Govt crafts carbon credit framework

TENDAI BHEBE

 

Government has finalised the development of a comprehensive carbon credit framework for Zimbabwe that will guide players, benefit communities and protect investors who wish to establish carbon trade-related projects in the country.

Carbon credits, also called carbon offsets, are authorisations that let a business’s owner emit a specific volume of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases.

“The framework establishes institutions to enhance transparency of transaction and accountability to ensure that the country gets the first share of proceeds of the trade,” the Minister of Environment Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Nqobizitha Ndlovu said at the recent conference held in Victoria Falls.

He added: “Unfortunately, Africa has for a long time not been benefiting enough from its own resources and the services they provide to the rest of the world due to the unbalanced structure of the global economy.

Ndlovu said Africa needed climate financing as a matter of urgency.

Zimbabwe, Ndlovu said, was spending huge sums of money to cater for the provisions towards building resilience and climate adaptation.

“In the global quest to achieve green growth, the world is increasingly looking to African nations to engage in projects and programmes that contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time generating carbon credits that can be sold on the international market to entities and governments that seek to address their carbon footprint,” he said.

He added: “It is now time that the continent, which is disproportionately affected by climate change, fully benefits from the sale of carbon credits generated from our sovereign assets. We, therefore, need to set up the appropriate institutions to facilitate the trade including relevant carbon exchanges, registries, and co-ordination mechanisms.

“We also need to define how local communities and countries can benefit from carbon trading on the voluntary market. It, therefore, is critical that climate finance discussions interrogate how governments in developing countries can be better equipped to respond to these crises. This is not a unique Zimbabwean story, we know the recent climate change-related tragic events in Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, and many more,”

Anglistone Sibanda community stakeholder liaison for Africa Voluntary Carbon Credits Market said: “Let us remember that we are doing it for the poor people who are suffering without water or food or those who are dying or have lost livelihoods due to climate change, induced natural disasters.

“This is not just business but a humanitarian act that calls for collective responsibilities and collaborative action. It is not about making money from carbon credits but it is about saving the planet and saving lives.”

 

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