African nations are on the road to further benefiting from the voluntary carbon market. Tanzania announced last week that it has successfully attracted over 20 companies, expected to invest more than $20 billion, in carbon credits.
The Minister of State in the Vice President’s Office (Union and Environment), Dr Selemani Jafo, also added that since the country introduced in October 2022 the Environmental Management (Control and Management of Carbon Trading) Regulations – Tanzania’s first piece of legislation on carbon trading in the country, it has attracted more than $1 billion (Sh2.3 trillion). The investments will be mobilized annually through carbon trading across the nation.
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The legal framework issued in the country on carbon trading aims to provide for the control and management of carbon credits projects in Tanzania. It is expected to discourage deforestation while encouraging citizens to capitalize on the available potential. By embracing environmentally friendly projects, Tanzania, as well as other African nations, have the unique opportunity to attract investment, create jobs, and contribute to economic growth.
The 20 companies that have agreed to invest in carbon projects in the country are from Kenya, Russia, Singapore, the USA, Canada, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Switzerland, Estonia, and Italy. According to the Deputy Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Mary Masanja, the applications from these companies were received by the Tanzania Forest Service Agency (TFS), Tanzania Wildlife Management Authority (Tawa), Tanzania National Parks Authority (Tanapa) and Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA).
“We have already entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with some companies, and talks with others under the coordination of the National Carbon Monitoring Centre, are in progress,” said Mrs. Masanja.
The companies have decided to invest in the central government’s reserve forests, village forests, tree-planting programs, community-based wildlife management areas, and game reserves, among others.
Forest carbon offset projects in developing countries have received negative press in recent months due to released evidence that most of them are essentially not effective in generating either extra emissions avoidances or additional emissions reductions that wouldn’t have happened otherwise without the proceeds from the credits purchases.
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For example, analysis by The Rainforest Foundation UK has shown that the record 90 million credits into the voluntary carbon market that Gabon issued last year, failed to represent any real reductions in carbon emissions or additional capture of carbon in its forests.
Both carbon credits buyers and project developers, including governments in developing countries, need to develop mechanisms that will serve to ensure the transparency and reliability of local projects, to eliminate a huge overhanging threat to the existence of the world’s nature-based carbon credit projects.
