The Perivoli Rangeland Institute says Namibia has immense potential for carbon sequestration projects but lacks a developed carbon credit market.
Researcher Daisy Nielsen said the country faces key challenges, including high financial costs, transparency issues, and concerns over greenwashing.
Nielsen highlighted the urgent need for effective regulatory frameworks and community involvement to unlock the market’s potential and drive sustainable environmental benefits as Namibia seeks to capitalise on these opportunities.
“Namibia has significant potential for carbon credit projects in renewable energy, reforestation, agricultural transitions, and ocean-based solutions like kelp forest restoration. Proper bush management can restore environments, boost biodiversity, and increase soil organic carbon over time,” she said at a recent Biomass Conference.
She said biodiversity credits, a new and rapidly developing market, involve payments for the protection, restoration, or management of biodiversity.
Nielsen noted that although less formalised than carbon markets, countries like Australia have begun trading these credits, and Namibia has significant potential for projects that combine biodiversity and carbon credits, although combining them remains complex.
“Namibia’s Ministry of Environment and Tourism supports carbon and biodiversity projects through policies like the Climate Change Policy and the Environmental Management Act. International standards also provide guidance, but challenges such as transparency, greenwashing, and financial limitations must be addressed,” she added.
Nielsen noted these markets can diversify economic activities in agriculture, communal areas, and tourism.
“Carbon and biodiversity credits transfer wealth from industrialised countries to developing nations like Namibia, building resilience to climate change and providing scientific solutions to land degradation,” she said.
This comes as there is a global need to reduce atmospheric carbon from around 240 ppm to 350 ppm.
“Carbon sequestration is central to this mission. Biodiversity has also gained significance, leading to the development of international frameworks guiding carbon and biodiversity markets,” she said.
The Perivoli Rangeland Institute is currently conducting a feasibility study on a high-integrity biochar project while restoring arid land and sequestering carbon dioxide in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The institute was established under the UK associate Perivoli Climate Trust, founded in 2020 to fund climate change research, which the Rangeland Institute implements through agri-ecological farming and converting invasive bushes to biochar, enhancing livelihoods and sequestering greenhouse gases.
Last year, Presidential Economic Advisor and Hydrogen Commissioner James Mnyupe revealed that Namibia was exploring the possibility of venturing into carbon trading.
