Be careful with carbon trade

CARBON trading is fraught with serious institutional, financial, credibility and reputation risks.
Therefore, extreme caution should be exercised in dealing with such initiatives in Papua New Guinea.
Carbon trading involves owners of forests selling tokens called credits to polluters who buy the credits at a fixed price per credit.
The credits generate revenues for the forest owners.
However, they penalise the polluters that use carbon fuels such as factories, airlines and power companies that emit carbon into the atmosphere by imposing extra financial cost on their operations.
Carbon trading is intended to force polluters to become more innovative and efficient and switch to alternative energy sources that eliminate or emit less carbon into the atmosphere, thereby assisting to reduce global warming which is causing droughts, melting ice and rising sea levels.
A policy on carbon trading should be developed and legislated and institutional capacity developed for the implementation of carbon trading in any country.
Due to differences in political and economic interests, the world has not come to a common consensus on recognising and dealing with the environment and climate change issues despite growing evidence presented by the scientific community on environment-related natural disasters and environment refugees in the Pacific (including PNG).
Another issue is the absence of an internationally-recognised and accredited institution that will have the competent authority to oversee and coordinate the global implementation of policies intended to combat environment and climate change issues facing the world today.
The departure of the United States from the Paris-Accord 2015 under the former president Donald Trump’s administration and failure of many countries to achieve climate change targets under goal 13 (Climate Action) of the United Nations clearly demonstrates the international fragmentation on these issues.
Given this international situation, there are serious credibility and reputation risks involved in promoting or dealing with carbon trading in PNG.
In PNG, carbon trading is at best a money scheme at present, and it is no different from the U-Vistract or Money Rain.
People are using carbon trading as a disguise to defraud the State coffers by stealing public funds as free money that are much needed elsewhere for the development of this country.
PNG only needs to invest in alternative sources of clean fuel (such as hydro, solar, wind, natural gas, volcanic steam, and sea waves) which it is abundantly endowed with rather than waste time and resources on carbon trading.

Concerned Economist,
Pom