Friday, May 30, 2008
An initiative to improve the health, wealth and environment of
Malawians is being driven by a proposal to trade in carbon credits.
The
concept is to trade carbon credits earned by curbing the effects of
climate change through mechanisms established under the 1997 Kyoto
Protocol, to cover the cost of improving the lives and health of
vulnerable communities in the world's poorest continent, which is also
the least responsible for producing the greenhouse gases contributing
to climate change.
"We believe what we are trying to do will
work well, although it might take a few years to see large-scale
results. This methodology is different to the traditional approach to
development aid, as it is output- rather than input-orientated,"
Malawi-based Conor Fox, one of two men behind the venture, told IRIN.
"Almost
every country in Africa is signed up to Kyoto. We decided to set up our
operation in Malawi in February [2008] because it is one of the
continent's least developed countries, which makes it one of the most
vulnerable to climate change," Fox said.
According to a 2003
report by Malawi's National Energy Plan, the landlocked country, with a
population of about 12 million, derives 93 percent of its energy needs
from wood. As a consequence, the National Forestry Plan estimates that
about 2.8 percent of the remaining woodland is being lost annually.
Reducing
Malawi's reliance on wood as a source of energy would not only lower
the levels of CO2 entering the atmosphere, but also prevent rivers from
becoming silted up, soil erosion, and other negative environmental
impacts such as the seasonal drying of water courses and flash
flooding.
Fox and his UK-based partner, John O'Connor, who is
managing the commercialisation of the enterprises, have launched two
projects to reduce wood consumption.
Tobacco industry
The
first aims to heighten efficiency in the country's largest export
business, tobacco farming, by improving the technology smallholder
farmers use to flue-cure the leaves in barns, which is usually done by
means of wood-fired furnaces.
Updating this with technology
developed by biomass energy consultant Peter Scott, a Canadian who has
developed an affordable and efficient wood-burning furnace, the amount
of wood required to cure a kilogram of tobacco has been reduced from a
ratio of 15:1 to 2.5:1.
"Even
out in the field, farmers using one of our older model furnaces burn 50
percent less wood than the traditional method of curing, and the
quality of their tobacco is better, so they spend less money on wood
and get a better price for their tobacco," Scott told IRIN.
Tests
are being carried out to measure the difference in CO2 emissions
between the new method, known as a 'Rocket Barn', and the old method.
Scott said if he could get 5,000 of his 'Rocket Barn' curing systems
established it would reduce the annual carbon emissions by Malawi's
tobacco industry by about 100,000 tonnes.
"The potential for
large-scale reductions is huge, as tobacco is grown throughout the
region by large- and small-scale tobacco farmers. If we can roll out in
a number of countries we can have a very positive effect," Fox said.
The second project aims to mass-produce ceramic stoves for cooking.
In
2001 the National Forestry Plan reported that household cooking and
heating by means of traditional open fires accounted for about 82
percent of wood consumption in Malawi, as 97 percent of the population
have no access to electricity at home.
The company owned by
Fox intends to build on the initial work done by the Irish
non-governmental organisation (NGO), Cara Malawi, which helped women in
Kaphuka village, about 65km south of the capital, Lilongwe, make their
own improved ceramic stoves.
"We feel there is also great
potential here, as the improved ceramic stove design is made from local
materials using local skills; that reduces wood consumption by about 50
percent, and reduces the exposure of women and children to indoor air
pollution," Fox said.
National health statistics show that
around 12,000 Malawians, many of them children, die each year from
respiratory problems directly attributed to the smoke produced by
cooking on indoor traditional fires, and the new technology would also
reduce respiratory illnesses.
Any interventions rolled out by
Fox and O'Connor have to complement and be consistent with the
government's National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA), which is
aimed at increasing Malawi's resilience in the face of a changing
climate.
To ensure that this occurs, those who roll out
interventions have to secure a letter of support from the Department of
Environmental Affairs, which is the national focal point for Kyoto's
clean development mechanisms and the NAPA.
"So one of the
really important things is to build a relationship of trust with the
government, and particularly the Department of Environmental Affairs,
if this is to become successful," Fox said. "This is a risky business,
as it is a relatively new concept that requires great sensitivity to
everyone involved."
Managing carbon credits
It
would mean that finance, channelled via the carbon-credit system, is
secured on the back of verifiable results of carbon emission
reductions, rather than being provided before any positive results have
been achieved.
The development programme's ability to reduce
carbon emissions can be measured by Gold Standard, a Switzerland-based
non-profit organisation established in 2006 to guarantee environmental
and development integrity, after the scrutinising the results.
Every
tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) stopped from entering the earth's
atmosphere under the Gold Standard measurement system earns the project
one credit. This credit can then be sold to countries, companies,
individuals and organisations that overproduce CO2, to offset the fines
they can incur under the Kyoto Protocol.
"Unless we can
scientifically prove our programmes reduce emissions into the
atmosphere, and are of benefit to the host country in terms of
sustainable development, we cannot earn the carbon credits we need to
fund the programmes' large-scale rollout," Fox said. "If we have the
credits to sell, then you know we are reducing emissions through our
development programmes."
Kyoto's provisions allow industrial
countries to meet part of their treaty obligations by financing
projects in developing countries that achieve reductions in greenhouse
gas emissions.
Many northern hemisphere countries have already
exceeded the greenhouse gas emission levels they set when they agreed
to the treaty because of their heavy reliance on fossil fuels. A way of
reducing this figure to meet targets in the short term, besides
pro-actively reducing greenhouse gas emissions, is to purchase carbon
credits from other countries or companies who have made verifiable
greenhouse gas reductions.
Source: IRIN NEWS