By NATION REPORTER
PROFESSOR Rhett Harrison, a senior scientist at the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), has disclosed that some carbon traders are not transparent in their dealings with governments.
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According to him, the carbon traders have been manipulating the system to make it seem like they are involved in carbon trading when they are in fact not.
Prof. Harrison is predicting that the deception governments were being subjected to by carbon traders was likely going to result in significant shake-ups in the carbon trading market.
“Some carbon traders are not transparent in their dealings with governments and are cheating. This situation cannot be tolerated internationally,” Prof Harrison said.
These concerns were raised during the Centre for Environment Justice (CEJ) Traditional Leaders Caucus held in Lusaka. The event was held under the theme ‘Strengthening Traditional Leaders Role in Carbon Financing for Sustainable Development in Zambia’.
And Climate Change Advocate Abel Musumali has expressed disappointment that carbon traders are not paying tax to governments.
He has since called on the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) through the Ministry of Finance to investigate carbon traders who were evading tax because carbon trading as a business was a profit-making venture and should therefore pay taxes wherever they operated across the globe.
Meanwhile, Michael Donald Mailloux from Biocarbon Partners (BCP) has assured that his organization was committed to transparency and accountability in all its activities.
BCP was founded in 2012 with the mission to drive forest conservation and joint efforts to combat deforestation in wildlife-rich areas of Zambia.
“BCP’s mission is to make conservation of wildlife habitat valuable to people,” Mr Mailloux said.
And Freeman Mubanga, the Head of Research and Studies at the Centre for Environment Justice (CEJ) said carbon trading was a complex subject that should be properly explained to ensure clarity and fairness, especially for traditional leaders who were the chief custodians of forests, which were key carbon sinks.
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