PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
Africa Carbon Forum scheduled for Cote d’Ivoire
Lusaka, Zambia (PANA) - A three-day forum, organised by UN agencies - the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) and the World Bank group -- to support African nations along a low-emission path to development, will be held in Cote d’Ivoire from 3-5 July.
The forum builds on a growing interest in pursuing low-carbon pathways in Africa, which now hosts 133 clean development mechanism (CDM) projects in 23 countries, Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said in a statement Tuesday.
According to her, the annual event is an opportunity for participants to meet project developers and buyers of carbon credits in Africa, through formal presentations and more informally in matchmaking sessions that bring together interested parties to discuss possible projects under the CDM.
Figueres said: "The African continent has historically not benefited much from the CDM.
"The current state of the market opens the possibility for African nations to increase their
participation, in particular via a programmatic approach that caters to smaller projects. The Africa Carbon Forum aims to further improve the access to and spread of the CDM on the continent."
The CDM allows emission reduction projects in developing countries to earn certified emission reductions (CERs), commonly known as carbon credits, each equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide.
CERs can be traded and sold and used by industrialized countries to meet a part of their emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol.
At the forum, participants will learn about the latest policy developments on national and international levels, such as prospects for new market-based mechanisms to enhance the cost-effectiveness of climate mitigation actions, according to the statement.
A variety of mitigation instruments will be discussed, including domestic cap-and-trade, low emissions development strategies and nationally appropriate mitigation actions, it said, adding that beyond a project-by-project approach, Africa is increasingly looking to scale up its emission reductions by developing programmes of activities (PoAs).
PoAs are particularly suited to small or micro-scale projects, which are common in Africa and of the 129 PoAs registered globally to date, almost a third are in Africa.
-0- PANA MM/VAO 16April2013
The forum builds on a growing interest in pursuing low-carbon pathways in Africa, which now hosts 133 clean development mechanism (CDM) projects in 23 countries, Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said in a statement Tuesday.
According to her, the annual event is an opportunity for participants to meet project developers and buyers of carbon credits in Africa, through formal presentations and more informally in matchmaking sessions that bring together interested parties to discuss possible projects under the CDM.
Figueres said: "The African continent has historically not benefited much from the CDM.
"The current state of the market opens the possibility for African nations to increase their
participation, in particular via a programmatic approach that caters to smaller projects. The Africa Carbon Forum aims to further improve the access to and spread of the CDM on the continent."
The CDM allows emission reduction projects in developing countries to earn certified emission reductions (CERs), commonly known as carbon credits, each equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide.
CERs can be traded and sold and used by industrialized countries to meet a part of their emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol.
At the forum, participants will learn about the latest policy developments on national and international levels, such as prospects for new market-based mechanisms to enhance the cost-effectiveness of climate mitigation actions, according to the statement.
A variety of mitigation instruments will be discussed, including domestic cap-and-trade, low emissions development strategies and nationally appropriate mitigation actions, it said, adding that beyond a project-by-project approach, Africa is increasingly looking to scale up its emission reductions by developing programmes of activities (PoAs).
PoAs are particularly suited to small or micro-scale projects, which are common in Africa and of the 129 PoAs registered globally to date, almost a third are in Africa.
-0- PANA MM/VAO 16April2013
