SE Environment holds workshop on Clean Development in TL

Monday, 16 January 2012 15:12 Written by Josefina Freitas, TDW

The Secretariat of State for the Environment together with the Ministry of Economy and Development held a workshop to promote and increase the capacity of Ministries, the Government, and of stakeholders on the mechanisms involved in Clean Development and also to speak about set up of a National Authority Designates (DNA) one of the requirements so that TL can access the mechanism for carbon credit.
“This workshop speaks about the role of stakeholders and the cycle of the mechanism of Clean Development and also introduce the key aspects of this initiative and the project viability for Clean Development,” said National Advisor, SE Environment, Diametrio Do Amaral De Carvalho, last week (15/12), at Hotel Timor in Dili.

According to the Director of the Organizing Committee De Carvalho Timor-Leste already ratified the Climate Change Convention and also the Kyoto Protocol three years ago in Bali, Indonesia, but Timor-Leste has not yet use its entitlement to carbon trading because it has not yet established the required National Designated Authority (DNA).

“We need to set up an institution that in future can identify such projects in the category of Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM), a project of the Clean Development initiative so that we can get additional funds from the carbon credit mechanism.”
The workshop highlighted the importance that all stakeholders understand what is at stake so that they can establish a structure and so they know what its role is, how it will work and how the whole mechanism functions.

This was the third time such a workshop took place. The first workshop was about what is the National Designated Authority; the second introduced the Clean Development Mechanisms; and the third was to provide more in-depth information about the project part of the CDM.
The workshop was a join initiative by the Secretariat of State for the Environment and the Ministry of Economy and Development and was funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

In the meantime Remigio “LAKA” Vieira, a representative of the Farming Study Group said Timor-Leste needs to know about carbon credit and trading.
“As a civil society organization we believe more information needs to be disseminated so that everyone understands how the projects will be implemented and to ensure the criteria stipulated by future projects,” said Representative Vieira.