Fiji has become the only Small Island Developing State in the Pacific to enter a carbon trade under an emissions reduction payment agreement.

The agreement with the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, a global partnership at the World Bank will unlock $26million in results based payments for increasing carbon sequestration and reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.

Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says the five-year arrangement represents more than a decade of preparatory work by the Fijian Government through the REDD+ programme.

Sayed-Khaiyum says this also supports the sustainable management for forests meaning sustained financial returns for resource owners.

“The emission reduction program area includes over 37,000 hectares spread over 20 districts on the islands of Viti Levu, Vanua Levu and Taveuni, with the potential to expand to other areas that express interest. The contracted volume of greenhouse gases that Fiji is expected to sequester from these forest activities in the next five years is 2.5 million tonnes, for which a result-based payment of USD 12.5 million will be paid upon verification by the World Bank.”

He says this partnership is a key facet of our future-focused development agenda.

“The programme covers a number of activities; including the forest protection and the planting of forests on degraded land, the sustainable management of designated timber production forests, the incorporation of trees into farming and agricultural systems and the promotion of forest-based livelihood ventures as an alternative to forest extraction
such as eco-tourism, bee keeping, agro-forestry, aquaculture, resintapping and nurseries of high valued native species.”

World Bank Resident Representative for Fiji Lasse Melgaard adds that the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Forestry will play leading roles in this initiative.

Melgaard says Fiji continues to demonstrate its leadership in climate action.