Namibia shares efforts for carbon markets at COP28

Effforts to help Namibia to participate in the carbon markets has been bolstered by invaluable support from the government of Japan and the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism’s collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

This was said by Namibia’s environmental commissioner Timoteus Mufeti at a side event on the promotion of carbon markets in Namibia, held on Tuesday at the 28th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), being held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Mufeti said the partnership underlines Namibia’s commitment to enhancing its role in carbon market mechanisms, setting it as a leader among sub-Saharan African countries.

He said Namibia has a draft Carbon Market Framework (CMF), which is essential in setting up processes for developing and implementing carbon market activities in Namibia.

The framework is yet to be approved by Cabinet.

“This framework is crucial for Namibia’s engagement in international carbon markets and outlines the country’s policy directions for operationalising carbon crediting mechanisms under article 6,4 of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change,” he said.

Article 6,4 of the Paris Agreement allows parties to the UNFCCC to voluntarily cooperate to reach more ambitious targets by exchanging carbon credits from potential sectors such as agriculture, forestry and water and waste management.

Mufeti said central to the Carbon Market Framework will be the establishment of a digital carbon registry for recording and tracking internationally transferred mitigation outcomes, which are crucial for maintaining transparency and preventing double counting.

He said the ministry is mandated to grant authorisation for mitigation outcomes created from eligible conditional nationally determined contribution (NDC) mitigation actions and for public and private entities to participate in mitigation project activities under article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement.

Namibian climate change consultant Tendai Kisanganeti, who was involved in the development of Namibia’s Carbon Markets Framework, gave a brief presentation on what is contained in the draft document, which was validated at a five-day workshop at Walvis Bay in June.

The development of Namibia’s Carbon Markets Framework was one of the initiatives taken under the project titled, ‘Promotion of Carbon Markets for an Enhanced Implementation of NDCs Towards Net-Zero Emission and Climate Resilience Development in Response to Climate Emergency’, funded by the Japanese government to the tune of US$1 million (about N$18,8 million).

The development of Namibia’s Carbon Market Framework, according to Kisanganeti, is anchored on the fact that Namibia’s second updated NDCs have identified carbon markets as a strategy for mobilising climate finance to fund both adaptation and mitigation measures.

He said Namibia requires US$3 billion (N$56,4 billion) to implement its NDCs and, therefore, carbon markets become an avenue for mobilising climate finance in the country.