By:Justicia Shipena
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Namibia together with the environment and tourism ministry and the Japanese embassy in Namibia will early 2023 work on study tours and exchange of information on the promotion of carbon markets in Namibia.
This was revealed in a Japan Supplementary Budget (JSB) progress report titled, “Steps Ahead: Leveraging Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to Achieve Net-Zero Emissions and Climate-Resilient Development”.
“UNDP Namibia, with the assistance of the government through the environment and tourism ministry, is exploring ways to incorporate Japanese companies to take part in and benefit from the promotion of carbon markets in Namibia,” said the report.
Environment minister Pohamba Shifeta recently launched the promotion of a carbon market project in Namibia which the government of Japan has funded with N$16 million.
The project is designed to establish an enabling environment for Namibia to pursue its carbon trading options, placing the country in the lead among sub-Saharan countries to advance the development of a region-wide framework for carbon market mechanisms.
The global project under UNDP’s climate promise is financed by the Japanese supplementary budget. Besides Namibia, countries like Egypt, Armenia, Malawi, Maldives, Georgia, India and Kenya are among those receiving funding from Japan.
The net cost for implementing NDC mitigation measures in Namibia is estimated to be about US$3.61 billion by 2030and more than US$1.72 billion for adaptation targets, representing a total funding need of approximately US$5.33 billion – or more than N$82 billion at the current exchange rate.
“The government is looking to market-based mechanisms as part of the financing solution,” the report says.
The climate project in Namibia has three components which involve the design of the building blocks for a national emissions trading scheme (ETS) as well as technical capacity-building for the ministry of environment, forestry and tourism and other institutions, including the private sector.
The project also includes the development of an enabling investment environment alongside operationalisation planning and to increasing technology transfer, access to technical assistance, and capacity-building through SouthSouth exchange
Namibia submitted its updated NDC in July last year, “resolutely committing the country to the goals of the Paris Agreement,with a practical and ambitious plan to reduce emissions by 91% by 2030 and ensure a climate-resilient economy,”the report states.
“This project will help address the financial challenge of fulfilling these targets through the development of a carbon market. The project is a strategic investment with Namibia as a starting point but also envisions engagement with other interested African countries,”the report added.
