adminSifelani Tsiko
Environment Editor
Zimbabwe still faces difficulties selling its carbon credits, earned through a global scheme aimed at reducing the amount of greenhouse gases, because of the cumbersome process and unwillingness by major polluting nations in the industrialised north to buy.
As a result communities investing time and labour into earning credits, largely by preserving forests and planting trees, are not getting value for their efforts.
The credits are supposed to be bought by those who are pumping out greenhouse gases, in effect matching carbon sinks with carbon emitters.
Environmental and climate change expert Veronica Jakarasi told participants at a virtual forum of a multi-stakeholder coalition pushing for low carbon development in Zimbabwe that the country still needed more support to help local communities to earn carbon credits.
“Zimbabwe is still struggling to access carbon credits,” she said.
“It’s a complicated process although the country has made significant strides through the REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) project which began in 2011.
“The process is a bit cumbersome and quite lengthy and Zimbabwe still needs to get more support on that front.”
The Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG) organised the virtual forum to help explore ways and strategies to promote the growth of the use of renewable energy in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe, has over the past five years managed to produce about 850 000 carbon credits earning local communities in the northern part of the country — Binga, Nyaminyami and Hurungwe under a project dubbed “Kariba REDD+ Project” about US$255 000.
The amount was earned by the local communities through investing in low-carbon intensive technologies, switching to renewable energy and protecting forests.
Online Reporter