By Paschal B.
Bagonza
As the Africa
Carbon Forum 2013 gets underway in Ivory Coast this week, the global carbon
market situation is “very poor”, especially for the Clean Development Mechanism
(CDM).
A CDM official at
the Climate Change Unit, ministry of water and environment, Arthur
Ssebbugga-Kimeze says the money paid for each credit is still very low.
Ssebbugga-Kimeze
says “the amount of money you get per credit is less than a US dollar, probably
even less than fifty cents of the dollar.”
However,
Ssebbugga-Kimeze says much as the money per credit is still less, all hope is
not lost because there remains other conditions that have to be fulfilled.
He says one such
condition is cutting down the amount of emissions that “we are putting out” in
the atmosphere, since it is probably even growing.
This, he adds, can
be checked through a Cap and trade system.
According to the US
Environmental and Protection Agency (EPA), cap and trade is an environmental
policy tool that delivers results with a mandatory restriction on emissions
while providing sources flexibility in how they comply.
Successful cap and
trade programs, EPA adds, reward innovation, efficiency, and early action and
provide strict environmental accountability without inhibiting economic growth.
Ssebbugga-Kimeze
comforts those who might be scared or deterred because of the low price on the
carbon market, saying “certainly it [price] will go high.”
The Africa Carbon Forum is a trade fair
and knowledge sharing platform for carbon investments in Africa.
According to the
Africa Carbon Forum 2013 website, it is a place to discuss the latest
development in the carbon market and how the Clean Development Mechanism and
other mitigation mechanisms can be successful in Africa.
The Forum also
includes matchmaking and deal facilitation sessions where carbon project
developers can showcase their projects to investors and carbon buyers.
Among other things
expected at the Forum this year are, updates on recent developments in the
international carbon market; information on the challenges dealing with global climate change and discussions
with project developers and technical specialists from various sectors and technologies.
The forum, the website
highlights, will also tackle best practices and lessons
learned from the implementation of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects
in Africa.
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