Carbon credits, conceived by the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, are an essential tool for reducing greenhouse gases and mitigating climate change.
These credits are essential components of a flexibilization mechanism designed to help countries achieve their pollutant emission reduction targets. Considered the “currency” of the carbon market, credits represent the non-emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
The logic is simple: for every ton of emissions avoided, a carbon credit is generated. Thus, when a country is successful in reducing emissions, it receives Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) certifications and acquires credits available for commercial transactions with nations that have not achieved their targets.
How does the sale work?
The carbon credit market is based on carbon emissions trading and the workings of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Projects approved by the CDM result in the generation of Certified Emission Reductions (CERs), which can be traded with companies, industries or countries that have not achieved their CO2 reduction targets.
The regulation of the carbon market is established by specific legislation in each country. Essentially, the carbon market involves the sale of carbon credits, where a country, after reducing its carbon dioxide emissions, trades with another country that needs to meet its reduction targets but has not yet achieved them. This process creates a global collaborative dynamic to tackle the challenges of carbon emissions.
In 2018, Mozambique adopted national regulations for projects to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation, Forest Degradation and Increase Carbon Reserves (REDD+), a mechanism that recognizes the role of forests in mitigating the effect of climate change, as well as the need to compensate countries that contribute to the effect, through measures that promote forest conservation. In addition, Mozambique has become a member of the African Carbon Markets Initiative and has started to draw up a Carbon Market Activation Plan, with a working group prioritizing the production of a comprehensive and conducive regulatory framework.
Who can sell carbon credits?
Any company with emission reduction projects or small rural producers can generate and sell their carbon credits.
What is Mozambique’s potential for generating carbon credits?
Mozambique has around 45 million carbon credits ready to be traded. The Mozambican Minister of Land and Environment, Ivete Maibaze, said three months before Mozambique’s First Preparation Meeting for its participation in COP28 that the amount could be negotiated with all interested parties.
“The survey carried out by our teams shows that we have around 45 million carbon credits available to be negotiated with all interested parties to complement the agenda for marketing the product,” she said.
He explained that in order to exploit the potential of the carbon market.
