I had concluded my last blog on 10th of January with the question: “Why did other governments, including the Camboian one, not yet start to create some rules like in France?”
It sounded almost that I was getting a response on the following day, when the Khmer Times reported:
Climate Champion: Minister of Ministry if Environment Eang Sophalleth Reveals Government’s ‘Big’ Ambition to Help Save Planet
This great title is followed, in the Khmer Times, by a picture, showing the Minister of the Enviromet, taking part in a drive to remove plastic from a waterway in Phnom Penh.
Such a picture looks nice – but when the minister removes some plastic waste, it is not an indication about the practical contents of the govrnment’s big ambotions to save the earth.
It is stated that the government’s enormous ambition to contribute to mitigating climate change is to be achieved by expanding the carbon credit supply chain through key sectors in addition to forestry, to include the agriculture and industrial sectors.
Probably not many readers will know much what this means. It does not relate to the daiy visible environmental problems we see. So some explanation is necessary:
What are carbon credits and how do they work?
The underlying theory is simple. If one party can’t stop emitting CO2 , it can ask another to emit less, so that, even as the first carries on producing CO2, the total amount of carbon in the atmosphere is reduced.
There are three basic types of carbon credits:
• Those from reduced emissions (typically energy efficiency measures)
• Removed emissions (carbon capture from the atmosphere, and planting forests)
• Avoided emissions (for example refraining from cutting down rainforests)
Companies can meet their climate targets by purchasing credits for their current emissions, although some, like Microsoft, have committed to going further and using credits to compensate for all their historic emissions – in Microsoft’s case, going back 45 years.
Other organizations have cut the bulk of their emissions and used credits to compensate for those they cannot avoid. Credits are generally traded in units of 1 ton of CO2, and it’s estimated that credits worth 2 billion tons of CO2 will be needed to get to the global environment 2030 targets.
It seems to be simple – a fair business between polluters and others who can reduce their pollution or even do some “cleaning”.
Unfortunately the realiy is more complicated, as the following article shows.
The Price of Carbon Emissions Plunged in 2022, and That’s Not Good
Making it more expensive to put greenhouse gases into the atmosphere is the market-oriented way to keep the planet from overheating. A high price tag on emissions gives emitters the incentive to switch to cleaner energy sources. It also raises the prices of energy-intensive products, encouraging consumers to choose ones that are friendlier to the environment.
From a low in 2012, the world was making steady progress toward raising the price of emissions — still low, but at least headed in the right direction.
Then came 2022. Energy prices soared, partly because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Governments scrambled to protect their citizens from the price spikes. European nations, shielded citizens from the rising cost of electricity and natural gas. So that year, the global average carbon price tumbled to $4.08 a ton from $18.97 in 2021.
The Cambodian Minister also highlighted the government effort to expand forest cover to 60% and establish Cambodia as a carbon neutral country by 2050.
Speaking during a rare media interview at his office yesterday, Dr. Eang Sophalleth, who took office in August, revealed the government’s plans and his ministry’s high commitment to reducing Cambodia’s carbon footprint through some mechanisms.
“We are committed to do carbon credit trading with transparency, integrity, accountability and in accordance with international standards,” he said. “We have been selling carbon credits in the global voluntary carbon market.”
He explained that the country can sell carbon credits in different ways: country to country, and through voluntary carbon markets, where demand is driven by the private sector’s voluntary commitments to reduce emissions.
According to the ministry’s data, the sale of carbon credits in the global voluntary carbon market secured $11.6 million between 2016 and 2020 from Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary, Tatai Wildlife Sanctuary, and Southern Cardamom National Park.
Dr. Eang Sophalleth yesterday also mentioned the recent launch of the “Environmental Circular Strategy 2023-2028” to orient and identify priority work to ensure environmental sustainability and integrity, climate change response, and promoting a green economy to achieve the government’s goal of being a carbon neutral country.
This is one of the sites identified by the Ministry of Environment and the USAID Greening Prey Lang team, to generate carbon credits for Cambodia.
Dr. Eang Sophalleth noted the Ministry’s campaign to plant at least one million trees every year. The Ministry and its relevant partners have urged people to plant trees, rehabilitate forests, and protect forests and the natural environment to increase forest cover and sell carbon credits to increase income in the community.
Other campaign – to reduce the use of plastic under the theme ‘Today, I do not use plastic bags’ – will be the focus of the next tinking21.org blog.