COP28: CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE - COMMUNITY CLIMATE SOLUTION AT RISK

HEADLINE:  COP28: CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE - COMMUNITY CLIMATE SOLUTION AT RISK
DURATION:  04:56
SOURCE:  NATURE POSITIVE
RESTRICTIONS:  ACCESS ALL PLATFORMS IN PERPETUITY; NO ARCHIVE RESALES

INTRO:

Criticism of voluntary carbon markets for nature, channelling significant levels of finance for natural climate solutions directly to frontline communities, could have a devastating effect on climate action and vulnerable communities.   New measures to ensure these markets overcome negative perceptions are critical for global climate goals, but also the livelihoods of the people most dependent on healthy natural ecosystems.

STORYLINE:

How to finance the necessary work to protect and restore nature is one of the most pressing topics in Dubai where world leaders are gathered for COP28.  Carbon markets -  seen as an essential element in the race to stop our planet overheating - are under scrutiny as some critics argue that they are a distraction from other solutions to meet global climate goals.

The idea behind the carbon market is simple - by buying carbon credits - generated by projects that prevent or remove climate emissions - businesses can drive more climate action today than is possible by just reducing some of their own emissions.  Experts believe the voluntary carbon market can potentially mobilise billions of dollars a year in additional climate finance to remove carbon or cut emissions, helping the world to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement in a more cost effective manner.

These investments do more than just preserve and restore nature though. Local communities benefit.  In one year alone, Carbon Tanzania, which invests in forest protection, benefitted 63,000 Indigenous people through carbon market revenues that improved their economic well-being.  These communities were given the ability to decide how the money was spent benefitting local schools, hospitals, and livelihoods. By protecting 650,000 hectares of forest Carbon Tanzania and the people involved in its projects set a new course for community well-being.

But critics argue that these markets are issuing more credits than the actual emissions that they reduce. Deforestation projects, where communities receive money for not cutting down trees, are particularly under fire.  Carbon markets base the creation of carbon credits on the potential for deforestation to occur if the project did not exist. Detractors claim that the calculations for generating carbon credits are too generous and over sell the benefits these investments in nature and local communities provide.

With the world facing climate and biodiversity emergencies, some carbon market stakeholders are worried that efforts to end the market over disagreements on complex carbon accounting methods could halt further investments in a nature positive future. A scenario that wouldn’t just put nature and our climate at risk, but also the well-being of the people on the frontlines.

Restore Africa, a reforestation carbon market participant, aims to restore over 1.8 million hectares of degraded lands across six African countries. Their projects are anticipated to improve the livelihoods of 1.5 million farming families across some of these countries’  poorest communities through additional revenues by participating in protecting nature.

To ensure the carbon market continues to improve on its promise to support meaningful climate action and people, new standards, methodologies and transparency efforts are being introduced to the market.

These leaders hope their efforts will ensure continued investment in high-integrity projects and rebuild trust with market detractors. Now is the time for the  voluntary carbon market to mature and show it’s potential.

SHOTLIST

1.  GV - COP28 UAE
2.  GV - COP28 UAE
3.  GV - COP28 UAE
4.  GV - COP28 UAE
5.  GV - COP28 UAE
6.  GV - COP28 UAE
7. Drone shot - Tanzania
8. School children at water pump - Tanzania
9. School children walking through village - Tanzania
10. School children clapping in classroom - Tanzania
11. School children running - Tanzania
12. Building project - Tanzania
13. Building project - Tanzania
14. Forest ranger walking through forest - Tanzania
15. Drone shot - farm and farmers - Uganda
16. CU face Farmer picking coffee and coffee beans in hand - Uganda
17. Coffee farmer - Uganda
18. Hoe in soil - Uganda
19. Crops being poured out  - Uganda
20. Tending crops Uganda
21. Woman farmer tending crops - Uganda
22. CU Mark Kenber face profile
23. Mark Kenber thumb on phone
24. Laptop
25. SOUNDBITE, MARK KENBER, VOLUNTARY CARBON MARKET INTEGRITY INITIATIVE (ENGLISH)

“Governments have promised money for many, many years, but that just isn't enough. Carbon credits and the carbon markets which they come from are a way of channelling money from companies, particularly in rich countries, to those places in poorer countries which need to protect their forests, which need to have sustainable farming, need to restore nature’

“The foundations for a high integrity trusted carbon market are being put in place and over the next few months we'll see that those really are embedded.  That alone will not be enough to scale the market. People need to regain trust in it.  We’ll have to have new projects scrutinised and be seen to be delivering the impacts they say they are.”

26. WS Sally Armitage at Nature Positive Pavilion, COP28
27. MS Sally Armitage at Nature Positive Pavilion. COP28
28. Sally Armitage on panel at Nature Positive Pavilion. COP28
29. SOUNDBITE, SALLY ARMITAGE, GLOBAL EVERGREENING ALLIANCE (ENGLISH)

“By criticising  carbon markets, and trying to find fault, and trying to look for greenwashing and trying to find a way that this in some way isn’t a good idea, hurts all of us, because it slows down the process. If we could just get on with it now, get the investment, do the land restoration work with the livelihoods focus as quickly as we can, we are all going to benefit. It doesn't matter where restoration work happens. It benefits the whole planet”

30. Isack Bryson, Carbon Tanzania talking
31. SOUNDBITE, ISACK BRYSON, CARBON TANZANIA, (ENGLISH)

“Since we begun the carbon offsetting project to our homeland there at Hadza land the project have been having so many benefit. Monetary benefit, in health, in education, in developmental project support and governance issues and employment of youth guys for taking security of our forest.  And also the project have brought non monetary benefit such as improve the forestry and increase the wild animals and has  supported the hunting and gathering as well as the pastoralism lifestyle of our valley”

32.  Rachel Kyozira walking through forest - Uganda
33. Rachel Kyozira face - Uganda
34. Rachel Kyozira look at tree with farmer - Uganda
35. Rachel Kyozira looking at tree with farmer - Uganda
36. Rachel Kyozira looking at tree with farmer - Uganda
37. SOUNDBITE, RACHEL KYOZIRA, DEPUTY CHIEF OF PARTY, RESTORE AFRICA

“So we are talking we are talking trees, surviving trees by the end of the project, but we are talking food security, we are talking incomes, we are talking livelihoods, we are talking an improvement in the microclimate of everywhere we work and contributing to globally to all the systems that function, especially the food, the food security system, the livelihood system”