Malawi has established a new agency to oversee the trading and marketing of carbon emission offsets, according to the country's President, Lazarus Chakwera. The Carbon Marketing Initiative was inaugurated on Friday, with Chakwera stating that "the potential value of Malawi's carbon credits is estimated at 19.9 million metric tons of carbon per annum, valued at over $600 million". This initiative is the latest in a series of efforts by African nations to profit from the growing global trade in offsets, with other countries including Zimbabwe and Kenya taking similar steps.
Carbon offset credits represent a metric ton of carbon dioxide or carbon dioxide equivalent either removed from the atmosphere or prevented from entering it, and are bought by emitters to offset the effects of their activities. Malawi's new agency will work to establish a national carbon registry, which will include an inventory of carbon offset opportunities. This registry will then seek to market and trade these carbon credits on an international scale. The agency has already enlisted the support of Switzerland's Klik Foundation, which will work to identify additional carbon-offset opportunities.
During the inauguration of the Carbon Marketing Initiative, Malawi also signed a memorandum of understanding with Koko Networks, a Kenyan-based company that sells carbon credits. The company sells clean-burning bio-ethanol cook-stoves that displace the use of charcoal and wood, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Koko Networks is now exploring the potential to set up a bioethanol utility in Malawi, with the company's co-founder and CEO, Greg Murray, saying that "we are encouraged by the creation of a national carbon strategy and policy in Malawi...This is one of the areas that governments need to get right to unlock international private climate finance".
Malawi's new body is a significant step forward in the country's efforts to tackle climate change and build a sustainable, low-carbon future. It is expected to provide a boost to the national economy, while also contributing to global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit the impacts of climate change.