By Nellie Kapatuka in Egypt
Sharm el-Sheikh, November 10, Mana: President Dr Lazarus Chakwera has said Malawi was capable of increasing its carbon credits generation to ensure the country begins to benefit in cash that would ensure good distribution of social protection services in the country.
In an interview before leaving Sharm el-Sheikh where he was attending the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27), he said the his government was currently working on putting all the necessary regulations through the establishment of the Malawi Environmental Regulatory Authority (MERA) in place to ensure smooth facilitation of the carbon credits initiative.
“The carbon credits will be better managed now that we have a board in place that looks at all the regulations to do with it. As a country, we are yet to start making money that is why we would like to scale up to see to it that we now have money coming in through carbon credits hence we need to have all the necessary guidelines in place to ensure transparency and efficiency,” Chakwera explained.
According to the President, the money to be realized through generation of carbon credits would be used to improve lives of vulnerable Malawians through social protection programmes.
He said Malawi has a huge potential with readily available opportunities yet to be unlocked in production of clean cook stoves and waste management solutions which his government is ready to explore.
According to Deputy Director for Environmental Affairs, Shamiso Banda, Malawi participated in carbon trading through the compliance market of Kyoto Protocol Framework Convention on Climate Change.
She said under the Paris agreement, carbon trading mechanisms would have to contribute to achievement of Malawi’s Nationally Determined Contributions towards cutting greenhouses gas emissions which are causing global warming by 2040.
“Of course the country is yet to develop a policy on carbon trading but we have guidelines that are scheduled for review to ensure we operate within the carbon trading mechanisms to ensure that investments made under these mechanisms contribute to Malawi’s sustainable development,” Banda said.
To achieve this, Malawi has partnered with African Carbon Markets Initiative (ACMI) to expand production in African countries.
