The establishment of the National Validation of the Carbon Markets Framework will place Namibia among the front-runners in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to pilot and support its development and implementation.
Environmental Commissioner in the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Timoteus Mufeti, said this during the opening of the Validation Workshop on the Development of Namibia’s Carbon Markets Framework at Walvis Bay on Wednesday.
According to Mufeti, the Government of Namibia recognises that achieving the 2030 ambition of reducing national emissions requires all key stakeholders to work towards a low emissions future.
He noted that the project is establishing a conducive and enabling environment for Namibia to pursue carbon market-based pricing options to allow for more stakeholders to participate in addressing climate change and emphasised the importance of public and private sector contribution.
“MEFT, in close collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), facilitated the preparation and adoption of the national framework, whose primary aim is to enable Namibia to participate in the international carbon market by setting out the processes for developing and implementing carbon market activities in the country,” Mufeti said.
Funded by the Japanese Government, the national framework was prepared on international carbon markets as a national arrangement for engaging in Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
Japanese Ambassador to Namibia, Nishimaki Hisao, at the same event highlighted that carbon finance has been demonstrated to be one of the successful and effective ways to de-risk private sector investment and accelerate low carbon investments in developing countries.
“Carbon markets have the potential to crowd in large-scale investment to meet the conditional commitment of Namibia’s NDC through additional public and private climate finance and Japan is committed to providing technical assistance to countries to develop their carbon markets,” he noted.
UNDP Resident Representative to Namibia, Alka Bhatia, in a speech delivered on her behalf acknowledged the Namibian government’s dedication to addressing climate change and its commitment to sustainable development, saying the government’s leadership and policy frameworks provide a solid foundation for the successful implementation of the carbon markets framework and by integrating climate change considerations into national development plans, policies and regulations, the government sets a positive example for other nations in the region and beyond.
Source: The Namibia Press Agency