Zimbabwe carbon credit deal raises stink

THE deal in which the Zimbabwean government is selling large tracts of forests in a carbon credits to the United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based company, Blue Carbon, lacks fairness and transparency, a global watchdog Zero Carbon Analytic has said.

Blue Carbon entered into a US$1,5 billion deal with the Zimbabwean government aimed at protecting and rehabilitating forests as part of sustainable development. The Dubai-based company has entered into similar deals with three other African countries.

However, the watchdog report released over the weekend claimed misuse of the deals in Africa, saying it points to some countries technically trading A6.2 credits while circumventing crucial review and transparency processes.

"This has resulted in the announcement of large-scale deals that potentially lack integrity and do not disclose their methodologies," read part of the report released during the COP28 meeting in the UAE.

Environment, Wildlife and Climate minister Mangaliso Ndlovu did not respond to enquiries. His Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services counterpart Jenfan Muswere has not been answering his phone since Sunday this week.

Questions sent to both ministers on Sunday were not responded to.

Carbon markets are being pushed as a climate solution and growing without any regulations or laws, particularly in Africa, the report said.

"For example, UAE company Blue Carbon has signed four memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with African countries to gain rights to massive portions of land and develop carbon credits, with only a small proportion of the benefits going back to the government and local communities," the report said.

The UAE also announced that it would buy US$$450 million worth of carbon credits from the African Carbon Markets Initiative, launched at COP27, which aims to achieve a 19-fold increase in the size of the African carbon market by 2030.

Concerns, however, have been raised as to whether, in practice, the use of offsetting, aligns with 1.5°C.

"There has been growing pressure around the quality of offsets, their longevity (given the rise in climate impacts), and whether the money even reaches those implementing the projects," the report further said.

According to the report, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is rubber stamping land grabs, as reports of African land being sold off for carbon credit offsets come thick and fast.

"The UNFCCC carbon market rules that could put brakes on such deals have gone from bad to worse overnight. As it stands, country offsetting deals under Article 6.2 face no calls for transparency, no checks and no consequences," the report said.

Observers have also raised concern over the carbon credit deals globally.

Christian Aid senior climate adviser Joab Okanda recently said a blank sheet of paper would be as effective as the UNFCCC carbon market rules as they stand.

"It is an insult to the people in parts of Africa who are facing the very real threat of losing their homes and access to their land. If the negotiations end like this, the carbon colonialists will come knocking, and being able to do anything about it will become incredibly difficult." he said during the COP28 meeting.

Erika Lennon, a senior attorney for Center for International Environmental Law added that after a year of scandals exposing widespread failure and fraud in the carbon market, negotiators seemed not have learned anything.

"The latest proposals for carbon trading under discussion lack any meaningful oversight and transparency. Accepting them would be a win for carbon cowboys and a massive loss for people and the planet," he said.

The UNFCCC was created in 1992 to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system, in a timeframe which allows ecosystems to adapt naturally.

Zimbabwe is among 198 countries which ratified the Parties to the Convention which aims to prevent "dangerous" human interference with the climate system.