A handshake and a discreet smile. On March 25, Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al-Maktoum, accompanied by the Liberian Minister of Finance, let nothing show in front of the photographers. This young member of the ruling family of Dubai, within the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has just signed a memorandum of understanding of unprecedented magnitude with Monrovia. This provides that the government of Liberia cedes for thirty years to the company it manages, Blue Carbon LLC, exclusive rights over one million hectares of its forests, or 10% of the surface of this African country. from West.
“This partnership marks a turning point for Blue Carbon”, then explains the prince to the Emirati press. The stated goal is ambitious: “helping the transition to a low-carbon economic system” by enabling governments around the world “to achieve their carbon neutrality objectives in accordance with the transferability of credits provided for in Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. » These “credits” that the sheikh is talking about are carbon credits, which companies can buy to avoid having to reduce their emissions.
Article 6 of the Paris climate agreement, concluded in December 2015 during COP21, authorizes signatory countries to collaborate to achieve their objectives for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Clearly, a country that reduces its emissions beyond its forecasts can sell its “surplus” in the form of credits to a more polluting country, which can use them to offset its own emissions.
“Escape from responsibility”
“This notion of compensation is the subject of a lot of debate”explains Jutta Kill, biologist by training, specialist in carbon markets. “Allow industrialized countries to use carbon credits under the Paris agreement allows them to escape their responsibilities, simply because they can afford to pay. »
On his siteBlue Carbon simply states that it wants ” help “ countries to take advantage of this mechanism. Created in August 2022, the company signed memoranda of understanding for forest management projects with four African countries in record time. These arrangements cover 10% of the total surface area of Liberia, but also of Tanzania, Zambia and 20% of that of Zimbabwe, for a total of 25 million hectares, or almost half that of France. .
These agreements are currently preliminary. The rules governing the exchange of carbon credits must be set at COP28, organized in the UAE, from November 30. “Countries are still waiting for clear and concrete rules to use this tool, for example regarding the registration and monitoring of projects”explains Erika Lennon, researcher at the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), based in the United States.
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