Carbon trading in Africa sparks controversy: Who benefits? | DW News

Key Concepts:

• Carbon Markets: Systems where carbon credits are bought and sold, allowing companies to offset their emissions.
• Carbon Credits: Permits representing a reduction or removal of one ton of carbon dioxide equivalent from the atmosphere.
• Carbon Offsetting: Compensating for emissions by funding projects that reduce carbon elsewhere.
• Deforestation: The clearing of forests for other land uses.
• Reforestation: Re-establishing forests on lands that have been deforested.
• Voluntary Carbon Market: A decentralized market where carbon credits are traded voluntarily.
• Greenwashing: The practice of making unsubstantiated claims about the environmental benefits of a product, service, or technology.
• Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC): The right of indigenous peoples and local communities to give or withhold their consent to projects that may affect them or their territories.
• Community Development Agreements: Agreements between project developers and local communities outlining the benefits and responsibilities associated with a project.

Carbon Markets in Africa: A Double-Edged Sword

1. The Promise and Peril of Carbon Offset Schemes

• Main Idea: Carbon markets are emerging in Africa as a way for developed countries to offset their carbon emissions, but these schemes can have negative consequences for local communities.
• Specific Details: Companies purchase carbon credits to offset emissions by funding projects like tree planting and forest protection.
• Example: Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): A carbon scheme in the Isangi forest aimed to protect the world's second-largest rainforest. Locals were expected to stop cutting down trees in exchange for alternative livelihoods.
• Problem: The promised benefits, such as fish ponds and schools, were not adequately delivered, leaving communities worse off.

2. Case Study: Jadora in the Isangi Forest

• Company Background: Jadora, owned by Daniel Blatner, switched from logging to carbon credits.
• Project Mechanics: Jadora calculated the amount of carbon dioxide prevented from being released due to forest protection and sold these as carbon credits.
• Buyers: Buyers included Legal & General (Switzerland), Bonnier Books (Sweden), Roland Berger (Germany), and Bloomberg (US).
• Community Impact: Locals like Buena complained that the fish ponds were poorly maintained, and the promised schools were unfinished.
• Quote (Buena): "They told us that even without exploiting the forest, we could earn a living through fish farming and livestock farming... Look at these fish ponds. They're a complete mess. We've got pigs walking around. Is this the way you do projects with people?"
• Outcome: The project ended after the Congolese government questioned the legality of Jadora's land titles. Daniel Blatner did not respond to interview requests.

3. The Perspective of Local Communities

• Josh Kanda's Experience: A local who returned to cutting down trees for survival after Jadora's activities failed to provide sufficient alternative employment.
• Quote (Josh Kanda): "The idea wasn't bad, but the problem was that not everyone found work in their company... I had to go back to cutting down trees to survive."
• Liit's Dilemma: Continues to cut wood from the primary forest for income because Jadora did not provide viable alternatives.
• Quote (Liit): "If Jadora had provided us with the activities we need to survive, I wouldn't have cut down the forest... But they haven't done anything. And that's why I continue to clear the forest."

4. Verification and Monitoring Challenges

• Vera's Role: A private body that monitors and certifies carbon projects.
• Findings: Vera found a reduction in deforestation in the first four years but could not verify the last nine years and acknowledged local disappointment.

5. Success Story: Tai Island in Sierra Leone

• Context: Carbon trading is helping protect Sierra Leone's first UNESCO natural heritage site, Tai Island.
• Biodiversity: The island is home to 11 species of primates and other endangered animals.
• Tommy Garnett's Contribution: An environmentalist who created the Environmental Foundation for Africa in 1992 to save the island.
• Gola Forest: The largest remaining block of rainforest in Sierra Leone, receiving financing from carbon credits after 30 years of hard work.

6. Uganda's Approach to Carbon Markets

• Government Perspective: Uganda sees carbon trading as an opportunity to attract climate finance, create jobs, and grow the economy.
• Regulation: In May, Uganda regulated the carbon market to bring transparency and ensure local community benefits.
• Sam Mugum Kjo's View (Assistant Commissioner, Ministry of Finance): Carbon pricing is key for funding adaptation and mitigation, reducing dependency on grants and loans.
• Regulatory Framework: Uganda is forming a national regulatory framework for carbon markets, embedded in its climate change act.
• Community Benefits: Encouraging increased vegetation cover to generate income for households and investment in other activities.
• Addressing Skepticism: Transparency and fair pricing are essential to ensure that returns go to the people.
• Quote (Sam Mugum Kjo): "For me, it's not the carbon markets or the carbon prices. But the question is the carbon market as it is now should be transparent should be able the price should be good and then once the price is good and the returns are going to the people this question and the the skeptic people will not be in for me for me that would be the argument."

7. Kenya's Carbon Market and Community Concerns

• Government Ambition: President William Ruto aims to make carbon trading Kenya's next significant export.
• Community Tensions: Carbon developers are causing tension by pressuring communities to sign over land rights.
• Olois Family's Resistance: The Olois family in Kajiado County fears a land grab and is ready to fight to protect their home.
• Quote (Father Olo Shani): "We use this land to graze. We even protect the wild animals ourselves... We know how to protect this area, so we don't need anyone else to come and help us preserve it."
• Kerry Community's Disappointment: Residents in Kerry signed a carbon credit deal three years ago but have not seen the promised benefits.
• Allegations of Mismanagement: Accusations that community land leadership is colluding with private companies and that promised bursaries were not delivered.
• Source for the Future Africa's Defense: Claims that all agreements were transparent and above board, with county government representation.
• New Regulations: Kenya's 2024 law requires strict approval processes for carbon credit projects, including environmental and social impact assessments and free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) from communities.

8. Greenpeace Africa's Critique

• Amos Burudi's Perspective: Carbon markets are vehicles for corporate greenwashing, shifting the burden to communities already suffering from carbon emissions.
• Incomplete Information: Communities lack complete information about how carbon offset schemes will alter their access to land.
• Soil Carbon Removal Concerns: Soil carbon removal projects are compared to emission reductions from burning fossil fuels, which is scientifically flawed.
• Call for Emission Reduction at the Source: Emphasizes the need to reduce emissions at the source rather than relying on temporary carbon removal measures.
• Protecting Indigenous Communities: Governments must ensure that communities remain the custodians of Africa's nature and land, with continued access and without limitations imposed by carbon schemes.
• Quote (Amos Burudi): "Carbon markets are actually just vehicles that corporates are using to greenwash their activities and to continue to pollute... If we are really looking at finding solutions to the climate challenge then we need to reduce emissions at the source and not bank on measures such as carbon removal that are temporary."

Synthesis/Conclusion:

Carbon markets in Africa present both opportunities and challenges. While they offer a potential source of climate finance and economic development, they also carry the risk of exploiting local communities and undermining their livelihoods. The success of these markets hinges on transparency, fair pricing, community involvement, and robust regulatory frameworks that prioritize the well-being of local populations and ensure that they benefit directly from carbon credit projects. Governments must prioritize emission reductions at the source and avoid relying solely on carbon offsetting as a solution to climate change.