Rainforest nations seek easier access to UN carbon credit scheme
- Media Manager
- May 1, 2023
- 1 min read
Updated: Jul 12, 2023
Reuters
Written By: Ahmed Eljiechtimi
Published: May 2nd, 2023
RABAT (Reuters) - Countries that are home to rainforest and peatland vital to limiting climate change want easier access to sovereign carbon credits, a financial scheme to reward them for preserving their ecosystems, Congo Republic's environment minister told Reuters.
Slightly bigger than Italy, Congo Republic shares with the much bigger and much more populated Democratic Republic of Congo the world's largest tropical peatlands and Africa's largest rainforest that absorb planet-warming carbon dioxide.
Sovereign credit markets, established by U.N. climate agreements, are designed to allow such countries to seek financial reward for protecting ecosystems including forests and peatlands.
Arlette Soudan-Nonault, the Congo Republic's minister, said in an interview access to the sovereign carbon market could help to grow the country's GDP by up to 40% and fund the energy transition and sustainable job-creation.
But she said multilateral financial institutions such as the World Bank needed to simplify procedures for issuing the credits.
