Citizens, companies, and individuals are urged to come forward in large numbers to seize the opportunity of the carbon business, which aims to reduce greenhouse gases and build sustainable development for citizens, including farmers and traders.
This call was made on August 3, 2024, by Senior Lecturer and Assistant Coordinator of the National Carbon Monitoring Center in the country from Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), College of Forestry, Wildlife and Tourism (CFWT), Department of Ecosystems and Conservation (DEC) Dr. Deo Shirima, while speaking to SUA Media at the university’s booth at the Nane Nane Eastern Zone Exhibition ongoing at the Mwalimu Julius Nyerere grounds in Morogoro.
“As President Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan said, and with the slogan of clean cooking energy, the carbon business offers an incentive that when we achieve the goal of clean energy, meaning we exchange the energy that was polluting the environment for clean cooking energy, at the same time we get additional benefits or incentives through the carbon business,” said Dr. Shirima.
Dr. Shirima called on companies that are focused on the government’s slogan of clean cooking energy to consider expanding the area of the carbon business in their projects and also in environmental, agricultural, and business matters, which can be a good opportunity to help increase incentives for environmental conservation and benefit from the carbon business if you register to be part of that business.
“So far, the Center has registered more than 50 carbon projects, and these projects are in various sectors. Three projects have already started working and providing benefits, and citizens have already started benefiting. You can do these projects in various sectors, one of which people can invest in is the forestry sector, where we currently have approximately 19 million hectares where investors have shown interest in investing,” said Dr. Shirima.
He said these projects can be registered by following the regulations governing carbon project investments in the country and that people can join as a group and register in the carbon business. The most important and good thing that has been included in the regulations is that it is necessary to see how those surrounding the country’s resources, such as forests, energy, and agriculture, benefit from the business itself.
“The origin of this business is, as we know, there has been an increase in greenhouse gases worldwide, and thus nations around the world want to ensure we reduce that increase. Now, to achieve that goal, there was a procedure to ask developed countries that produce a lot of greenhouse gases to see how they can enter a market system that will make those who reduce greenhouse gases get incentives and thus create a business opportunity,” said the lecturer.
