After a very competitive process eventually the Faculty of Forestry and Nature Conservation (FoFNC) of Sokoine University of Agriculture has been appointed by the Government of United Republic of Tanzania to be the host institution for National Carbon Monitoring Centre (NCMC). This appointment was officiated by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that was signed by the Permanent Secretary in the Vice-President’s Office, Mr Sazi Salula, and the SUA Vice-Chancellor, Professor Gerald Monela, on 30th July 2014 in Dar es Salaam.
The NCMC is a brainchild of ongoing discussions under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on the possibility for developing countries to receive financial benefits for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation; forest conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks (REDD+). In support of these discussions, it was decided by UNFCCC to carry out demonstration projects in developing countries to inform the discussion. In response to this, Norway launched an International Climate and Forest Initiative in 2007, with a global commitment of up to Norwegian Kronner (NOK) three billion annually. In April 2008, Norway and Tanzania signed a Letter of Intent on a Climate Change Partnership; with a focus on supporting REDD+ pilot activities in the field, research and capacity building, and national REDD+ strategy development and implementation. The two countries agreed to cooperate for five years on climate change and REDD+ and Norway committed itself to support the cooperation with up to NOK 500 million (US$ 100 million) for the period. As REDD+ is a result-based mechanism, countries will be required to quantify their achievements in REDD+ by establishing a robust and transparent forest carbon MRV system. MRV provides a system on how to account for the amount of forest carbon, including changes over time. Tanzania envisages participating in the implementation of REDD+ and has started setting up her MRV system for the determination of carbon benefits.
Given the complexity of the MRV process, NCMC was proposed to be established. A functional NCMC will make it possible for Tanzania to participate effectively in an international REDD+ regime and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
The NCMC is being establieshed by support of a Norwegian grant of up to 37 Million NOK over a 3-year (2015-2018) period through an Agreement between the governments of Tanzania and Norway signed on 02nd September 2015.
The NCMC will manage an effective national system of measuring, reporting and verification (MRV) of carbon in forest ecosystems for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the international community on behalf of the nation. While initial focus will be on carbon emission reductions in the forestry sector, in the longer term, the NCMC can be expanded to accommodate other sectors such as agriculture, energy, transport and industries.
The NCMC will harness available national capacity and support it with international expertise through an institutional collaboration with the Climate Center of the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research. Specific functions of NCMC will be to:
· Provide technical services on measuring, reporting and national/subnational verification for REDD+;
· Accommodate emissions accounting from new sectors and provide monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) for social and environmental safeguards in MRV activities;
· Hosting and managing the National Carbon Database and REDD+ project registry;
· Verify and standardize research outcomes (models, reference levels and activity data, emission factors)
· Be the custodian of the National MRV system and platform;
· Quality assurance of the national MRV System;
· Be the centre for reporting and documentation on climate change related information including the National Carbon Accounting System;
· Provide policy and regulatory advice; and
· Oversight for governance and advocacy in forest carbon stocks and other carbon sinks and the likes.
Roles and responsibilities of the Host Institution are: receiving funds for the establishment of NCMC; recruitment of NCMC Team Coordinator and International Technical Advisor; engaging and facilitating the Vice President’s Office and other stakeholders in the process of establishing NCMC; facilitating procurement of office space and working facilities during the inception Phase and servicing the NCMC Advisory Committee.
With these developments, SUA has allocated an office space for NCMC initially on the 2nd floor in the Business Centre building. Other processes needed for the establishment of the centre are underway.
