REDD-Monitor’s round-up of the week’s news on forests, climate change, and REDD. For regular updates, visit REDD-Monitor’s “REDD in the news” page, or follow @reddmonitor on Twitter.
Coordination of Support for Implementing REDD-plus in Developing Countries
namanews.org, July 2016
In Paris in December last year, countries reached a historic universal agreement to combat climate change and to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low-carbon future. According to the Global Forest Resources Assessment by the FAO, the world’s forests store 289 gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon in their biomass alone. Between 1990 and 2000, the global rate of deforestation and loss from natural causes was approximately 16 million hectares per year. Halting the destruction of forests is therefore crucial to combating climate change.
4 July 2016
Paris climate deal needs fossil fuel giants to ‘implode’
By Tim Radford, Climate Home, 4 July 2016
National promises made late last year to contain carbon dioxide emissions will not be nearly enough to meet the global warming target1 agreed last December by 195 nations, according to a new assessment.
The signatories to the historic agreement at the UN conference on climate change in Paris pledged to limit global warming to below 2C and to aim for no more than 1.5C rise above pre-industrial levels.
The planet has already warmed by 1C in the last century.1 But, climate scientists say, the intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) submitted before the meeting imply global warming of between 2.6C and 3.1C. So more needs to be done, they report in Nature journal.
“The Paris Agreement was a historical achievement for the world’s response to climate change, aiming at limiting warming to below 1.5C and 2°C,” says Joeri Rogelj, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) research scholar who led the study.
Germany pledges support for developing countries at Petersberg climate meeting
Deutsche Welle, 4 July 2016
Germany’s Environment and Development Ministries on Monday announced plans for an implementation partnership to help poorer countries transform their national climate action plans into concrete strategies.
The initiative is to be unveiled at the two-day Petersberg Climate Dialogue, which got underway on Monday in Berlin.
The German ministries told newspapers of the Funke media group that the new partnership initiative aimed to provide developing countries with speedy access to customized advice in areas such as the construction of renewable energy projects, sustainable urban development and agriculture.
Carbon emissions from Indonesia forest fires hit new high
SciDev, 4 July 2016
The forest fires in Indonesia last year released 11.3 million tonnes of carbon per day, exceeding the daily rate of 8.9 million tonnes of carbon emissions from the whole of the European Union, a study says.
The 2015 fires were the worst since 1997 when a strong El Niño also fanned widespread fires, says the study published in Scientific Reports, which was a collaboration between scientists in King’s College London and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).
The practice of burning in Sumatra and Kalimantan, exacerbated by extended drought associated with El Niño, released 857 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from September to October 2015, which was 97 per cent of annual carbon emissions in Indonesia.
[Indonesia] Number of Forest Fire Hotspots Increases Ahead of Idul Fitri Holiday
By Ratri M. Siniwi, Jakarta Globe, 4 July 2016
The Indonesian space agency has recorded an increase in the number of forest fire hotspots ahead of the Idul Fitri holidays.
Based on observations by the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (Lapan) with the Modis satellite, 288 hotspots have been detected with a moderate (30 percent-79 percent) to high (80 percent or higher) confidence level on Sunday (03/07).
Of those, 245 with a 30-percent confidence level were found on Sumatra Island, spread out across the provinces of Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Riau, Bengkulu, Jambi, Lampung and South Sumatra.
Members of the Integrated Forest Fire Taskforce in Riau have made embarked on efforts to put out the fires, while the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) allocated two helicopters and two aircraft specially adapted for firefighting.
The Cost of Indonesia’s 2015 Fires
Asia Sentinel, 4 July 2016
Indonesian forest fires, fanned by an extended drought associated with El Nino, delivered more carbon emissions into the atmosphere than the entire European Union, an astounding 11.3 million tonnes per day against 8.9 million tonnes for the EU, according to a new study.
The study, written by nine climate scientists from Kings College London in collaboration with the Center for International Forestry Research and published in the journal Scientific Reports, examined burning in Sumatra and Kalimantan, which released a total of 857 million tonnes into the atmosphere from September to October, some 97 percent of all the country’s emissions over the period.
[Israel] Police secretly probing alleged foreign donations to Netanyahu
Times of Israel, 4 July 2016
A secret Israel Police investigation into Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly deals with illegalities regarding suspected funds he accepted from foreign businessmen during his current run as prime minister.
According to police suspicions, reported by Channel 2 on Monday, Netanyahu made use of the money donated by businesspeople during his current term in office, which began in 2009, meaning the statute of limitations hasn’t expired.
[UK] Investment scam victims being fleeced an average £20,000
The Irish News, 4 July 2016
Investment scam victims are losing £20,000 on average to frauds which may involve fake diamonds, bogus stocks and shares and fine wines that do not really exist, Citizens Advice is warning.
In one case seen by the advice charity, a man paid £150,000 for diamonds that turned out to be worth a fraction of the cost.
Analysis of 5,000 scams reported to the charity between January and March this year showed how fraudsters are conning savers and investors out of tens of thousands of pounds.
Citizens Advice warned people are being duped by promises of strong returns by cold calls, online adverts and fake websites.
5 July 2016
New haze fears as palm oil firms ditch Indonesia pact
By Beh Lih Yi, Thomson Reuters Foundation, 5 July 2016
Environmentalists have warned of greater risks of haze and forest fires in Southeast Asia after major palm oil firms ditched a landmark “zero deforestation” pact in Indonesia.
Top producers and traders said last week that the Indonesian Palm Oil Pledge (IPOP) will be disbanded, arguing Indonesia’s recent efforts to strengthen its own certification standards were sufficient.
Indonesia, the world’s top palm oil producer, has been criticized by green activists for failing to stop the region’s annual haze outbreaks – mainly caused by fires started in the country to cheaply clear forests and land for plantations.
Bornean orangutan declared ‘critically endangered’ as forests shrink
By Loren Bell, mongabay.com, 5 July 2016
The Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) is now critically endangered according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This change means that both species of orangutan now face an “extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.”
“This is full acknowledgement of what has been clear for a long time: orangutan conservation is failing,” Andrew Marshall, one of the authors of the assessment, told Mongabay. Regardless of any positive outcomes of past conservation efforts, they have not achieved the only meaningful goal: a stable or increasing population.
Published this week, the new IUCN assessment finds that hunting, habitat destruction, habitat degradation and fragmentation are the biggest drivers behind the population loss.
Backwards from gender equality: Oil palm’s impact on Dayak women
By Kate Evans, CIFOR Forest News Blog, 5 July 2016
Pe Ligit* has witnessed massive changes in her lifetime, as waves of migration, logging and oil palm development have transformed Indonesian Borneo. Now 65 years old, the Dayak woman settled in Long Segar in East Kalimantan when she was a child.
“My younger siblings and I were carried in a big basket when we were moving here,” she says. “We traveled by boat … then walked along the river to reach this place.”
Then, it was tropical forest. There were no roads, and it was two days by longboat from the provincial capital, Samarinda. Pe Ligit’s father cleared some land to plant rice, built their house, and helped establish a community. They lived from agriculture — and from the forest, where they hunted and fished, and gathered rattan and bamboo.
DIALOGUE: What now for South Korea’s emissions trading scheme?
Carbon Pulse, 5 July 2016
More than 500 of South Korea’s biggest emitters met their 2015 compliance obligations under the scheme by the June 30 deadline.
But getting there wasn’t an easy ride. More than 40 lawsuits have been launched against the government on allocation issues. Prices at one stage rose to nearly $18/tonne to make Korea’s carbon price one of the world’s highest, while the market has struggled with liquidity and only some controversial government interventions in May and June unlocked supply.
The government recently restructured the administration of the ETS. What changes should the new caretakers consider to iron out key challenges to the market?
[USA] Carbon prices are way down, thanks to the Supreme Court’s hold on Clean Power Plan
By Bobby Magill, Grist, 5 July 2016
A temporary halt to the federal government’s plan to cut electric power plant emissions has caused carbon prices in the Northeast’s only cap-and-trade program to plummet, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Carbon prices in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, have fallen 40 percent since the Supreme Court’s decision in February to stay the Clean Power Plan — from their peak at $7.50 per metric ton of carbon dioxide in December to $4.53 per ton in June.
[USA] California’s greenhouse gas emissions drop, barely
By David R. Baker, San Francisco Chronicle, 5 July 2016
Despite a surging economy, California’s greenhouse-gas emissions fell in 2014, according to new data from the state.
But the paltry size of the drop — with emissions down less than 1 percent from the previous year — illustrates just how difficult meeting California’s ambitious global warming goals may be.
California’s factories, power plants, farms and cars pumped 441.5 million metric tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere in 2014, according to the California Air Resources Board. That represents a decline of just 2.8 million metric tons from 2013.
6 July 2016
Boosting profits while combatting emissions
By B. Holt Thrasher (Permian Global), Environmental Finance, 6 July 2016
In the past few months, following the success of the Paris climate change summit (COP21), several leading scientific studies, reports, and governmental statements have turned the corner and firmly recognised the critical importance that global forests must play as a core solution to climate change. Underpinning the new momentum is awareness that it is not possible to achieve a 1.5°C global warming limit without forest carbon sinks.
The joint statement issued on 15 June by the governments of the US and Norway on Deeper Collaboration on Forests and Climate Change emphasises that “forests and land use currently represent nearly one-quarter of global emissions, but forests alone may contribute up to one-third of the pre-2030 mitigation.”
[Uganda] A cheap, simple experiment just found a very effective way to slow deforestation
By Chris Mooney, Washington Post, 6 July 2016
In a convincing new study conducted in Uganda and based on a program sponsored in part by its government, a team of researchers have found an effective and affordable way to combat deforestation in a country showing some of the fastest tree loss rates in the world. How? The program simply paid owners of forest land not to cut down their own trees for either agricultural purposes or to sell them for timber.
The research provides a positive model for protecting a forest region that is a hub for biodiversity, including serving as a key habitat for endangered chimpanzees. At the same time, it also validates the effectiveness of a “Payments for Ecosystems Services” program of the sort that could bolster the battle against global deforestation and its impact as a leading driver of climate change.
[USA] Discussing climate change strategies with Dr. Kathy McAfee
By Gary Graham Hughes, Friends of the Earth, 6 July 2016
California’s dependence on Cap-and-Trade is open for public debate and here to stimulate a discussion is Gary Graham Hughes and Dr. Kathy McAfee. Gary Graham Hughes is Friends of the Earth’s senior California advocacy campaigner and works to strengthen our involvement in climate, energy, forest and water issues in the state of California. Dr. Kathy McAfee is a professor in the Department of International Relations at San Francisco State University with a long history of evaluating the efficacy of market-based strategies for dealing with climate change and other environmental challenges.
[USA] Thank You Christiana Figueres for Helping Secure Stronger International Climate Action
By Jake Schmidt, NRDC, 6 July 2016
Christiana Figueres term as the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) has just ended and we all owe her a huge thank you for the safer climate legacy she has left our children and grandchildren. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing her for the entire 16 years I’ve been working on climate change so when she took the job after Copenhagen I knew she was the best person for this difficult position. If anyone could help steer the global community to a stronger international climate agreement I knew Christiana could do it. But could the global community really get its act together and could she successfully navigate this difficult terrain? She helped eliminate any lingering doubts with the Paris Agreement.
[USA] Are California redwood trees the answer to global warming?
By Paul Rogers, Mercury News, 6 July 2016
California’s ancient redwood forests aren’t just majestic and among the oldest living things on Earth — a new study finds they are a particularly potent weapon against global warming.
The towering trees remove and store more carbon from the atmosphere per acre than any other forests on the planet, including tropical rain forests, researchers found in a discovery that could influence everything from logging rules to how parks are preserved as the state grapples with climate change.
“The story of the carbon is huge,” said Robert Van Pelt, a scientist at Humboldt State University who helped lead the research. “The carbon part of a redwood may be more important than the lumber part in the coming decades.”
7 July 2016
Climate, Conflict, And Commodities: The Calculus Of Peace On A Changing Planet
By Steve Zwick, Ecosystem Marketplace, 7 July 2016
Liberian environmentalist Silas Siakor knows all too well what can happen to a fragile nation when a dictator hijacks its commodity sector, as warlord Charles Taylor did in the 1990s – first by using slave labor and “blood diamonds” to finance a devastating civil war in neighboring Sierra Leone, and then by spreading that war to Guinea and commandeering the presidency of Liberia itself.
Siakor helped expose Taylor’s use of “conflict timber” to finance those bloody wars, and he helped make sure farmers, conservationists, and commercial enterprises all had a role in restructuring the forest sector once the sanctions were removed – a process that Art Blundell, who chaired the UN Panel of Experts on Liberia, credits with keeping the country’s current peace alive.
He cautions, however, that Liberia’s peace is the exception that proves the rule.
Brazilian experts blast US academics’ call for uncontacted tribes to be forcibly contacted
Survival International, 7 July 2016
The Brazilian government’s Indigenous Affairs Department (FUNAI) has severely criticized the authors of a controversial editorial in Science magazine who called for forced contact with uncontacted tribes.
In an open letter criticizing controversial anthropologists Kim Hill and Robert Walker, uncontacted tribes experts at FUNAI stress the threats facing uncontacted peoples. These include violence from outsiders who steal their land and resources, and diseases like flu and measles to which they have no resistance. They reject what Hill and Walker call “controlled contact” as “a severe violation of these peoples’ right to determine their own lives.”
They added: ”We feel compelled to express our disagreement with the ideas of some anthropologists… that ‘controlled contact’ is the only possible strategy for protecting these peoples.
How Buddhist monks are battling deforestation in Cambodia
By Ate Hoekstra, Deutsche Welle, 7 July 2016
His memories often bring But Buntenh back to Cambodia thirty years ago. There were jungles as far as the eye could see. Centuries-old trees gave shade and provided shelter to birds and wild animals. The air was clean, nature gave the local people everything they needed. The forest near the village where Buntenh grew up was filled with wild pigs. “We were hunting them. During my youth, there was nothing as tasty as the meat of a wild pig,” the 36-year-old monk said, laughing.
The forests of Buntenh’s youth are long gone, and with it the wildlife and the birds that lived in it. The loss of it grieves the Buddhist monk, but he says he is committed to put an end to deforestation in Cambodia while there is still some jungle left.
It’s an extremely challenging mission in which Buntenh and his fellow monks, who are united under the group Independent Monk Network for Social Justice, regularly put their own lives at risk.
Environment in Indonesia: Carbon Emissions Hit New High
Indonesia Investments, 7 July 2016
A study published in Scientific Reports, conducted by scientists at King’s College London in cooperation with the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), says the forest fires on the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan that occurred between June and October 2015 released some 11.3 million tons of carbon each day (a figure that exceeds the 8.9 million tons of daily carbon emissions in the European Union). Last year’s man-made forest fires and haze in Indonesia are among the worst natural disasters ever recorded.
The study is based on an analysis of satellite data as well as measurements of the air quality in Palangkaraya (Central Kalimantan). It is estimated that in the September-October 2015 period some 857 million tons of carbon dioxide was released due to the intense forest fires (exacerbated by El Nino-inflicted dry weather). In a “normal” year, Indonesia “only” releases about 860 million tons of carbon dioxide in the full-year.
As Indonesia’s Dry Season Looms, a New Tool Can Predict Daily Forest Fire Risk
By Susan Minnemeyer, Sarah Sargent, Karyn Tabor and Greg Soter, Global Forest Watch Blog, 7 July 2016
This summer, visitors to U.S. national parks and forests will be greeted by Smokey the Bear, the Forest Service’s beloved mascot, delivering a warning about the day’s fire danger. Those warnings are important—signs point to another record fire year for the country. But this summer, many of the world’s most damaging fires may actually occur halfway around the world in the forests and peatlands of Indonesia.
Last year, Indonesia’s forest and land fires emitted more than the entire U.S. economy on a daily basis for half the summer. Toxic smoke and haze afflicted hundreds of thousands, disrupting the economy, triggering respiratory problems and even causing deaths. Could this crisis be averted if Indonesia had its own version of Smokey the Bear’s daily fire danger warnings?
Deforestation from illegal gold mining spreads to northern Peru
By Apoorva Joshi, mongabay.com, 7 July 2016
Satellite images released last week revealed evidence of the first known case of deforestation caused by gold mining in northern Peru. Occurring in Peru’s Condorcanqui Province in the Amazonas region, gold mining operations are expanding along the Santiago River, as well as creeping into and displacing neighboring forest.
High-resolution images of areas recently deforested due to mining activity along the Santiago River, indicate that eight hectares (20 acres) of forest has been lost so far — an area the size of 12 soccer fields. These satellite images, published by Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project or MAAP, a project of the Amazon Conservation Association and ACCA-Conservacion Amazonica, show that this deforestation occurred between August 2014 and August 2015.
[USA] A grand bargain? Gov. Jerry Brown in talks with oil companies about climate change programs
By Chris Megerian and Melanie Mason, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2016
Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration has been talking directly with oil companies in hopes of reaching a consensus on extending California’s landmark climate programs, opening a back channel with an industry the governor has harshly criticized as a barrier to addressing global warming.
The dialogue was described by sources who requested anonymity to talk about private discussions and later confirmed by the Western States Petroleum Assn., which represents oil companies in Sacramento.
The organization’s president, Catherine Reheis-Boyd, told the Los Angeles Times that the industry is engaged in “ongoing talks with the administration to improve the state’s current climate change programs.”
[USA] Auditor should find out why return on cap-and-trade is so pathetic
By Adam Gray, The Modesto Bee, 7 July 2016
The San Joaquin Valley’s air quality continues to rank among the worst in the nation. The American Lung Association gives the Valley an “F” for both ozone and particle pollution. The report points out that air quality has improved somewhat since the 1990s, but the reality remains that Valley residents breathe some of the worst air in America.
We should be implementing air quality improvement programs to clean up the air, but instead the Legislature and California Air Resources Board are fixated on lofty long-term greenhouse gas reduction programs.
At the heart of the issue is the $3.1 billion generated from the air board’s cap-and-trade program. This pot of money has sparked a feeding frenzy for a multitude of pet projects and programs. These funding fights are over pork – not climate change.
[USA] A toxic history: Sacramento region’s minority communities face a legacy of environmental injustice
By Graham Womack, newsreview.com, 7 July 2016
George Sim Park is like an oasis for the Avondale Glen Elder neighborhood in southeast Sacramento. On an early summer evening, the park abounds with kids braving the heat to practice for the Junior Giants baseball program. The smell of marijuana also drifts from the parking lot. One parent, Georgi Gill, takes note of the smoke.
“They aren’t supposed to do that here,” she said.
The park and the working-class community that surrounds it have seen their share of troubles, but also have people fighting for them.
It’s been an uphill battle.
8 July 2016
Lessons from REDD+ for Achieving Water, Energy and Food Security in Indonesia
Global Canopy Programme, 8 July 2016
Indonesia has already made notable strides to develop climate mitigation strategies that ensure the protection of its forests, notably through its high-level support for efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) since 2007. As one of its original proponents, Indonesia was one of the first countries to recognise that efforts to address the drivers of deforestation would require an assessment of the many environmental, social, political and economic factors that drive land use change, and would necessitate a number of trade-offs between different land-based sectors.
An assessment of the challenges faced and tackled during the design and implementation of REDD+ in Indonesia is therefore instructive when analysing the potential pathways through which Indonesia could decouple itself from
a business-as-usual development model and move towards coherent water, energy and food policies that support sustainable natural resource management, as set out in its INDC.
Global warming: Is it time to phase out fossil fuels?
By Emmanuel Ntirenganya, New Times, 8 July 2016
They are one of the world’s energy generators and many countries highly rely on them to power industries, transport and energy sectors.
However, exploitation of these naturally formed resources has been said to be a major ingredient to global warming, which the world has in the past few years been grappling with.
According to Environment and Energy Study Institute, a US-based organisation that aims to promote environmentally sustainable societies, fossil fuels including coal, oil and natural gas, are formed from organic material over the course of millions of years and are currently the world’s primary energy source.
Brazil: Outrage as Indians’ homes bulldozed, community evicted
Survival International, 8 July 2016
A video showing a tribal community’s homes being bulldozed, condemning families to live by the side of a major highway, has caused outrage in Brazil.
Almost 100 heavily-armed police officers evicted the Apy Ka’y Guarani community, whose ancestral lands have been destroyed for industrial-scale farming.
The Indians had been forced to live by the side of a highway for ten years, during which eight people were run over and killed, and another died from pesticide poisoning.
In 2013 the community re-occupied a small patch of their ancestral land. They have now been evicted from it again, after a judge granted the landowner’s request for an eviction order, despite having received appeals from the Guarani, from their allies in Brazil, and from thousands of Survival supporters around the world.
The Guarani of Apy Ka’y are now back on the side of the highway.
9 July 2016
Indonesia sees fewer hot spots as authorities clamp down on Sumatra forest fires
By Francis Chan, The Straits Times, 9 July 2016
Efforts by the authorities on Sumatra island to prevent and suppress land and forest fires early, have kept the number of hot spots in Indonesia low so far.
Latest satellite data showed that despite temperatures rising and the dry season setting in – both precursors to the annual haze problem – only nine hot spots were detected in Sumatra on Friday (July 8).
This was down from the 49 picked-up over the same areas on Wednesday and substantially lower than the 245 recorded last Sunday.
The Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre in its latest forecast on Friday evening indicated that were only isolated hot spots detected in parts of Sumatra.
Forestry, Global Warming, and the Multi-Billion-Dollar Carbon-Credit Grab
By Raul D. Hernandez, Mother Earth News, 9 July 2016
In November, almost all the countries of the world agreed to what seems like an ambitious plan — to slow the global warming juggernaut. I have been practicing forestry for more than 20 years, and it is clear to me that a critical piece of the global-cooling equation is not being addressed and will not be addressed unless the public is educated.
10 July 2016
Defining the Constitutional provision of 60 percent minimum forest cover
By Phuntsho Namgyel, Kuensel, 10 July 2016
The minimum 60 percent forest cover was first mentioned in the National Forest Policy 1974. It states:
In consideration of the geo-physical conditions of Bhutan and the necessity of maintaining soil and climatic equilibrium, the objective will be to maintain a minimum of 60 percent of the total land under forests.
When the policy was being drafted, there was no forest cover information available in the country. It said that if after a comprehensive survey the forest cover turns out below 60 percent, the government would undertake afforestation on “all available land unfit for agriculture”. And, if the country’s forest cover turns out above 60 percent, “the forest area in excess of the prescribed proportion will not, however, be sacrificed”.
CM lays stress on people’s participation to ensure success of plantation drive
webindia123, 10 July 2016
Chief Minister Raghubar Das today urged the people to extend their support to make the plantation drive a success and also to pass on a greener Jharkhand to the future generations.Addressing a programme here, he said that the state would soon launch a green credit campaign to get carbon credits. He said that trees would be planted in the same ratio in which they would be cut for building roads or other developmental activities.He said that with change in times, the people have also become vigilant as participation gives strength to any movement.
EU, Korea launch emissions trading scheme
The Korea Herald, 10 July 2016
The European Union delegation to Korea and Korea’s Ministry of Strategy and Finance launched a project last week to tackle greenhouse gas emissions as part of bilateral cooperation to curb climate change.
The emissions trading scheme cooperation project — worth over 3.5 million euros ($3.87 million) — will run until January 2019. The EU will offer technical assistance and expertise to Korea through consultations, workshops and study visits to the EU. Through the three-year initiative, both sides will strive to reduce greenhouse gas discharge by roughly 40 percent of the 1990s level until 2030.
Emissions trading, known as “cap and trade,” is a government-mandated, market-based approach to curtailing pollution by providing economic incentives for emissions reduction.
[Kenya] Government to support NSE introduce carbon credits trading
By Joel Lee, The Standard, 10 July 2016
The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) plan to introduce carbon credits trading has received a boost after the Government pledged to offer expertise and facilitation. Speaking last week at NSE headquarters, Energy and Petroleum Principal Secretary Joseph Njoroge said the ministry is ready to support the NSE on the planned launch. “We will chip in if you (NSE) need any expert advice or facilitation from the ministry. We are more than willing to support this important and innovative idea of trading in carbon credits,” said Dr Njoroge.