adminsocial, economic and environmental benefits cascading to other world economies, the continent’s CDM participation remains disproportionately insignificant.
Why? The key reason is, as has always been, lack of sufficient money to fully support establishment of CDM projects. Yet there is plenty of money in clean development, itself now a multimillion-dollar global industry.
The UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change is worried about the pace of CDM development in Africa, genuinely concerned, or is it? For that purpose the UNFCCC together with the East African Development Bank last week concluded a partnership agreement for the opening of a regional CDM office in Kampala, Uganda, by May.
The collaboration centre, which will serve up to 20 East and Southern African countries including Zimbabwe, is a desperate effort to increase the continent’s participation in clean development projects.
UNFCCC says the Kampala office was expected to enhance capacity building and provide hands-on support to governments in the target countries, non-governmental organisations and businesses interested in developing CDM projects.
UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres and the director-general of EADB Vivienne Yeda signed the partnership agreement.
This is the second regional collaboration centre established by the UNFCCC and a regional development bank in Africa aiming to bring the benefits of the CDM to currently under-represented regions.
The first centre, which was established a few months ago in Lomé, Togo, in collaboration with the Banque Ouest Africaine de Développement, provides assistance in the development of CDM projects in Francophone Africa.
The regional collaboration centres are intended to support the identification of CDM projects, provide assistance for the design of such projects, address issues identified by validators, and offer opportunities to reduce transaction costs, says the UNFCCC.
Uganda, a Least Developed Country, has pocketed some sustainable development benefits from the CDM. The country currently has 12 projects and four programmes of activities registered under the CDM.
What is the CDM and how does it work?
To achieve effective and measurable pollution control, the Kyoto Protocol, an international legally binding climate change treaty, has developed the Clean Development Mechanism.
CDMs are emission reduction projects in developing countries and other Annex II countries under the Kyoto Protocol. Its main objective is to create sustainable benefits and global emission reductions in a cost-efficient manner.
Annex II countries are those nations, developed but not legally bound to reduce emissions. After meeting certain conditions, Annex I parties, those bound legally may also participate in the CDM.
The mechanism started in 2006. By end of last year registered projects were expected to limit 2,9 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide.
The CDM Executive Board oversees the implementation of all projects under the mechanism.
How it works
In a simple scenario, a developing country involved in a carbon offsetting project, say that of replacing coal-fired electricity with hydro or solar power, earns what are known as Emission Reduction Units, which can be sold on the international carbon market or to a partnering country.
The arrangement is usually a win-win for partnering countries. ERUs are equivalent to a tonne of carbon dioxide.
Besides the ERUs, the host country may also benefit from foreign investment and technology transfer.
Emission removal projects are expected to undergo vigorous checks and balances in order to qualify.
So, say a clean power project was being developed in Zimbabwe by a Chinese firm, an Annex II party, the country would earn all or most of the above benefits for implementing a project that limits greenhouse gases growth, provided it meets the eligibility requirements.
CDM projects in Zimbabwe
I am not aware of any Clean Development Mechanism projects in Zimbabwe. I have searched for them.
There is no record of similar projects even with the CDM Executive Board. There is none, as a matter of fact, although some companies have started working towards the CDM goal.
Obviously, Zimbabwe, just like most of Africa, is missing out on the economic and environmental benefits it could be drawing from the mechanism.
According to UNFCCC statistics in 2012, about 4 200 CDM projects were expected to be registered by year-end with some three billion Certified Emission Reductions (a unit equal to 1 000kg of carbon dioxide) expected to be issued out.
Of the anticipated global projects last year, China was expected to register 59 percent of CERs, India 12 percent while Nigeria, Africa’s biggest participant was to register only 1,2 percent.
However, speaking to the Rapid Clean Development Mechanism Trust’s spokesperson, Abdallah Barry, in Harare last year, I received the impression local CDM projects may become real in the medium term.
Barry said the Trust had entered into a strategic partnership with the University of Zimbabwe to develop and promote opportunities offered under the Protocol.
This may result in a significantly increased capacity to develop carbon-credit-generating projects in Zimbabwe. Barry understands the importance of the mechanism.
“The Clean Development Mechanism represents an important potential instrument in Zimbabwe’s efforts to attract investment, create employment, reduce poverty, improve output and efficiency and protect the environment,” he said.
Several sectors have been targeted for the generation of CERs in Zimbabwe. These include the renewable and non-renewable energy sector, construction, agriculture manufacturing, transport, mining and fuel industries.
Controlling emissions growth through carbon offsets is one of the numerous ways that the world is pursuing in order to limit growth of climate change-causing carbons, which are growing 1,6 percent yearly, on average.
God is faithful.
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