Chakwera addressing the gathering at the Convention
* The collaboration with ACMI is to build on the existing efforts and creating a comprehensive plan
* That unlocks an end to carbon credit ecosystem in Malawi
* Malawi’s potential is huge and we have only scratched the surface
* With opportunities ready to be unlocked in clean coockstoves and waste management solutions
By Patricia Kapulula, MANA
Malawi has partnered with African Carbon Markets Initiative (ACMI) to scale up carbon credit production across the continent in order to impact millions of lives.
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Carbon credit is a mechanism devised to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and Malawi has already introduced key climate regulations such as the National Climate Change Management Policy and National Resilience Strategy to strengthen the country’s resilience and reduce emissions.
Speaking during the launch of the ACMI on the sidelines of the Conference of Parties 27 (COP27) at Sharma El Sheik in Egypt on Tuesday, President Lazarus Chakwera said the collaboration with ACMI is to build on the existing efforts and creating a comprehensive plan that unlocks an end to carbon credit ecosystem in Malawi.
In 2021, a total of 600,000 tonnes of carbon credits were produced “but Malawi’s potential is huge and we have only scratched the surface, with opportunities ready to be unlocked in clean coockstoves and waste management solutions,” said the President.
“We want to expand the projects and we will expand these projects,” he said, adding that Malawi’s target is to scale up it’s domestic generation of carbon credits, which is more than eight times the current production.
The scale up will mobilise up to US$100 million and support more than 250,000 jobs.
Malawi is, like other African countries, experiencing devastating effects of climate change with the rural communities being the hardest hit.
The impacts of the cyclones Ana and Gombe due to climate change has left 3.8 million rural Malawians in need of food assistance and Chakwera said: “Our social protection program has almost doubled to cushion seven million Malawians with social security package.”
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He, therefore, said Malawi is keen on pursuing voluntary carbon markets and the carbon credit projects they support to not only drive reduction of emissions and climate impact but also raise resources vulnerable individuals and communities need.
Meanwhile, President Chakwera — who officially addressed the global gathering on Tuesday — held talks with a multi-national energy company, Elsewedy Electric on possible investment in Malawi’s solar energy sector, targeting 100 megawatts each year for the next five years.
During the official opening ceremony on Sunday afternoon, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi — whose country has taken over the COP presidency from the UK government — said he is ready to turn political statements and texts into implementable solutions and agreements.
Malawi has been a party to the United Nations Convention to Climate Change since 1994.—Additional reporting by Nellie Kapatuka, MANA
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