Cambodia Can Earn Millions of Dollars from the Carbon Market – Friday, 28.8.2009

Posted on 29 August 2009
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 627
http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com/

“With the remaining forest cover in the country and with activities to conserve the environment, Cambodia is thought to be able to earn millions of dollars by selling carbon credits in the volunteer carbon market if Cambodia has experts.

“In Cambodia so far, there are not many people who know how to earn money to be used for development and humanity activities legally from the volunteer carbon market by selling carbon credits, while at present Cambodia is a country that has already ratified the Tokyo environment protocol, and it is considered to be a country that has potential.

“The volunteer carbon market is a free trade market, created after many countries had signed and ratified the Tokyo protocol. It is a market formed by between volunteer buyers, mostly big companies in industrialized countries that emit much carbon dioxide, and sellers, mostly organizations or communities in developing countries that are active to conserve the forest and to prevent the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. At the volunteer carbon market, both sides can settle their accounts through carbon credits, corresponding to the quantity of carbon dioxide that is reduced to be emitted into the atmosphere by any activities with this effect. For example, using a stove consuming firewood can release 1.5 kg carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but a community had came up with a creative idea to create a new type of stove which can work as well as the previous one, but emits only 1 kg carbon dioxide. Thus, the remaining 0.5 kg of carbon dioxide is the carbon credit that can be kept to exchange for money.

“In the world nowadays, a tonne of carbon dioxide can be exchanged for up to Euro 30 (roughly US$ 42.80).

“The head of the Climate Change and Renewable Energy Unit GERES Cambodia, Mr. Minh Le Quan, said recently that by now, there have been about tree projects only in Cambodia that receive credits from the volunteer carbon market, and one of them is the project of GERES Cambodia. He does not know how much dollars those projects can make by exchanging carbon credits, but he just said that in general, it is kept confidential, because in the volunteer carbon market, there are also competitions like in other commercial markets. He merely said that Cambodia is a potential country.

“He added, ‘The settling of carbon credit accounts is like food buying, where sellers have to compete with each other. It is a trading market, and the prices depend on quality and negotiations.’

“According to Mr. Le Quan’s estimation, so far, prices in the settling of accounts of carbon credits per tonne of carbon dioxide that Cambodia receives are from US$4.- to Euro 20 [approx. US$28.50], and most of the clients of Cambodia are from Europe and Australia. Also, there is a small number of clients in the country. The reason that Cambodia cannot receive high prices like other countries is that Cambodia has not had much of its own ability developed to reach the volunteer carbon market; Cambodia sells its carbon credits through brokers.

“Mr. Le Quan went to on say, ‘I do not know about other projects, but a project of GERES Cambodia could help, from 2003 to 2007, to reduce 314,854 tonnes of carbon dioxide, and it could help about 1.2 million citizens.’

“At present, the volunteer carbon market is operating in some countries such as Australia, the European Union, New Zealand, and the USA. According to an estimation of the World Bank in 2007, the whole quantity of carbon dioxide worldwide is worth as much as US$64 billion, while only 123 million tonnes of carbon dioxide could be sold in 2008, earning just US$705 million.

“Besides the three projects mentioned above by Mr. Le Quan, another project is being prepared by the Forestry administration and PACT Cambodia.

“The deputy head of the Forestry Community Department of the Forestry Administration, Mr. Long Ratanakomar, said via telephone last week, ‘Cooperating with PACT Cambodia and with nine forest protection communities in Oddar Meanchey, we had reached an agreement with a company based in the United States to conserve a forest region of about 60,000 hectares; it is an effort to prevent the emission of carbon dioxide, about 8.5 million tonnes within 30 years.’

“However, Mr. Ratanakomar does not yet know how much the agreement will cost, saying that it needs further clarifications and interpreted legal procedures.

“Regarding the trading of carbon credits in the volunteer carbon market, Mr. Le Quan said that it is not easy, and not each individual can engage in activities to protect the environment, and then ask to exchange carbon credits. Money from carbon credits cannot be transferred into the pockets of an individuals. All money will be kept collective to be used continually for training, for the construction of infrastructure and of schools, and for the creation of jobs.

“He stated, ‘A person can join to protect the environment by, for example, not using vehicles, but they cannot exchange those activities for cash. The exchange for cash needs to be negotiated and to go through many complex legal procedures.’

“Thus far, the projects that have been receiving credits from the carbon credit trading in the volunteer carbon market are a project to create a type of special stove by GERES Cambodia [see embedded Video after the headlines - there may be some seconds time delay], a project of the Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC), and another project of the national-level bio-energy program of Cambodia. It is expected that in the near future, forest communities in Oddar Meanchey will receive one more project.”

Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.17, #4984, 28.8.2009
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Friday, 28 August 2009