The path toward carbon markets seems to be inevitable now, and community lands hosting a majority of the indigenous peoples in the country could be the sole target for carbon credit projects.
According to the International Land Coalition which says while considering the move, the rights of the target communities must be prioritised and decisions made on a people-centered basis.
This is according to the International Land Coalition which says while considering the move, the rights of the target communities must be prioritised and decisions made on a people-centered basis.
"It is paramount their rights are protected and their livelihoods conserved," ILC says.
A number of communities in the country are prone to displacements and loss of natural biodiversity, simply because their lands are not legally recognised, the lobby adds in part
“While about 40 per cent of Kenya’s lands are designated as community lands, the gap between official recognition and implementation remains a challenge, leading to displacements from ancestral territories."
Although there are efforts by the Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association to secure and classify community lands in the country, Vincent Oluoch, the firm’s senior programme officer, says there are still impediments in fast-tracking the process of securing these lands.
“The process is coupled with long duration, high costs and limited support organisations, mostly private, that help in formalization works,” Oluoch said.
"Out of the more than 25 communities that are identified as indigenous in the country, we have managed to assist five to transition fully from being a customary land to legally acquire title deeds."
He was speaking during the announcement of the forthcoming Africa Regional Learning Exchange forum on rights and conservation slated from October 2 to 6, 2023 in Kenya.
Hosted By ILC, it seeks to bring together advocates, experts, stakeholders and community members to discuss the advancement of indigenous peoples and local communities' rights.
This is despite the aforementioned looming carbon market trade, with the community lands being targeted as offsetters in carbon trading.
The recently concluded African Climate Summit in Nairobi ended with a call for world leaders to rally behind a global carbon tax on fossil fuels, aviation and maritime transport.
It was backed as one of the ways to reform the world financial system that forces African nations to pay more to borrow money.
Carbon markets work in such a way that polluters effectively offset emissions by investing in tree-planting or conservation initiatives.
It appeared that these markets are cheaper to purchase in Africa, majorly community lands, than in many other parts of the world where schemes are more strictly regulated.
According to ILC’s regional coordinator Audace Kubwimana, the impending carbon markets could be a good reception only if it puts the needs and benefits of the targeted communities first, and adopts an inclusive approach of engagements.
“The venture should also be taken with caution to ensure we are not giving the polluters reason to continue emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere,” Kubwimana said.
In Africa’s market, the continent earns less than $10 (Sh1,478) per ton of carbon. Other regions can receive over $100 (Sh14,785) for the same amount.
In carbon trading, one credit issued equals one ton of carbon dioxide or another greenhouse gas equivalent removed from the atmosphere.
Kubwimana’s concern was also evident at the summit where environmental advocates questioned that type of investment plaguing it to integrity and transparency concerns.
“This could be a free pass to keep polluting,” they said.
