In search of a greener economy, Kenya bets on carbon credits

In the heart of Kasigau, a vast wilderness area in southern Kenya, a team of seven people with paper and measuring tapes studies a nondescript tree. Gnarled and leafless, it is of great value: it stores carbon.

And the team wants to know exactly how much is locked up in this 200,000-hectare semi-arid forest in the southern African country.

“We want to be absolutely sure that we count every tree,” says Geoffrey Mwangi, chief scientist for the US company Wildlife Works, as workers measure the dimensions of another spiny species.

The information is translated into carbon credits, which millions of dollars have been raised by selling to big companies like Netflix and Shell, looking to offset their greenhouse gas emissions and enhance their green credentials.

As climate change accelerates and pressure grows on companies and countries to take action, the demand for this type of credit has skyrocketed.

African countries want a larger share of that US$2 billion a year market that must multiply fivefold by 2030.

Africa produces only 11% of the world’s offsets, but it has the second largest tropical rainforest on the planet and ecosystems that absorb carbon, such as mangroves and peatlands.

Kenyan President William Ruto, who will chair the African climate summit in Nairobi this week, said Africa’s carbon sinks are a “unparalleled economic gold mine”.

“They have the potential to absorb millions of tons of CO2 per year, which should translate into billions of dollars,” declared on Monday.

Great interest

A single credit represents one ton of carbon dioxide removed or reduced from the atmosphere. Companies buy credits generated through activities such as renewable energy, tree planting or forest protection.

But carbon markets are largely unregulated and there are allegations that some offsets, particularly those based on forests, do little for the environment or exploit communities, which has caused their prices to drop this year.

Kenya generates the majority of offsets in Africa and despite market uncertainty, Kenya believes there is potential for a much larger local industry capable of creating jobs and economic growth.

“There is massive interest. We have 25% of the African market (for carbon credits) in Kenya and we hope to expand it,” says Ali Mohamed, the president’s special envoy for climate change.

In Kasigau, some 330 km southeast of Nairobi, landowners and communities receive funds to keep the forest intact for a carbon credit project run by Wildlife Works, the largest offset developer in Africa.

According to Joseph Mwakima of Wildlife Works, the proceeds from the project provided employment for around 400 people and financed water, education and health infrastructure in slum areas of Kenya.

Mike Korchinsky, founder of the company, says that at least half of the income went to the communities.

Forests protected under this framework were previously cleared for firewood and charcoal, degrading critical habitat for wildlife. Avoiding deforestation helps climate goals by keeping carbon in the soil and trees instead of in the atmosphere.

The Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project was the first in the world to generate credit certificates in this way.

According to Wildlife Works, the project has been independently verified nine times since 2011, and has prevented some 22 million tons of CO2 emissions.

Kenya emits about 70 million tons of CO2 annually, according to Climate Watch, a platform run by the World Resources Institute that tracks national greenhouse gas emissions.

“false solutions”

The African Carbon Market Initiative, launched at COP27 last November, considers that by 2030, 300 million credits can be generated annually on the continent, an increase of 19 times higher than current volumes.

For Kenya, this would mean more than 600,000 jobs and revenues of US$600 million a year.

But these projections assume a carbon price above current value, and a massive increase in financing in times of great volatility in this market, which is trying to regain its credibility and integrity.

Ahead of the African Climate Summit in Nairobi, more than 500 civil society organizations wrote to Ruto urging him to put aside the carbon market and other “false solutions driven by western interests”.

“In reality, these approaches will embolden rich countries and big corporations to continue polluting the world, to the detriment of Africa”, pointed out.

Joseph Nganga, appointed by Ruto to coordinate the summit, ensures that carbon markets work “not as an excuse to broadcast, but as a means to ensure accountability”because the rich and polluting countries bear the cost.

Source: AFP