CCC seeks establishment of governing rules on carbon credit scheme — Alvarez

MANILA, July 21 —- The Climate Change Commission (CCC) on Wednesday sought the establishment of governing rules and procedures in a carbon credit scheme involving provision of financial incentives to private and public agencies that are taking part in cutting emissions from deforestation and degradation of forest.

This as CCC Vice Chairman Heherson T. Alvarez asked the Australian firm Shift2Neutral Pty Limited to hold in abeyance its carbon credit activities in the Philippines until the guidelines and rules addressing the carbon credit scheme have been defined and promulgated, as he declined the company’s offer for the Commission to assign contracts and funds derived from the contracts for the project.

Alvarez pointed out that the government must first give all stakeholders involved a clear understanding of responsibilities and participation in such arrangement in order to facilitate and ensure that everyone engaged in the activity will justly and adequately benefit from it.

“This is a climate change undertaking where all stakeholders involved in environment and natural resources as well river basin systems protection and management such as forest dwellers, farmers, and even traders must be considered,” Alvarez said.

“So, there must be a clear understanding carbon credit system to pinpoint accountabilities so that the carbon credit system and great funds that it will yield to benefit the nation will not be diminished. We’re going through difficult times and this carbon credit system which involves billions of sums of dollars must be deployed to protect people and people especiall the vulnerable sector,” he added.

Specifically, Alvarez mentioned that issues such as legal parameters involving this scheme must be defined, including the controlling interests, as well as resolution to concerns involving who has the capacity to commit forest lands under climate change projects of carbon credit facilities, and how the credits and funds will be distributed.

“We will discuss this with the President, as chairman of the CCC, during our next commission meeting, to lay down the basic and just/fair rules,” he also said.

Shift2Neutral Pty Limited has entered into an agreement with the Tribal Coalition of Mindanao Inc. (TRICOM) based in Butuan City for a carbon credit arrangement, involving 340, 000 hectares of their ancestral land in the CARAGA Region.

Under a conservative computation of 10 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) displaced per hectare of forest, Alvarez said the Shift2Neutral Pty Limited’s project in CARAGA has the potential to displace 3.4 million tons of CO2 annually, and earn about P3.06-billion per year for the next 25 years, renewable for another 25 years.

“It is important that the rules are clear so that this vast asset would also be efficiently and competently and in full transparency managed for the survival of the country,” Alvarez emphasized.

To date, the CCC has already identified about 3 million hectares of forest that could qualify for the carbon credit program. Included in the 3 million hectares are river basin systems.

With one hectare displacing 10 tons of CO2 at US per ton, Alvarez said the 3 million hectares of forest will bring in about P9-billion for the country annually.(PNA)

V3/rudyma

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