Physical Address
Kampala, Uganda
Over the past few years, the global community has intensified its focus on climate change, on the back of the acceleration of the negative effects of the climate crisis. In response to this crisis, States and private actors alike have embarked on a series of actions geared towards mitigating the climate crisis, in line with their commitments and obligations under various climate change frameworks and instruments.
Part of the measures through which States may meet their climate change targets is international emissions trading, also referred to as carbon credits or emissions reduction credits. Indeed, under the framework established by Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which encourages the incentivization and facilitation of participation in the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions by public and private entities, States have been seen to enter carbon project deals with private players. Notably, the Guardian reported that Blue Carbon, a private entity based in the UAE, had acquired large tracts of forested land in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Tanzania for this purpose. (Full story available: Here) Governments have also embarked on environmental conservation measures, as part of their climate change mitigation efforts but also, in a bid to participate in carbon projects.
Unfortunately, while carbon projects may be beneficial in addressing the climate crisis, marginalized communities such as indigenous people, may bear the disproportionate brunt of these initiatives given the interconnectedness of their livelihoods to land ordinarily primed for carbon projects, especially forests. This article highlights some of these concerns.
Carbon Credits: An Explainer
The Carbon Offset Guide defines carbon credits as transferable instruments certified by a government or independent certification bodies, and they represent emission reductions. They are earned from actions to reduce or remove emissions from the planet and one carbon credit is essentially equivalent to one metric tonne of CO2, or equivalent greenhouse gas. These credits can then be used to compensate for emissions that occur elsewhere given their transferable nature, from one entity to another.
The World Bank notes that the actions of reduction or removal of emissions that warrant earning carbon credits must be real, permanent, and show additionality in the sense that if such actions did not happen, there would be emissions.
Carbon credits may be generated through, among others, planting forests and re-afforestation and the use of other technologies that capture and store carbon. Because of Africa’s fairly large forest cover which stands at approximately 26% of the total land area, it is prime for carbon projects. It is not surprising therefore that the Nairobi Declaration on Climate Change of 2023 highlights Africa’s “massive untapped renewable energy potential and abundant natural assets”, which may be the rationale behind the carbon dealsbeing executed by African governments.
Social Impact of Carbon Projects in Marginalized Communities
Marginalized communities and by extension, indigenous people have a special relationship with their land. Their culture, livelihood, and survival are interlinked with their presence on their land. To dispose them of this land therefore is an extreme violation of their fundamental human rights. Various judicial bodies have indeed recognized the unique relationship that indigenous people have with the land that they inhabit and have often tasked States to take steps to ensure that prior to the implementation of development projects, these communities are consulted, their free and informed consent is sought and their right to self-determination is recognized and respected.
The emerging trend in the implementation of carbon projects however depicts a different tale. In a bid to participate in carbon projects, governments have undertaken environmental conservation measures which measures have sometimes included evicting marginalized communities to pave the way for these projects. A case in point as reported by the BBC is the eviction of the indigenous Ogiek people from the Mau Forest by the government of Kenya, to facilitate carbon projects. (Full story available: Here)
The Oakland Institute in its publication entitled “Green Colonialism 2.0” has also noted claims of loss of land in areas where carbon projects are being implemented in Uganda, especially in the Kachung Forest Project in Lira, where over 6000 people were reportedly displaced and barred from using the land designated as forest land. The result has been a loss of employment, food insecurity, and rising poverty.
As these projects continue to pick up pace, especially by international private entities, there is a real risk that these marginalized communities will continue to be affected, at the expense of their fundamental rights, for private gain. While the World Bank has touted carbon credits as a potential game changer for the poor, if there are no deliberate efforts to protect marginalized communities, the perceived gains will be minimal.
Legal Framework on Carbon Projects in Uganda
The National Climate Change Act 2021 is the principal legislation governing carbon projects in Uganda. The Act provides for several climate change mechanisms including voluntary emissions trading mechanisms – carbon projects. The Act grants the Minister of Water and Environment the power to approve the participation of an entity in a climate change mechanism and further grants the Minister power to make regulations in respect of the ownership of carbon credits among others.
The Act is critical to the protection of marginalized communities for two reasons, however. It provides for the establishment of a Framework Strategy on Climate Change for Uganda and a National Climate Change Action Plan. The Act goes further and requires that these two documents must identify and consider gender and human rights issues. It also requires that the Action Plan identifies specific measures to be adopted for vulnerable and marginalized communities. (Note: The Framework Strategy on Climate Change and National Climate Change Action Plan were not available to the author at the time of writing the article)
These provisions provide an avenue to address the potential social impact of the carbon projects and by extension climate change initiatives in so far as they impact marginalized communities. It may indeed be argued that there is a legal obligation on the responsible ministry to ensure that the rights of marginalized communities are protected.
The Act therefore provides the best opportunity for Uganda to codify clear protections for marginalized communities in carbon projects. In any case, the Nairobi Declaration recognized the “key role” indigenous people and local communities play in ecosystem stewardship and they must as such be part of initiatives to address the climate crisis.
Conclusion
In many development projects, marginalized communities often get the shorter end of the bargain. They are often at the receiving end of gross human rights violations, and their dignity and livelihoods are cast by the wayside in favor of such projects. As Uganda embraces climate change initiatives, and especially carbon projects, there is a unique opportunity to do right by marginalized communities, to recognize their fundamental human rights, and to carry them along as equal participants on the development journey. This opportunity to do this starts with the framework for these initiatives such as the climate change strategy, action plan, and regulations governing carbon projects.
Disclaimer: “The views and opinions expressed on the site are personal and do not represent the official position of Stanbic Uganda and Khulani Capital.”
