Kenya has sold over 2.2 million tonnes of Carbon Credits to Saudi Arabia firms making this the largest purchase in the world.
The event which took place on Wednesday in Nairobi had delegates from Kenya, Egypt, Rwanda and South Africa in attendance was termed as the biggest sale in the world by the organizers.
“Some 16 Saudi firms which participated in the auction included Aramco and Saudi Electricity Company, which paid 23.50 Saudi riyals (Ksh878.43) per metric tonne of carbon credits. Other participants included Saudi Airlines, which also took part,” said Regional Voluntary Carbon Market Company (RVMC) CEO Riham Elzigy.
Mr. Elzigy also said that RVMC chose Nairobi as its destination on the basis of the emerging climate change issues happening in Africa. He further added that the carbon credits auctioned from Kenya are as a result of projects that use sustainable technologies or remove carbon from the atmosphere thereby avoiding emissions.
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According to experts, the demand for carbon offsets, derived from projects like tree planting or adopting the use of cleaner cooking fuel is predicted to experience growth due to the fact that companies choose to use the credits to help meet net-zero emissions goals.
The demand for offsets could eventually increase since more companies both locally and globally target net-zero emissions by 2050.
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There have however been concerns about some projects’ quality which have discouraged many firms causing climate campaigners, industry and other potential buyers to emphasize on strict regulations.
