Government Urged To Source External Carbon From Pacific Islands

Environmental financing charity Ekos is urging Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett to source any foreign carbon credits from the Pacific Islands before searching for credits elsewhere, and only after making every effort to reduce emissions at home, and sourcing domestic credits from afforesting our erosion-prone hill country.

Ekos Executive Director Sean Weaver worked with Pacific Island governments, regional partners and local communities to develop a regional rainforest carbon programme - the Nakau Programme), and says that these initiatives now need serious demand in order to deliver climate benefits at scale. This includes pioneering rainforest carbon projects in Fiji, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands that are already producing and selling carbon credits internationally.

“But to grow this programme we need to secure larger scale demand so that we can win the race against logging and land clearance, that will otherwise put these local communities at greater risk from cyclones and droughts” Weaver said.

"A decade ago the intergovernmental community called for early action and innovation for climate solutions in developing countries. We put our money where our mouth is and built this forest carbon programme in partnership with local communities. We now need our government to play its part and buy these credits to support sustainable land management in these countries.”

"We don’t want New Zealand to source carbon credits from the "bottom shelf of the global junk carbon shop" like it did under the Kyoto Protocol. Instead, we should source quality credits from our Pacific Island neighbours. In the process, our climate change efforts will drive sustainable land management, economic development, and climate resilience on our doorstep,” he said.

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