Apia, Samoa: 23rd – 24th February 2023 – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) recently hosted a regional workshop for key policy makers in the Pacific region at Apia, Samoa. The workshop is aimed at key policy makers who are looking at the broader climate policy architecture with the objective of making them fully aware of all the different instruments available to support climate action to meet National Determined Contributions (NDCs) targets.
ADB member states including Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Cook Islands, Nauru, Kiribati, FSM, Palau, Marshall Islands, and Tuvalu attended the 2 days workshop. Solomon Islands representatives from the Climate Finance Resilience Unit, the Investment Analysis Unit, of the Ministry of Finance & Treasury, and the Ministry of Forestry and Research are part of the 2 days workshop.
The workshop presents how Pacific Island countries could tap new opportunities such as carbon credits and trade them in the regulated or voluntary carbon markets to finance climate change adaptations and mitigation needs.
The workshop was opened by the Samoan Minister for Natural Resources and Environment, Hon Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster and He welcomed Pacific Islands representatives to Samoa and highlighted that the Pacific Island region should take advantage of this new opportunity provided by ADB to support low carbon emission development and traded carbon credits to finance adaptation and mitigation needs.
Also, ADB Regional Director for the Pacific Sub-region office in Suva, Fiji Aaron Batten in his remarks stressed that Pacific Islands are the most affected region due to climate change impacts and disasters and that the regional workshop organized by ADB is to come up with frameworks and to support countries to finance their own climate adaptation and mitigation goals through carbon trading frameworks that have been able to enter into financial arrangements with partner countries to protect the environment and implement activities that could reduce carbon footprints.
Countries like Palau and Fiji have been able to implement carbon projects supported by ADB and are able to sell and benefit from their carbon credit sales.Fiji is able to sold their carbon credits from Sewerage Treatment Plant by recovering methane generated by the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter in the sludge. The Project generates 22,000 tCO2e emission reductions per annum by capturing and flaring methane (CH4) generated in anaerobic digesters
Solomon Islands has the potential to trade carbon credits either in the forestry sector or in the energy sector etc. Policy frameworks and regulations are very important in the Carbon Pricing and Markets and these are the key priority areas for Solomon Islands Government to consider.
The Solomon Islands Government representatives from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Forestry & Research would like to acknowledge ADB’s support towards funding their trip to attend this very important workshop on Carbon Pricing and Markets and looks forward to more collaboration in the carbon pricing and marketing space.
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