Who has the right to sell and how to sell forest carbon?

Mr. Tran Quang Bao, Director of the Forestry Department, shared at the Workshop - Photo: C. TUE

Mr. Nguyen My Hai, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Bac Kan province, asked this question at the workshop "Forest carbon - Potential to create new financial sources for forest protection and development" organized by the Department of Forestry (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) on October 3.

Many provinces want to sell carbon credits themselves

According to Mr. Hai, Bac Kan province has about 370,000 hectares of forest, accounting for 80% of the province's area. Therefore, it can be said that 80% of the province's people depend on the forest for their livelihood.

“With the great role of forests and the high forest coverage rate of the province, the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial People's Committee regularly remind us that, through information and the press, many localities can sell forest carbon credits, so why can't Bac Kan sell them?

So who has the right to sell forest carbon (people, forest owners or provinces)?

Once the seller is identified, how do you sell? After the sale is made, how do you pay for it?” – Mr. Hai asked.

Answering this question, Mr. Tran Quang Bao, Director of the Forestry Department, said that this is a common question for many provinces such as Lao Cai, Son La, Kon Tum, Quang Nam... that are applying for a pilot private sale but are encountering difficulties.

According to Mr. Bao, the Vietnamese carbon market (public and transparent buying and selling) has not yet been formed. According to Decree 06-2022 of the Government regulating the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and protection of the ozone layer and the draft revised decree, it will not be formed until 2028 and then there will be quota trading.

Thus, from now until the official formation of Vietnam's carbon market, it is possible to pilot (if permitted by the Government) and the North Central region's greenhouse gas emission reduction payment agreement (ERPA) is a pilot.

In principle, provinces can propose to the Prime Minister or the Government to allow the purchase and transfer of forest carbon credits.

However, international partners are currently mainly interested in the natural forest carbon market, efforts to reduce emissions from natural forests.

“Natural forests are state assets. If state assets are at the level of 1 province or 1 forest owner, it will be very difficult. The scale of the forest must be large enough to form a measurement project. International organizations are often interested in regional continuity,” said Mr. Bao.

It is not easy for localities to sell forest carbon credits due to problems related to institutions and selling methods - Photo: C. TUỆ

The Ministry is asking for separate policies for the South Central and Central Highlands regions.

According to Mr. Bao, some localities with great potential for forest carbon such as Quang Nam, Gia Lai... can be built in the direction of separate negotiations.

However, this is currently facing difficulties. Because natural forests are state-owned assets, carbon ownership and benefit sharing are not yet institutionalized in common law.

“Thus, for the negotiation of the North Central region, there must be a separate pilot decree. Currently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is also requesting a separate policy and decree for the South Central region and the Central Highlands.

Therefore, localities have the right to make proposals to the Prime Minister or the Government, but it will be very difficult for localities to do this themselves," Mr. Bao emphasized.

Regarding how to sell, Mr. Bao said that because there is no domestic carbon credit trading floor, to sell, there must be a negotiation plan and this plan must be approved by ministries, branches and reported to the Prime Minister. If the locality does this by itself, it will also be very difficult.

Once sold, our benefit sharing mechanism is relatively easy because we have a system of payment for forest environmental services and payment to forest owners.

“Quang Nam province has investors willing to support the development of a project and emission reduction measurement program with a total budget of up to 1-2 million USD to confirm credits.

However, the Vietnamese legal system has not yet committed that after an investor spends money to measure, he will not gain priority because this is state property and must be bid, so the investor withdraws.

These are general institutional barriers. As policy advisors, we also identify these issues and will try to coordinate with relevant ministries to resolve them,” Mr. Bao added.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ai-co-quyen-ban-va-ban-carbon-rung-nhu-the-nao-20241003145356575.htm