The government is calling upon communities and various stakeholders to develop innovations that will enable the country to actively participate in and fully benefit from global carbon markets.
These remarks were made by Washington Zhakata, Director of Climate Change Management at the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Climate.
A carbon market is a specialised type of financial market through which carbon credits can be bought and sold. Carbon credits are permits that allow the owner to emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases.
Zhakata, representing Minister Sithembiso Nyoni, spoke at the Climate Change Carbon Markets and Sustainability Indaba hosted by the Bulawayo City Council at the Large City Hall.
The theme of the Indaba was “Unpacking and Unlocking Zimbabwe’s Potential in the Climate Economy: Driving the Global Sustainability Agenda to Build Climate Resilience.”
Zhakata reiterated that the world is increasingly looking to African nations to engage in projects and programs that contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions while generating carbon credits that can be sold on the international market to entities seeking to address their carbon footprint.
“It is saddening to note that Africa, including Zimbabwe, has for a long time not been benefiting enough from her own resources and the services they provide to the rest of the world due to the unbalanced structure of the global political economy,” Zhakata said. “The current fight against climate change and the associated need for low-carbon development provides an avenue through which Africa can negotiate better trade terms with the rest of the world. Africa needs climate financing urgently, and more innovative ways of raising climate finance are needed to enhance our adaptive capacity and resilience.”
Zhakata said carbon credit generation opportunities are abundant in Zimbabwe and Africa at large in sectors such as forestry, agriculture, renewable energy (including solar, wind, biogas, and geothermal power), and waste-to-energy programs.
“It is important to mention that carbon trading is not a new invention. The trade was defined by the Kyoto Protocol in the late 1990s. As climate-related catastrophes intensified, the Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism gained prominence, and the private sector and governments commenced ‘payment’ for environmental services and nature’s capacity to sequester, which largely defined what we call carbon credits,” he said.
“The Voluntary Carbon Credit Market gained importance, and over time, carbon emissions trade offsetting gained root. However, Africa has not benefited much from this trade as it was largely dominated by large developing countries, some of which were and still remain among the highest carbon emitters. It is now time that the continent, disproportionately affected by climate change, fully benefits from the sale of carbon credits generated from our sovereign assets.”
Zhakata emphasised the need for Zimbabwe to set up appropriate institutions to facilitate trade, including relevant carbon exchanges, registries, and coordination mechanisms, and to clearly define how local communities can actively participate in and fully benefit from the global carbon market.
“Between 2016 and 2021, about 11% of the total credits issued originated from African countries. The bulk of these came from a few large projects that were largely known by a few. Africa’s credits are said to have been approximately 15% of the global traded volume,” he said.
“This shows an escalation in the carbon trade markets, with spikes of ups and downs in the prices of carbon credits on international markets. The trends, however, show that the carbon trading business is increasing, despite the price volatility. It is for this reason that Africa needs to ensure that the carbon market is active and must consider the reality that assets of Africa with high sequestration capabilities in forests, mangroves, and wetlands are protected, paid for, and rewarded through carbon credits for the benefit of the local people who own and protect them, as well as the economic development of our countries.
“We all have a responsibility as central and provincial governments, local authorities, local and traditional leadership, the private sector, academia, and development partners to play our part in halting global warming. This shared responsibility must not escape the foundation of carbon trade, because it is an ‘unusual’ business where past and present pollution has been turned into trade.”
