps to incorporate climate considerations into monetary and financial governance. In May 2025, Botswana became a plenary member of the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS). That same month, the Bank of Botswana published its Financial Stability Report, which included a section on integrating environmental and climate risks into the supervisory framework. The country’s Sustainable Financing Strategy 2023–2030 outlines plans to develop climate-related stress testing, ESG lending guidelines, and a green bond framework. A Sustainable Finance and Innovation Unit is planned under this strategy, though operationalization is ongoing. The 2025 Monetary Policy Statement issued by the Bank of Botswana references macro-financial stability in the context of global and domestic sustainability challenges.

Botswana is beginning to engage in trade discussions that reference sustainability and green industrial development, particularly under the Economic Diversification Drive (EDD) and through its trade dialogues with the EU and Southern African Customs Union (SACU). In May 2025, Botswana’s Foreign Minister publicly called for trade reforms to better align with global climate priorities, signaling interest in deepening trade and climate alignment with the European Union. However, there is still no formal integration of sustainability clauses in trade agreements, nor evidence of green taxonomy interoperability, carbon pricing frameworks, or liberalization for environmental goods and services. Climate-related trade instruments remain absent from all current bilateral or regional agreements.

Botswana does not operate a carbon tax or emissions trading scheme. Its Second (2024) Updated NDC sets mitigation targets and sectoral actions but does not establish a legally binding carbon-budget law or carbon-pricing instrument. National climate policy documents (Climate Change Policy 2021; planning updates) discuss mainstreaming climate into development and acknowledge markets conceptually, but no implementation framework or timeline for carbon pricing is provided.

"Botswana has adopted a range of cross-sectoral policy frameworks related to sustainable development. The Climate Change Policy (2021) provides strategic direction on integrating resilience and low-emission planning across sectors, including agriculture, infrastructure, and biodiversity. The National Adaptation Plan Framework (2020) sets out priority actions for integrating climate adaptation in planning, budgeting, and sectoral investment decisions. Additionally, the Sustainable Financing Strategy (2023–2030) promotes ESG-aligned public and private sector investments, encouraging sustainability integration into infrastructure, energy, and land-use systems. Inter-ministerial coordination mechanisms are being discussed but are not yet formalized through legislation.

Botswana’s circular economy planning is advancing through regional participation and national policy experimentation. The Second Transitional National Development Plan (2023–2025) embeds circular economy principles in industrial modernization, sustainable consumption, and waste reduction. In 2025, Botswana co-hosted its first national Green and Circular Economy Forum, emphasizing support for circular enterprises, innovation, and EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) schemes. The country also engaged in the World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF Africa 2025), contributing to financing and policy dialogue on zero-waste strategies in the region. While these efforts are promising, Botswana still lacks a unified national circular economy roadmap with quantified goals, CMUR targets, or explicit standards for critical materials and reuse rights.

Botswana launched its first semi-knockdown electric vehicle (EV) assembly plant in October 2024. This facility, established through a private-public investment model, manufactures electric buses and SUVs for national and regional markets. Electric buses and boats have been introduced in specific transport corridors as part of initial electrification pilot programs. These activities are consistent with Botswana’s stated Energy Transition ambitions. However, the country has not yet implemented a dedicated national e-mobility strategy or established binding targets for the full electrification of the public, private, and freight sectors by 2030. Furthermore, regulatory frameworks intended to support private EV adoption and rural accessibility are currently under development.

"Botswana has set renewable energy targets of 15% of electricity generation by 2030 and 50% by 2036, according to the draft Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). The government is developing several solar and hybrid power projects, including the Mmadinare Solar Power Station (120 MW), Letlhakane CSP project (100 MW), and additional plants near Palapye and Jwaneng. The African Development Bank is supporting institutional and regulatory capacity for renewable energy procurement through the Botswana Renewable Energy Support Project. Technical studies have been completed to enhance grid readiness and encourage independent power producer (IPP) participation.

"Botswana has incorporated green jobs into its employment and sustainability discourse, especially through international and regional collaboration. The 2023 report Green Jobs for Women in Africa: Botswana identifies opportunities in agro-processing, livestock, ecotourism, and green construction. The National Employment Policy (2023) includes references to sustainable livelihood promotion and skills development, but does not present a dedicated green jobs strategy or just transition framework. Public-private programs in agritech and nature-based tourism are advancing, with some donor support for youth training and inclusion programs focused on green sectors. The World Bank’s Jobs Diagnostics Report and the ILO Green Jobs Knowledge Platform highlight Botswana’s potential in green employment, but also note the absence of a coordinated national plan linking green economy transition with inclusive job creation and social protection.

Equity and inclusion are embedded in Botswana’s Long-Term Vision for Low-Carbon Development (2023) and Climate Change Response Policy (2021), both of which identify diversification, green employment and technology transfer as co-benefits of climate action. The Sustainable Financing Strategy 2023–2030 supports resource mobilisation for inclusive adaptation and low-carbon projects. Poverty-environment linkages are addressed through district-level Local Economic Plans, the UN Poverty-Environment Action (PEA) initiative, and climate-resilience projects funded by the Green Climate Fund. While these frameworks promote socially inclusive investment, Botswana lacks a unified national Just Transition law defining sectoral guidance, benefit-sharing or reskilling mechanisms for workers in high-emission sectors.

Botswana has no separate legal form for social enterprises. MSME support relevant to greening appears project-based rather than embedded in national regulation: the government’s SmartBots digital-transformation initiative promotes innovation and service digitisation (including agriculture-related e-services), and an ITU-supported 2022 roadmap proposes a digital ecosystem for smallholder agriculture with financial/technical support. These indicate targeted support channels, but not a national legal/regulatory framework dedicated to greening MSMEs or recognising social enterprises in law.

"Botswana’s social protection system covers a large portion of the population, with major programs focused on food support, pensions, and conditional cash transfers. The World Bank’s Social Protection Systems Review (2022) highlights the need to modernize delivery systems and improve responsiveness to climate and economic shocks. In 2024, the IMF recommended the adoption of digital tools and stress-tested response protocols. While climate and green economy considerations are mentioned in planning documents such as the draft Social Protection Policy Framework (2023), there are currently no pilot programs that directly link social protection to green job creation, universal basic income, or community ownership models in climate-vulnerable areas. The Green Economy Coalition’s National Vision Brief also notes the absence of integrated approaches connecting social protection with green economic reform.

The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP II 2016–2025) sets national objectives for ecosystem protection, sustainable use, and equitable benefit-sharing and is implemented by the Department of Environmental Affairs and the Department of Wildlife and National Parks. Botswana’s protected-area system covers about 40 % of national territory, including the Okavango Delta World Heritage Site and the Chobe and Kgalagadi National Parks. The government is preparing a GBF-aligned NBSAP III (2025–2030) and has launched a National Ecosystem Assessment (2023–2025) with UN Environment support. Implementation gaps persist in monitoring and reporting, but conservation remains anchored in policy and land-use planning instruments.

Botswana has established institutional foundations for natural capital accounting (NCA) under the WAVES partnership: the Ministry of Finance hosts a Natural Capital Accounting Unit within its macroeconomic section and coordinates multi-sectoral implementation/steering structures. Priority accounts include water, energy, minerals and ecosystem valuation. While these steps are significant, there is no comprehensive, SEEA-based national NCA system fully integrated into budgeting across all sectors, and no independent statutory advisory body dedicated solely to natural-capital oversight of budgets and infrastructure decisions.

Botswana’s agricultural transition is guided by the 2025 Agriculture Sector Policy, which emphasizes climate resilience, diversification, and innovation. The policy is supported by a national proposal submitted to the Adaptation Fund, targeting water-energy-food security through climate-resilient systems in farming and rural infrastructure. While the government promotes indigenous food production and climate-smart agriculture, there is no formal national food systems strategy that fully aligns with SDGs 2 and 12. Key gaps remain in healthy diet planning, ecological footprint targets, and reform of harmful agricultural subsidies or procurement practices. Still, Botswana’s 2025 efforts reflect meaningful progress on sustainable production and sectoral adaptation.

Botswana finances environmental management through the National Environmental Fund (NEF) (established 2010) and the Tropical Forest Conservation Fund (TFCF), supporting conservation and community projects. The Biodiversity Finance Plan (2019) prepared under the UNDP BIOFIN programme identifies financing priorities and fiscal-policy options. The Sustainable Financing Strategy 2023–2030 provides a roadmap for mobilising domestic and international climate- and nature-related investment and exploring biodiversity credits and public-private conservation partnerships, especially in Chobe and Okavango. However, there is no comprehensive environmental-tax reform or sovereign debt-for-nature operation, and targeted financing for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities remains limited.

Botswana’s recovery framework comprises the Economic Recovery and Transformation Plan (ERTP, 2020–2023), the Botswana Economic Transformation Programme (BETP, 2023), and World Bank Development Policy Financing (2021–2023) supporting economic resilience and green transition actions. These instruments include measures for renewable energy expansion, SME support, tourism diversification, and climate-responsive social protection, with ongoing work on a green-bond framework and renewable-energy roadmaps. The programmes were not structured as time-bound green-conditional stimulus packages and environmental conditionality across general support lines remains limited.