Monday, May 17, 2010

World Bank Supports Green Development


As part of the World Bank’s development goals for Africa, they are working to help nations attract green investments from developed countries in renewable energy, forestry and other areas using the idea of carbon finance.


Policymakers are being urged to support development projects that reduce carbon emissions such as a project in Niger producing Arabic gum, which helps absorb carbon dioxide. Similarly, a project in Madagascar continues reforestation efforts by linking two national forests; this helps reduce carbon emissions and is also valuable for tourism in the region.


Another part of the initiative involves the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which allows companies and other investors in developed countries to earn carbon credits, or Certified Emission Reductions (CDRs), whose value is linked to the price of carbon dioxide, by investing up to 15% of their CDRs in projects that reduce carbon emissions in Africa and the developing world.

UN official John Kilani says, "the credits are based on real measurable and additional reductions that would not have occurred in the absence of the project [so, they contribute to mitigation efforts]."


-Michelle Leung


Source: Africa Good News