Carbon Credits
A carbon credit is a generic term for any tradable certificate or permit representing the right to emit one tonne of carbon dioxide or the equivalent amount of a different greenhouse gas.
Carbon credits can be issued by owners of rainforest or mangrove swamp or other features or assets which absorb green house gases. The carbon credits are purchased by entities which issue green houses gases as C02 or methane.
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The areas which underly the carbon credits have to be independently mapped and measured to establish exactly how much green house gas a given area will absorb.
This in turn determines the quantity of the carbon credits issued.
There is an established trading market for the carbon credits where Sellers and Buyers can meet. The agreements from the Paris 2015 COP are binding on 197 countries worldwide and they require each of those countries to establish and abide by a Green House gas reduction plan. WASB works with companies such as G.E.M. (General Environmental Markets) to organise sales of approved Carbon Credits.
There are four basic steps in the carbon credit market which WASB are involved in:
Process
1.
The identification of areas of rainforest and mangrove which are contiguously owned and on which legal agreement for their use can be achieved.
2.
The independent mapping and measuring of these areas to arrive at accurate figures for the carbon credits which these areas can generate.
3.
Selling the carbon credits
4.
Utilising the income from the sale of the carbon credits to the benefit of the indigenous people occupying the land from which the carbon credits originate.
WASB has the in-house expertise and/or the connections to facilitate all four steps in the carbon credit process. Our approach is a commercial one but one in which the rights of the occupying indigenous people are not only respected but are of paramount economic value. Any funds received from carbon credit sales are placed into a charity structure in the UK, independent of government interference, and the funds are used primarily in the following ways:
1.
The sale of carbon credits will offer an annual income based on the INCREASE in stored carbon credits each year. There may be an additional element attributed to the existing stored carbon.
2.
The value of the carbon credits, and our ability to sell them, will depend on what measures we take to ensure the Rainforest/Mangrove does not deteriorate: OR, if it has already deteriorated what measures we would take, using the funds from the carbon credit sales, to defend and / or restore the rainforest/mangrove.
3.
It follows that a significant element of any carbon credit income will need to be spent on:
A. Security to prevent surreptitious logging, mining and oil exploration
B. Reforestation of damaged and/or degraded elements of the rainforest and/or mangrove
C. Legal costs in taking logging and/ or oil and/ or mining companies to court. In the past the general approach of large logging/oil/mining companies has been to ignore the law on the basis that most people who take them court cannot afford to financially sustain any legal challenge.
4.
The physical security would be provided by employing the indigenous people backed up with appropriate training and equipment and possibly professional support.
5.
Any reforestation would employ the indigenous population in conjunction with forestry experts.
6.
The physical security would be provided by employing the indigenous people backed up with appropriate training and equipment and possibly professional support.
7.
Any funds remaining after paying for security, reforestation and legal costs can be invested to secure further jobs for the indigenous people. The investments would need to be compatible with the way of life of the indigenous people. For example, provision of solar power.
W.A.S.B. Fees
1.
WASB agree with the indigenous people, the carbon credit purchasing companies and the Federal authorities that we will administer the funds secured from the sale of the carbon credits from a given area of land. WASB charge a relatively small percentage fee for that work and we charge a similarly small percentage fee for achieving sales of the carbon credits.
2.
100% of the proceeds from the sale of the carbon credits is placed into a UK based charity structure. All payments are, including WASB fees, are made from the charity so they are subject to the full transparency of a charity and its independent audit requirements.
Example Values of Carbon Credits
N.B. Figures mentioned below are for illustration purposes only.
A hectare of rainforest might sequestrate approximately 100 tonnes of carbon per annum. A hectare of blue mangrove will sequestrate approximately four times as much as rainforest. These are average figures and can vary widely between specific locations. If we assume a value of Euros 70 per tonne of carbon sequestrated, a thousand hectares of rainforest will generate an approximate annual income of Euros 7 million: a thousand hectares of blue mangrove approximately Euros 28 million.
WASB would also secure an initial payment for the carbon historically stored which we would be protecting from being released. Say the average age of a tree in the rainforest is 40 years and they have been sequestrating at the rate of 100 tonnes per hectare per annum. That would equate to a historically sequestrated tonnage of approximately 4 million tonnes: at full value of Euros 70 per tonne, Euros 280 million. However, historically stored carbon does not usually have the same value as newly stored carbon in selling the CCs. These are estimated, highly average figures, for illustration purposes only.
Managed forest plantations generally sequestrate far more than wild forest because the tree cover is denser. The figures illustrate how much more money can be earned from blue mangrove and indicate the sort of income which can be generated for indigenous people to enable protection and sustainability of the rainforest and mangrove swamps.
Coastal mangrove, or “Blue mangrove” as it is known, is very susceptible to damage by coastal activities sometimes a long way from the mangrove. For example, a company can build a loading terminal ten miles up the coast. The terminal can affect the tidal flows along the coast which can in turn increase or reduce the sediment around the mangrove: a major part of the mangrove sequestration. When establishing the rights of the indigenous people to control these areas there is a need to address issues such as how do they have the right to stop, or alter, such construction outside the immediate area of the mangrove they control? It would likely mean planning laws requiring studies of the water flow effect of such constructions. That means federal law input. WASB help organise such government level input.
PROJECT PORTFOLIO: Carbon Credits
Atabapo, Guainia, Colombia: 513,000 HECTARES
Sierra Nevada De Sta Marta, Colombia: 2,000,000 HECTARES
Lospastas Narino, Colombia: 800,000 HECTARES
Equador: 765,000 HECTARES
Talamanca, Costa Rica: 110,000 HECTARES
Ucalyi, Peru: 11,227 HECTARES
Peten, Guatamala : 1,600,000 HECTARES
Choco, Colombia: 1,077,000 HECTARES
Blue Mangrove, Colombia : 50,000 HECTARES