President George Manneh Weah has proposed the establishment of the African Carbon Credit Mechanism to address the inherent imbalance in the current architecture of climate financing where according to him countries like Liberia, who maintain and protect the largest remaining tracts of forest reserves, receive the lowest benefits for these ecosystem services.
President Weah advanced the proposal yesterday, Monday, November 1, 2021 when he addressed this year’s COP26 conference holding Scotland where other world leaders and influential institutions are meeting to discuss the future of climate change.
“We who are the richest in terms of forest resources and biodiversity, are the poorest in terms of socio-economic development. Although we bear the brunt of the impact of climate change, we benefit the least from the existing solutions and financial arrangements currently in place for tackling climate change.
“I believe that one of the ways that this can be done is to establish an African Carbon Credit Trading Mechanism. With your support, Liberia will be willing to host a conference in the near future to explore the details and structure of such an entity. We will work with pan-African and other global financial institutions to develop a long-term regulated market for African carbon credit”
The President said in order to address this imbalance, there needs to be a fundamental shift in the way we tackle this mismatch in climate investments today.
Mr. Weah noted that he was convinced that these initiatives will increase the chances of all African countries that depend on their forest reserves to attain sustainable economic growth and national development in line with the vision set out in the 2030 Agenda.
He observed that this year’s event was taking place at a time when the world is having to learn to live with the devastating and disruptive consequences of the deadly Coronavirus pandemic. Climate change, like COVID-19, presents an even bigger threat to the world and to our common humanity.
“Together, we can make a difference as a shared community of global citizens with a common destiny. Together we can heal the world from the scourges of climate change. Together, we can save this earth from the deadly consequences of global warming. Together, we can bring humankind into harmony with nature”, the President concluded his speech.
Comments are closed.