Forest protection and restoration is making money in Mozambique. The East African country just received $6.4 million from the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) in recognition of its efforts to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation, commonly known as REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation).
The payment follows Mozambique’s submission of an official monitoring report of CO2 emissions reductions from deforestation to the FCPF. An independent third-party verification was subsequently conducted between September 2020 and May 2021. According to the experts’ calculations, Mozambique has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by 1.28 million tons since 2019 through forest protection projects in the central province of Zambezia.
The first payment totalling $50 million
While Mozambique is the first country to receive a payment from the FCPF under the REDD+ mechanism, other African countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Madagascar and Congo have also signed Emission Reduction Payment Agreements (ERPAs) with the World Bank-hosted carbon fund in 2019.
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Under the ERPA signed with Mozambique, the FCPF is committed to releasing up to $50 million, provided that the country reduces up to 10 million tons of CO2 emissions in the Mozambican province of Zambezia, by the end of 2024. According to Idah Pswarayi-Riddihough, the World Bank’s country director for Mozambique, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Comoros, a benefit-sharing plan prepared with local stakeholders and communities that have contributed to the results will ensure that they receive the majority of the benefits. This will allow stakeholders to continue to promote community-based natural resource management and restoration of degraded areas, while stimulating conservation-friendly, nutrition-sensitive, and climate-smart agricultural models.
Boris Ngounou