Namibia has established offices, called the Designated National Authority (DNA) and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which offices will facilitate investments in the agro-forestry and energy production.
The country can only trade carbon credits, which may result in significant investments, through the CDM.
The DNA is an institution that uses a set of sustainable development criteria and indicators to assess whether a proposed CDM project will contribute to the sustainable development of the host country.
CDM, proposed under Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol, is a potential instrument to promote foreign investment in Green House Gas emission reduction options while simultaneously addressing the issue of sustainable development.
The country needed to establish the two mechanisms to implement the Kyoto Protocol, to which Namibia acceded and became party to in 2003.
The DNA serves as the primary point of contact for the CDM in the country to evaluate and approve projects based on national criteria. It would also confirm or certify that the proposed project assist the country in meeting its development objectives.
The CDM office will promote clean development mechanism as an economic development instrument and facilitate the preparation of project proposals and their submission through the DNA to the CDM Executive Board of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Cabinet last month directed the Ministry of Environment and Tourism to be the DNA, and the Ministry of Trade and Industry the CDM.
Following this, Cabinet also approved that the two ministries establish a position each at deputy-director level to implement the activities associated with the DNA and CDM. The Namibian Agronomic Board (NAB) this week welcomed the development, saying they would bring more clarity on who is responsible for investors and under what conditions they would be investing.
Although a number of investors have wanted to start big projects to trade carbon credits, NAB Chief Executive Officer, Christ Brock, said investors were cautious to put in money when issues of CDM were not resolved yet. He said the two offices were a step in the right direction and would allow people in the two ministries to start specializing in these fields.
Meanwhile, the board is finalizing negotiations with the Rural Poverty Reduction Programme to get a two-year funding for a focal person who would coordinate with various ministries on the industry.Namibia's Bio Energy roadmap identified Jatropha, a nut-bearing tree already being planted as hedge in the Caprivi and Kavango regions, to be the most viable bio energy crops. Putting 63000 hectares under Jatropha by 2013 would translate into an industry contributing 0.5 percent of GDP.
Namibia could also earn around N$4.5-million in CDM, which could be raised by commissioning 12 Bio diesel generators of 1MW capacity each requiring about two million litres of fuel per year.
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