Talking to Business Recorder, Inspector General of Forests Syed Mahmood Nasir said that Ministry of Climate Change and his department have been working on setting up a comprehensive system to trade carbon credits in the international market. He said that a National Monitoring System and Grievances Redressal Mechanism for forests and relevant communities are being set up with the help of civil society and all four provincial forest departments. "The role of forest communities is very important in protecting the forests; therefore we have arranged over 250 training workshops for them in different areas," he said, adding the technical training will help the forest communities become an effective part of the REDD+.
REDD is about getting dollars for the carbon saved in forests by not cutting trees. The carbon emitted from forests and agriculture in Pakistan is massive and for each ton saved the country can get an amount ranging from $400 million to $2 billion per annum if it performs well with the readiness grant, he said. Pakistan won $3.8 million Readiness Fund of Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) in December 2013 to combat climate change and tropical deforestation after a tough competition at Geneva, Switzerland. The FCPF is the World Bank administered facility that is set up to compensate developing countries for reductions in carbon dioxide emissions achieved by preserving their forests.
Nasir said that they are also working to amend the 100 year old laws related to forests as the existing laws and system do not recognise carbon credits as a commodity to be traded in the international market. "We have to assimilate all our laws and systems with the global standards before we can trade carbon credits in the global market," he said. There are three major carbon credit markets in the world where a country can trade carbon credits like on a stock exchange and they include China Beijing Environment Exchange, Chicago Climate Exchange and Carbon TradeXchange Australia.
Nasir, however, said the international carbon market is currently faced with a setback as price of per ton carbon has come down to one dollar while it was around $30 per ton four years ago.He said the global powers and the biggest emitters of carbon including China and America should help the international community to formulate a robust regulatory system to trade carbon credits.
Pakistan Forest Institute, Peshawar, is also preparing a carbon stock table and training government officials and civil society members on carbon sequestration to benefit from the REDD+. Riaz Muhammad Khan, President Sarhad Awami Forestry Ittehad, who has attended numerous local and international training workshops on the REDD+ and carbon credits, said the programme will offer direct cash incentives for forest communities across the country if it is implemented as per requirement of the World Bank and other international donors.